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Release 15.0
November 2013
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Table of Contents
Overview .................................................................................................................................................. xxv
Application Interface .................................................................................................................................. 1
Mechanical Application Window ............................................................................................................. 1
Windows Management ........................................................................................................................... 2
Main Windows ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Tree Outline ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Understanding the Tree Outline .................................................................................................. 4
Correlating Tree Outline Objects with Model Characteristics ........................................................ 6
Suppressing Objects ................................................................................................................... 8
Filtering the Tree ........................................................................................................................ 9
Details View .................................................................................................................................... 11
Parameterizing a Variable .......................................................................................................... 19
Geometry Window ......................................................................................................................... 20
Viewing the Legend .................................................................................................................. 21
Discrete Legends in the Mechanical Application .................................................................. 21
Print Preview .................................................................................................................................. 21
Report Preview ............................................................................................................................... 22
Publishing the Report ............................................................................................................... 23
Sending the Report .................................................................................................................. 23
Comparing Databases .............................................................................................................. 23
Customizing Report Content ..................................................................................................... 24
Contextual Windows ............................................................................................................................. 25
Selection Information Window ........................................................................................................ 25
Activating the Selection Information Window ............................................................................ 25
Understanding the Selection Modes ......................................................................................... 26
Using the Selection Information Window Toolbar ...................................................................... 33
Selecting, Exporting, and Sorting Data ....................................................................................... 36
Worksheet Window ........................................................................................................................ 38
Graph and Tabular Data Windows ................................................................................................... 39
Exporting Data ......................................................................................................................... 41
Messages Window .......................................................................................................................... 43
Graphics Annotation Window ......................................................................................................... 44
Section Planes Window ................................................................................................................... 44
Manage Views Window ................................................................................................................... 44
The Mechanical Wizard Window ...................................................................................................... 44
Main Menus ......................................................................................................................................... 44
File Menu ....................................................................................................................................... 44
Edit Menu ....................................................................................................................................... 45
View Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 45
Units Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 47
Tools Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Help Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Toolbars ............................................................................................................................................... 48
Standard Toolbar ............................................................................................................................ 49
Graphics Toolbar ............................................................................................................................. 50
Context Toolbar .............................................................................................................................. 53
Named Selection Toolbar ................................................................................................................ 69
Unit Conversion Toolbar .................................................................................................................. 69
Graphics Options Toolbar ................................................................................................................ 69
Edge Graphics Options ................................................................................................................... 71
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Overview
ANSYS Mechanical is a Workbench application that can perform a variety of engineering simulations,
including stress, thermal, vibration, thermo-electric, and magnetostatic simulations.
A typical simulation consists of setting up the model and the loads applied to it, solving for the model's
response to the loads, then examining the details of the response with a variety of tools.
The Mechanical application has "objects" arranged in a tree structure that guide you through the different
steps of a simulation. By expanding the objects, you expose the details associated with the object, and
you can use the corresponding tools and specification tables to perform that part of the simulation.
Objects are used, for example, to define environmental conditions such as contact surfaces and loadings,
and to define the types of results you want to have available for review.
The following Help topics describe in detail how to use the Mechanical application to set up and run
a simulation:
Application Interface
Steps for Using the Application
Analysis Types
Specifying Geometry
Setting Up Coordinate Systems
Setting Connections
Configuring Analysis Settings
Setting Up Boundary Conditions
Using Results
Understanding Solving
Commands Objects
Setting Parameters
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Description
This menu includes the basic menus such as File and Edit.
This toolbar contains commands that control pointer mode or cause an action
in the graphics browser.
Not visible by default. This toolbar allows you to convert units for various
properties.
Not visible by default. This toolbar contains options to manage named selections.
This toolbar provides access to general graphics controls such as wireframe and
mesh visibility.
Outline view of the simulation project. Always visible. Location in the outline
sets the context for other controls. Provides access to object's context menus.
Allows renaming of objects. Establishes what details display in the Details
View (p. 11).
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Application Interface
Window Component
Description
The Details View (p. 11) corresponds to the Outline selection. Displays a details
window on the lower left panel of the Mechanical application window which
contains details about each object in the Outline.
Note
The Geometry window may include splitter bars for dividing
views.
Reference Help
Status Bar
Splitter Bar
Windows Management
The Mechanical window contains window panes that house graphics, outlines, tables, object details,
and other views and controls. Window management features allow you to move, resize, tab-dock, and
auto-hide window panes. A window pane that is "tab-docked" is collapsed and displayed at the side of
the application interface. Auto-hide indicates that a window pane (or tab-docked group of panes)
automatically collapses when not in use.
Auto-Hiding
Panes are either pinned or unpinned . Toggle this state by clicking the icon in the pane title bar.
A pinned pane occupies space in the window. An unpinned pane collapses to a tab on the periphery
of the window when inactive.
To examine an unpinned pane, move the mouse pointer over the tab. This causes the pane to open
overtop of any other open window panes. Holding the mouse pointer over the tab keeps the tab visible.
Clicking the tab actives the window pane (also causing it to remain visible). Pin the pane to restore it
to its open state.
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Main Windows
1.
Move the mouse pointer over a target to preview the resulting location for the pane. Arrow targets indicate adjacent locations; a circular target allows tab-docking of two or more panes (to share screen
space).
2.
Release the button on the target to move the pane. You can abort the drag operation by pressing the
ESC key.
Tip
You can also double-click a windows title bar to undock the window and move it freely
around the screen. Once undocked, you can resize the window by dragging its borders/corners.
Main Windows
In addition to the menu and toolbar structure of the interface, there are three primary graphical user
interface areas of the application, and include:
Tree Outline
Details View
Geometry Window
Selecting a tree object in the Outline displays attributes and controls for the selected object in the
Details view. The Geometry window displays your CAD model and, based on the tree object selected,
displays pertinent information about object specifications and how they relate to the displayed geometry.
The Geometry window is considered a tab. In addition to Geometry, there is a Print Preview tab
and a Report Preview tab. These tabs provide alternative views of the currently selected Outline object.
These user interface elements are described in more detail in the following sections:
Tree Outline
Details View
Geometry Window
Print Preview
Report Preview
Tree Outline
The object Tree Outline matches the logical sequence of simulation steps. Object sub-branches relate
to the main object. For example, an analysis environment object, such as Static Structural, contains
loads. You can right-click on an object to open a context menu which relates to that object. You can
rename objects prior to and following the solution process. Refer to the Objects Reference section of
the Help for a listing and description of all of the objects available in the application.
The following is an example of the Outline window pane:
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Application Interface
Note
Numbers preceded by a space at the end of an object's name are ignored. This is especially
critical when you copy objects or duplicate object branches. For example, if you name two
force loads as Force 1 and Force 2, then copy the loads to another analysis environment,
the copied loads are automatically renamed Force and Force 2. However, if you rename the
loads as Force_1 and Force_2, the copied loads retain the same names as the two original
loads.
The following topics present further details related to the tree outline.
Understanding the Tree Outline
Correlating Tree Outline Objects with Model Characteristics
Suppressing Objects
Filtering the Tree
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Main Windows
Filter tree contents and expand the tree by setting a filter and then clicking the Expand on Refresh button.
Status Symbols
As described below, a small status icon displays to the left of the object icon in the Tree Outline (p. 3).
Status Symbol
Name
Symbol
Example
A load requires a nonzero magnitude.
Underdefined
Error
Mapped Face or
Match Control
Failure
Ok
Needs to be Updated
Hidden
Meshed
An object is suppressed.
Suppress
Solve
Note
The state of an environment folder can be similar to the state of a Solution folder. The
solution state can indicate either solved (check mark) or not solved (lightening bolt) depending
on whether or not an input file has been generated.
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Application Interface
Description / Application
Corresponding Bodies in
Tree
Suppressed Bodies in
Tree
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Go To Option
Description / Application
Highlights mesh connection objects in the tree that are associated with the selection.
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Application Interface
Go To Option
Description / Application
Suppressing Objects
Certain objects in the Mechanical application tree outline can be suppressed, meaning that they can be
individually removed from any further involvement in the analysis. For example, suppressing a part removes the part from the display and from any further loading or solution treatment.
For Geometry and Environment folders, the objects that you Suppress are removed from the solved
process.
For Solution folder, if you suppress a solved result object, the result information will be deleted for the
suppressed result object. The suppressed object is not considered in the subsequent result evaluations.
You can use this feature to leave out an under-defined result object and obtain values for other results
under Solution. You can Unsuppress the result object and evaluate all results to get an updated result
value.
To suppress results objects from the context menu, right-click the result object, and then click Suppress.
Click Yes to suppress the object, or No to cancel the message box.
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Main Windows
pressed bodies become unsuppressed). You can suppress the bodies in a named selection using either
the context menu options mentioned above, or through the Named Selection Toolbar.
Another way to suppress a body is by selecting it in the graphics window, then using a right mouse
button click in the graphics window and choosing Suppress Body in the context menu. Conversely,
the Unsuppress All Bodies option is available for unsuppressing bodies. Options are also available in
this menu for hiding or showing bodies. Hiding a body only removes the body from the display. A
hidden body is still active in the analysis.
This toolbar enables you to filter tree items by either showing or hiding objects which match one or
more search terms. Filtering options include the following:
Filter Type
Description
Name
Filters the tree for or removes one or more specified search terms.
Tag
Filters for tree objects marked with one or more specified tag names. See the Tagging
Objects section.
Type
Provides a drop-down list of objects for which you can filter. The options include:
All - this default option displays all tree objects and requires you to make a selection
to initiate the filter process.
Results
Boundary Conditions
Connections
Commands
State
Provides a drop-down list of filters for a selected state. State options include:
All states
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Application Interface
Filter Type
Description
Suppressed
Not Licensed
Underdefined
Coordinate
System
Provides a drop-down list of all coordinate systems in the tree. You can select to
filter for All coordinate system objects or specify an individual coordinate system
object. The filter displays all objects within the tree that employ the individually
selected coordinate system.
Note
Note that all coordinate systems display in the filter. There are cases
where an object does not have a coordinate system property in its
Details view, but it does have an associated coordinate system as a
requirement. As a result, it may appear as though an unaccounted for
coordinate system is present. This is especially true for the Global Coordinate System.
Note
Performing a search for an object that does not exist in the tree results in all objects
being displayed.
Toolbar Buttons
The filter toolbar buttons perform the following actions.
Refresh Search
Refreshes the search criteria that you have specified following changes to the environment.
Clear Search
Clear the filter and returns the tree to the full view.
Remove
Turned off by default. Depressing this button turns the feature on and off. When active, it removes the
objects in question from the tree display.
Expand on Refresh
Turned on by default so that your modifications are automatically captured. You may "un-click" this option
to turn it off.
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Tag
Type
State
Coordinate System
2.
For Name and Tag, enter one or more search terms. For the other filters, select an option from the
drop-down list to further specify your inquiry.
3.
Click the Refresh Search button (or press Enter) to execute your search. If you want to eliminate content
from the tree, click the Remove button and then click Refresh Search to remove the requested objects.
4.
When searching, the tree displays only objects matching your search criteria. If you enter multiple search
terms, the tree shows only objects matching all of the specified terms. When removing objects, the requested objects do not display.
Details View
The Details view is located in the bottom left corner of the window. It provides you with information
and details that pertain to the object selected in the Tree Outline (p. 3). Some selections require you
to input information (e.g., force values, pressures). Some selections are drop-down dialogs, which allow
you to select a choice. Fields may be grayed out. These cannot be modified.
The following example illustrates the Details view for the object called Geometry.
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Application Interface
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Numeric Values (p. 17)
Ranges (p. 17)
Increments (p. 17)
Geometry (p. 18)
Exposing Fields as Parameters (p. 19)
Options (p. 19)
Features
The Details view allows you to enter information that is specific to each section of the Tree Outline. It
automatically displays details for branches such as Geometry, Model, Connections, etc. Features of the
Details view include:
Collapsible bold headings.
Dynamic cell background color change.
Row selection/activation.
Auto-sizing/scrolling.
Sliders for range selection.
Combo boxes for boolean or list selection.
Buttons to display dialog box (e.g. browse, color picker).
Apply / Cancel buttons for geometry selection.
Obsolete items are highlighted in red.
Header
The header identifies the control and names the current object.
Categories
Category fields extend across both columns of the Details Pane:
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Application Interface
This allows for maximum label width and differentiates categories from other types of fields. To expand
or collapse a category, double-click the category name.
Decisions
Decision fields control subsequent fields:
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Note
The left column always adjusts to fit the widest visible label. This provides maximum space
for editable fields in the right column. You can adjust the width of the columns by dragging
the separator between them.
Text Entry
Text entry fields may be qualified as strings, numbers, or integers. Units are automatically removed and
replaced to facilitate editing:
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Application Interface
Inappropriate characters are discarded (for example, typing a Z in an integer field). A numeric field
cannot be entered if it contains an invalid value. It is returned to its previous value.
Separator Clarification
Some languages use separators within numerical values whose meanings may vary across different
languages. For example, in English the comma separator [,] indicates thousand (2,300 implies two
thousand three hundred), but in German the comma separator indicates decimal (2,300 implies
two and three tenths, equivalent to 2.300 in English). To avoid misinterpretation of numerical values
you enter that include separators, you are asked to confirm such entries before they are accepted.
For example, in English, if you enter 2,300, you receive a message stating the following:
Entered value is 2,300. Do you want to accept the correction proposed below?
2300
To accept the correction, click Yes.
To close this message and correct the number yourself, click No.
Note
If an invalid entry is detected, an attempt is made to interpret the entry as numerical and
you receive the message mentioned above if an alternate value is found. If an invalid value
is entered, for example "a1.3.4", and no numerical alternative is found, the entry is rejected
and the previous value is re-displayed.
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Numeric Values
You can enter numeric expressions in the form of a constant value or expression, tabular data, or a
function. See Defining Boundary Condition Magnitude (p. 848) for further information.
Ranges
If a numeric field has a range, a slider appears to the right of the current value:
If the value changes, the slider moves; if the slider moves the value updates.
Increments
If a numeric field has an increment, a horizontal up/down control appears to the right of the current
value:
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Application Interface
The arrow button controls behave the same way a slider does.
Geometry
Geometry fields filter out inappropriate selection modes. For example, a bearing load can only be scoped
to a face. Geometries other than face will not be accepted.
Clicking Apply locks the current selection into the field. Other gestures (clicking Cancel or selecting a
different object or field) do not change the field's preexisting selection.
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Options
Option fields allow you to select one item from a short list. Options work the same way as Decisions (p. 14), but don't affect subsequent fields. Options are also used for boolean choices (true/false,
yes/no, enabled/disabled, fixed/free, etc.) Double-clicking an option automatically selects the next item
down the list.
Selecting an option followed by an ellipsis causes an immediate action.
Parameterizing a Variable
Variables that you can parameterize display in the interface with a check box. Clicking the check box
displays a blue capital "P", as illustrated below.
The boxes that appear in the Mechanical application apply only to the Parameter Workspace. Checking
or unchecking these boxes will have no effect on which CAD parameters are transferred to Design Exploration.
For more information, see "Setting Parameters" (p. 1151).
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Application Interface
Geometry Window
The Geometry window displays the geometry model. All view manipulation, geometry selection, and
graphics display of a model occurs in this window, which contains:
3D Graphics.
A scale ruler.
A legend and a triad control (when you display the solution).
Contour results objects.
Note
When you insert a Comment, the Geometry window splits horizontally; the HTML comment
editor displays in the bottom of the window, and the geometric representation of the model
displays at the top. For more information about editing comments, refer to the Comment
object reference.
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Repositioning Legend
To reposition the legend within the graphics window, select the legend with your mouse, hold down
the left mouse button and drag the mouse. Note that the multiple view window configuration does
not allow for the legend to be permanently saved in a unique location. Resumption of a database file
and toggling between a single view and multiple views will result in the legend being saved to its default
position in the upper left corner of the graphics window.
Print Preview
Print Preview runs a script to generate an HTML page and image. The purpose of the Print Preview
tab is to allow you to view your results or graphics image.
The title block is an editable HTML table. The table initially contains the Author, Subject, Prepared
For and Date information supplied from the details view of the Project tree node. To change or add
this information, double click inside the table. The information entered in the table does not propagate
any changes back to the details view and is not saved after exiting the Print Preview tab.
The image is generated in the same way as figures in Report.
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Application Interface
Report Preview
The Report Preview tab enables you to create a report based on the analyses in the Tree Outline. This
report selects items in the Tree Outline, examines the worksheets for it, then appends any material data
used in the analysis. The report generation process starts immediately, and, once started, it must run
to completion before you can begin working in the interface again.
You can click the Report Preview tab to create a report that covers all analyses in the Tree Outline.
The process starts immediately. Unlike prior report generators, this system works by extracting information from the user interface. It first selects each item in the Outline, then examines worksheets in a
second pass, and finally appends any material data used in the analysis. The material data will be expressed in the Workbench standard unit system which most closely matches the Mechanical application
unit system. Once started the report generation process must run to completion. Avoid clicking anywhere
else in Workbench during the run because this will stop the report process and may cause an error.
This approach to reporting ensures consistency, completeness, and accuracy.
This section examines the following Report Preview topics:
Publishing the Report
Sending the Report
Comparing Databases
Customizing Report Content
Tables
Most tables in the report directly correspond to the Details of an object or set of related objects. Object
names appear across the top of the tables.
By default, tables contain no more than six columns. This limit increases the likelihood that tables will
fit on the screen and on printed pages. In the Report Options dialog you can increase or decrease the
limit. For example, you may allow more columns if object names take up little space, if you have a high
resolution screen, or print in landscape layout. The minimum is two columns, in which case no grouping
of objects occurs and the Contents is equivalent to the Outline.
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The system merges identical table cells by default. This reduces clutter and helps to reveal patterns.
You can disable this feature in the Report Options dialog.
Note
The Report Preview feature does not display table entries from the nonlinear joint stiffness
matrix.
Comparing Databases
Because the report content directly corresponds to the user interface, it is easy to determine exactly
how two databases differ. Generate a report for the first database, open it in Word, save and exit. Open
the report for the second database in Word and choose Tools>Compare Documents. In the dialog,
uncheck the Find Formatting box and select the first file. Word highlights the differences, as illustrated
here:
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Application Interface
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Contextual Windows
Search and replace of Details text. For example, the report switches "Click to Change" to "Defined". This
capability allows for the use of custom terminology.
Insertion of custom XHTML content based on object, analysis and physics types, and whether the content
applies to the details table, the chart or the tabular data. For example, report includes a paragraph describing the modal analysis bar chart.
All files in the Report2006 folder contain comments detailing customization techniques.
Contextual Windows
A number of other windows are available. Some appear when specific tools are activated; others are
available from the View>Windows menu.
This section discusses the following windows:
Selection Information Window
Worksheet Window
Graph and Tabular Data Windows
Messages Window
Graphics Annotation Window
Section Planes Window
Manage Views Window
The Mechanical Wizard Window
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Application Interface
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Contextual Windows
Vertex
Individual vertex location and average location are reported. If two vertices are selected, their distance
and x, y, z distances are reported. The bodies that the vertex attaches to are also reported.
Node
The information displayed for selected node is similar to a vertex with addition of the Node ID.
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Application Interface
Edge
Combined and individual edge length and centroid are reported. The bodies that the edge attaches to
are reported. The type of the edge is also reported. If an edge is of circle type, the radius of the edge
is reported.
Face
Combined and individual area and centroid are reported. The bodies that the face attaches to are reported. The type of the face is reported. If a face is of cylinder type, the radius of the face is also reported.
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Contextual Windows
Body
Combined and individual volume, mass, and centroid are reported. The body name is reported. Your
choice of the mass moment of inertia in the selected coordinate system or the principal is also reported.
The choice is provided in the Selection Information Column Control dialog box (accessible from the
Using the Selection Information Window Toolbar (p. 33)).
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Application Interface
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Contextual Windows
Coordinate
If there is a mesh present, the picked point location and the closest mesh node ID and location are reported.
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Application Interface
In the case of a surface body model, the closest node will be located on the non-expanded mesh (that
can be seen if you turn off the option View> Thick Shells and Beams).
Non-expanded shell view:
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Contextual Windows
Coordinate System
A Coordinate System drop down selection box is provided on the toolbar. You can select the coordinate
system under which the selection information is reported. The centroid, location, and moment of inertia
information respect the selected coordinate system.
For example, if a cylindrical coordinate system is selected, the vertex location is reported using the
cylindrical coordinates.
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Application Interface
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Contextual Windows
Note
The Moment of Inertia option is unchecked by default.
The following example shows the effects of un-checking the centroid for face.
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Application Interface
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Contextual Windows
Reselect
Right click to reselect the highlighted rows.
Export
Right click to export the table to a text file or Excel file.
Sort
Click on the column header to sort the table.
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Application Interface
Worksheet Window
The worksheet presents you with information about objects in the tree in the form of tables, charts and
text, thereby supplementing the Details view. It is typically intended to summarize data for a collection
of objects (for example, the Connections folder worksheet reveals the inputs for all contacts, joints and
others) or to receive tabular inputs (for example, to specify the coefficients and the analyses to include
in Solution Combinations).
Behavior
Dockable Worksheet
By default, when you select an applicable object in the tree, a dockable Worksheet window displays
alongside the Geometry window, allowing you to review both at once. You may, however, disable
the display of the Worksheet window using the Worksheet toolbar button (see below). This preference
is persisted in future sessions of the product. There are specific objects that ignore the preference,
as outlined below.
Worksheet Function
Example Objects
Analysis Settings
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Contextual Windows
For tree objects that include an associated Worksheet, the Worksheet button on the standard toolbar
allows you to toggle the Worksheet window display on or off. The button is not available (grayed
out) for objects that do not include a Worksheet.
Worksheets designed to display many data items do not automatically display the data. The data
readily appears however when you click the Worksheet button. This feature applies to the worksheets
associated with the following object folders: Geometry, Coordinate System, Contact, Remote Points,
Mesh, and Solution.
Features
Go To Selected items
This useful feature allows you to find items in either the tree or Geometry window that match one
or more rows of the worksheet. If the worksheet displays a tabular summary of a number of objects,
select the rows of interest, right-click, and choose Go To Selected Items in Tree to instantly highlight
items that match the contents of the Name column (leftmost column). Control is thus transferred to
the tree or Geometry window, as needed.
Viewing Selected Columns
When a worksheet includes a table with multiple columns, you can control which columns to display.
To do so, right-click anywhere inside the table. From the context menu, check the column names of
interest to activate their display. Some columns may ignore this setting and remain hidden should
they be found inapplicable.
To choose the columns that will display, right mouse click anywhere inside the worksheet table. From
the context menu, click on any of the column names. A check mark signifies that the column will
appear. There are some columns in the worksheet that will not always be shown even if you check
them. For example, if all contact regions have a Pinball Region set to Program Controlled, the
Pinball Radius will not display regardless of the setting.
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Application Interface
Analysis Settings
For analyses with multiple steps, you can use these windows to select the step(s) whose analysis settings
you want to modify. The Graph window also displays all the loads used in the analysis.
These windows are also useful when using restarts. See Solution Restarts (p. 1032) for more information.
Loads
Inserting a load updates the Tabular Data window with a grid to enable you to enter data on a perstep basis. As you enter the data, the values are reflected in the Graph window.
A check box is available for each component of a load in order to turn on or turn off the viewing of
the load in the Graph window. Components are color-coded to match the component name in the
Tabular Data window. Clicking on a time value in the Tabular Data window or selecting a row in the
Graph window will update the display in the upper left corner of the Geometry window with the appropriate time value and load data.
As an example, if you use a Displacement load in an analysis with multiple steps, you can alter both
the degrees of freedom and the component values for each step by modifying the contents in the
Tabular Data window as shown above.
If you wish for a load to be active in some steps and removed in some other steps you can do so by
following the steps outlined in Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637).
Charts
With charts, the Graph and Tabular Data windows can be used to display loads and results against
time or against another load or results item.
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Contextual Windows
Insert Step: Inserts a new step at the currently selected time in the Graph window or Tabular Data
window. The newly created step will have default analysis settings. All load objects in the analysis will be
updated to include the new step.
Delete Step: Deletes a step.
Copy Cell: Copies the cell data into the clipboard for a selected cell or group of cells. The data may then
be pasted into another cell or group of cells. The contents of the clipboard may also be copied into Microsoft Excel. Cell operations are only valid on load data and not data in the Steps column.
Paste Cell: Pastes the contents of the clipboard into the selected cell, or group of cells. Paste operations
are compatible with Microsoft Excel.
Delete Rows: Removes the selected rows. In the Analysis Settings object this will remove corresponding
steps. In case of loads this modifies the load vs time data.
Select All Steps: Selects all the steps. This is useful when you want to set identical analysis settings for
all the steps.
Select All Highlighted Steps: Selects a subset of all the steps. This is useful when you want to set
identical analysis settings for a subset of steps.
Activate/Deactivate at this step!: This allows a load to become inactive (deleted) in one or more steps.
By default any defined load is active in all steps.
Zoom to Range: Zooms in on a subset of the data in the Graph window. Click and hold the left mouse
at a step location and drag to another step location. The dragged region will highlight in blue. Next, select
Zoom to Range. The chart will update with the selected step data filling the entire axis range. This also
controls the time range over which animation takes place.
Zoom to Fit: If you have chosen Zoom to Range and are working in a zoomed region, choosing Zoom
to Fit will return the axis to full range covering all steps.
Result data is charted in the Graph window and listed in the Tabular Data window. The result data
includes the Maximum and Minimum values of the results object over the steps.
Exporting Data
Export Tabular Data
Most of the loads and results in the Mechanical application are supported through the Graph and
Tabular data windows. You can export the data in the Tabular Data window in a Text and Excel File
Format. To export the data in the table, right-click the table, and then select Export. The right-click
menu also provides copy and paste features for this same purpose.
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Application Interface
The following objects require the worksheet data to be active in order to export:
Connections
Contact Group
Contact Initial Information
Contact Tool
Convergence
Coordinate Systems
Fatigue Sensitivities
Frequency Response
Geometry
Mesh
Solution
Thermal Condition
Note
When you select Top/Bottom as the Shell setting in the Details view for a surface body and
export the result contours (such as stresses and strains), the export file contains two results
for every node on a shell element. The first result is for the bottom face and the second
result is for the top face.
Steps to export
1.
2.
3.
Right-mouse click the selected object in the tree to produce the menu, then select Export.
4.
Specify a file name for the Excel file and save the file. Once saved, Excel opens automatically if installed
on your computer.
Note
You must right-mouse click on the selected object in the tree to use this Export feature.
On Windows platforms, if you have the Microsoft Office 2002 (or later) installed, you
may see an Export to Excel option if you right-mouse click in the Worksheet. This is
not the Mechanical application Export feature but rather an option generated by Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Options Settings
The Export the Mechanical application settings in the Options dialog box allows you to:
Automatically Open Excel (Yes by default)
Include Node Numbers (Yes by default)
Include Node Location (No by default)
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Contextual Windows
Messages Window
The Messages Window is a Mechanical application feature that prompts you with feedback concerning
the outcome of actions you have taken in the Mechanical application. For example, Messages display
when you resume a database, Mesh a model, or when you initiate a Solve.
Messages come in three forms:
Error
Warning
Information
By default the Messages Window is hidden, but displays automatically as a result of irregularities during
Mechanical application operations. To display the window manually: select View>Windows>Messages.
An example of the Messages Window is shown below.
In addition, the status bar provides a dedicated area (shown above) to alert you should one or more
messages become available to view. The Messages Window can be auto-hidden or closed using the
buttons on the top right corner of the window.
Note
You can toggle between the Graph and Messages windows by clicking a tab.
Once messages are displayed, you can:
Double-click a message to display its contents in a pop-up dialog box.
Highlight a message and then press the key combination Ctrl + C to copy its contents to the clipboard.
Press the Delete key to remove a selected message from the window.
Select one or more messages and then use the right mouse button click to display the following context
menu options:
Go To Object - Selects the object in the tree which is responsible for the message.
Show Message - Displays the selected message in a popup dialog box.
Copy - Copies the selected messages to the clipboard.
Delete - Removes the selected messages.
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Application Interface
Refresh - Refreshes the contents of the Messages Window as you edit objects in the Mechanical application tree.
in the
Main Menus
The main menus include the following items.
File Menu
Edit Menu
View Menu
Units Menu
Tools Menu
Help Menu
File Menu
Function
Description
Updates the geometry, materials, and any imported loads that are in the tree.
Save Project
Export
Allows you to export outside of the project. You can export a .mechdat file (when
running the Mechanical application) that later can be imported into a new Workbench project. Note that only the data native to the Mechanical application is saved
to the .mechdat file. External files (such as solver files) will not be exported. You
can also export the mesh for input to any of the following: Fluent (.msh), Polyflow
(.poly), CGNS (.cgns), and ICEM CFD (.prj).
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Main Menus
Function
Description
Clear Generated
Data
Clears all results and meshing data from the database depending on the object
selected in the tree.
Close Mechanical
Edit Menu
Function
Description
Duplicate
Duplicates the object you highlight. The model and environment duplication is
performed at the Project Schematic level (see Moving, Deleting, and Replacing
Systems for details).
Duplicate Without
Results
(Only available on solved result objects.) Duplicates the object you highlight, including all subordinate objects. Because the duplicated objects have no result data the
process is faster than performing Duplicate.
Copy
Copies an object.
Cut
Paste
Delete
Select All
Selects all items in the Model of the current selection filter type. Select All is also
available in a context menu if you click the right mouse button in the Geometry
window.
View Menu
Function
Description
Shaded Exterior
and Edges
Displays the model in the graphics window with shaded exteriors and distinct edges.
This option is mutually exclusive with Shaded Exterior and Wireframe.
Shaded Exterior
Displays the model in the graphics window with shaded exteriors only. This option
is mutually exclusive with Shaded Exterior and Edges and Wireframe.
Displays the model in the Geometry window with a wireframe display rather than
a shaded one (recommended for seeing gaps in surface bodies). This option is
mutually exclusive with Shaded Exterior and Edges and Shaded Exterior.
The Wireframe option not only applies to geometry, mesh, or named selections
displayed as a mesh, but extends to probes, results, and variable loads to enable
a better understanding of regions of interest.
Wireframe
When the View> Wireframe option is set, just the exterior faces of the meshed
models are shown, not the interior elements.
Note that when this option is on, green scoping is not drawn on probes. Also,
elements are shown on probes and results, whereas the outline of the mesh
is shown on isoline contour results.
Selecting any of the edges options on contour results automatically closes
Wireframe mode.
Graphics Options
Allows you to change the drawing options for edge connectivity. Most of these
options are also available on the Edge Graphics Options toolbar. See the Edge
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Application Interface
Function
Description
Graphics Options (p. 71) section for additional details. This menu also provides
the Draw Face Mode menu that allows you to change how faces are displayed
as a function of back-face culling. Options include:
Auto Face Draw (default) - turning back-face culling on or off is program
controlled. Using Section Planes is an example of when the application would
turn this feature off.
Draw Front Faces - face culling is forced to stay on. Back-facing faces will
not be drawn in any case, even if using Section Planes.
Draw Both Faces - back-face culling is turned off. Both front-facing and
back-facing faces are drawn.
See the Displaying Interior Mesh Faces section in the of the Help for a related
discussion of how these options are used.
Cross Section
Solids (Geometry)
Displays line body cross sections in 3D geometry. See Viewing Line Body Cross
Sections (p. 388) for details.
Toggles the visibility of the thickness applied to a shell or beam in the graphics
window when the mesh is selected. See notes below.
Visual Expansion
Toggles the visibility of either a single cyclic sector mesh or the full symmetry mesh
in a cyclic symmetry analysis. Toggling this option can help preview before solving
the density of nodes on the sector boundaries, or it can help confirm the expanded
mesh in each case.
Ruler
Toggles the visibility of the visual scale ruler in the graphics window.
Legend
Triad
Eroded Nodes
Used in mesh node result scoping to toggle the size of the displayed dots that
represent the results at the underlying mesh nodes.
Display Edge
Direction
Displays model edge directions. The direction arrow appears at the midpoint
of the edge. The size of the arrow is proportional to the edge length.
Expand All - Restores tree objects to their original expanded state.
Outline
Collapse Environments - Collapses all tree objects under the Environment object(s).
Collapse Models - Collapses all tree objects under the Model object(s).
Named Selections - Displays the Named Selection Toolbar (p. 69).
Unit Conversion - Displays the Unit Conversion Toolbar (p. 69).
Toolbars
Windows
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Main Menus
Function
Description
Mechanical Wizard - Toggles the display of a wizard on the right side of the window
which prompts you to complete tasks required for an analysis.
Graphics Annotations - Toggles the display of the Annotations window.
Section Planes - Toggles the display of the Section Planes window.
Selection Information - Toggles the display of the Selection Information window.
Manage Views - Toggles the display of the Manage Views window.
Tags - Toggles the display of the Tags window.
Reset Layout - Restores the Window layout back to a default state.
Notes:
Displaying Shells for Large Deflections: The display of shells may become distorted for large deformations such as in large deflection or during an Explicit Dynamics analyses. A workaround for this
is to disable Shell Thickness by toggling View>Thick Shells and Beams. Or, set a Workbench variable,
UsePseudoShellDisp = 1, through Tools> Variable Manager. It may be necessary to toggle the
deformation scaling from True Scale to Undeformed to True Scale again (see Scaling Deformed
Shape in the Context Toolbar Section). Note that this option requires True Scaling to work properly.
Displaying Shells on Shared Entities: The display of shells is done on a nodal basis. Therefore,
graphics plot only 1 thickness per node, although node thickness can be prescribed and solved on
a per elemental basis. When viewing shell thickness at sharp face intersections or a shared body
boundary, the graphics display may become distorted.
Displaying Contours and Displaced Shapes on Line Bodies: The contour result on a line body are
expanded to be viewed on the cross section shape, but only one actual result exists at any given
node and as a result no contour variations across a beam section occur.
Display Pipes using Pipe Idealizations: Although the solution will account for cross section distortions,
the graphics rendering for the results display the cross sections in their original shape.
Units Menu
Function
Description
Radians
rad/s
RPM
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Application Interface
Function
Description
Celsius
Kelvin
Tools Menu
Function
Description
Writes the Mechanical APDL application input file from the active Solution branch.
This option does not initiate a Solve.
Reads the Mechanical APDL application result files (.rst, solve.out, and so on) in a
directory and copies the files into the active Solution branch.
Addins...
Launches the Addins manager dialog that allows you to load/unload third-party
add-ins that are specifically designed for integration within the Workbench environment.
Options...
Allows you to customize the application and to control the behavior of Mechanical
application functions.
Variable Manager
Run Macro...
Help Menu
Function
Description
Mechanical Help
About Mechanical
Note
View menu settings are maintained between Mechanical application sessions except for the
Outline items and Reset Layout in the Windows submenu.
Toolbars
Toolbars are displayed across the top of the window, below the menu bar. Toolbars can be docked to
your preference. The layouts displayed are typical. You can double-click the vertical bar in the toolbar
to automatically move the toolbar to the left.
The various toolbars are described in the following sections:
Standard Toolbar
Graphics Toolbar
Context Toolbar
Named Selection Toolbar
Unit Conversion Toolbar
Graphics Options Toolbar
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Toolbars
Edge Graphics Options
Tree Filter Toolbar
Standard Toolbar
The Standard Toolbar contains application-level commands, configuration toggles and important general functions. Each icon button and its description follows:
Icon Button
Application-level command
Description
Show Errors
View a section cut through the model (geometry, mesh and results displays) as well as
obtained capped displays on either side of the
section. Refer to the Creating Section
Planes (p. 109) section for details.
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Application Interface
Icon Button
Application-level command
Description
New Comment
New Figure
New Image
Image to File
Note
The Aero Theme display mode
in Windows 7 is incompatible
with the screen capture used in
Mechanical. If you are running
Windows 7, select a Basic
Theme display mode to restore
this capability.
Show/Hide Worksheet Window
Selection Information
Graphics Toolbar
The Graphics Toolbar sets the selection/manipulation mode for the cursor in the graphics window.
The toolbar also provides commands for modifying a selection or for modifying the viewpoint. Each
icon button and its description follows:
Icon
Button
50
Description
Allows you to move and place the label of a load anywhere along
the feature that the load is currently scoped to.
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Toolbars
Icon
Button
Description
Direction
(Active only if you are setting a location, for example, a local coordinate system.) Enables the exterior coordinates of the model to display
adjacent to the cursor and updates the coordinate display as the
cursor is moved across the model. If you click with the cursor on the
model, a label displays the coordinates of that location. This feature
is functional on faces only. It is not functional on edges or line bodies.
Select Type
Select Geometry: This option allows you to select geometric entities (bodies, faces, edges, and vertices).
Select Mesh: This option allows you to select nodes or a group of
nodes by picking the node or nodes graphically or by defining a
node or group of nodes as a Named Selection. Note that you
must first generate the mesh.
Select Mode
Note
Selection shortcuts:
You can change your selection mode from Single Select
to Box Select by holding the right mouse button and
then clicking the left mouse button.
Given a generated mesh and that the Mesh Select option is active, holding the right mouse button and then
clicking the left mouse button scrolls through the
available selection options (single section, box selection,
box volume, lasso, lasso volume).
Vertex
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Application Interface
Icon
Button
Description
Edge
Face
Body
Extend Selection
Adds adjacent faces (or edges) within angle tolerance, to the currently
selected face (or edge) set, or adds tangent faces (or edges) within
angle tolerance, to the currently selected face (or edge) set.
Rotate
Pan
Zoom
Box Zoom
Fit
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Previous View
To return to the last view displayed in the graphics window, click the
Previous View button on the toolbar. By continuously clicking you
can see the previous views in consecutive order.
Next View
Set (ISO)
The Set ISO button allows you to set the isometric view. You can
define a custom isometric viewpoint based on the current viewpoint
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Toolbars
Icon
Button
Description
(arbitrary rotation), or define the "up" direction so that geometry
appears upright.
Look at
Manage Views
Displays the Manage Views window, which you can use to save
graphical views.
Rescale Annotation
Tags
Displays the Tags window, where you can mark objects in the tree
with meaningful labels, which can then be used to filter the tree.
Viewports
Keyboard Support
The same functionality is available via your keyboard provided the NumLock key is enabled. The
numbers correlate to the following functionality:
0 = View Isometric
1 = +Z Front
2 = -Y Bottom
3 =+X Right
4 = Previous View
5 = Default Isometric
6 = Next View
7 = -X Left
8 = +Y Top
9 = -Z Back
. (dot) = Set Isometric
Context Toolbar
The Context Toolbar configures its buttons based on the type of object selected in the Tree Outline (p. 3). The Context Toolbar makes a limited number of relevant choices more visible and readily
accessible.
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Application Interface
Context Toolbars include:
Model Context Toolbar (p. 55)
Geometry Context Toolbar (p. 56)
Virtual Topology Context Toolbar (p. 56)
Symmetry Context Toolbar (p. 56)
Connections Context Toolbar (p. 57)
Joint Configure Context Toolbar (p. 57)
Coordinate System Context Toolbar (p. 57)
Meshing Context Toolbar (p. 58)
Fracture Context Toolbar (p. 58)
Gap Tool Context Toolbar (p. 58)
Environment Context Toolbar (p. 58)
Variable Data Toolbar (p. 59)
Solution Context Toolbar (p. 59)
Solution Information Toolbar (p. 59)
Vector Display Context Toolbar (p. 64)
Result Context Toolbar (p. 59)
Geometry (p. 62)
Comment Context Toolbar (p. 68)
Print Preview Context Toolbar (p. 69)
Report Preview Context Toolbar (p. 69)
Note
Some Context Toolbar items, such as Connections or Mesh Controls, can be hidden.
Some Context Toolbar items cannot be hidden (for simplicity and to avoid jumbling the screen).
The toolbar appears blank when no options are relevant.
The toolbar displays a text label for the current set of options.
A Workbench Options dialog box setting turns off button text labels to minimize context
toolbar width.
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Toolbars
The Model Context toolbar becomes active when the Model object is selected in the tree. The Model
Context toolbar contains options for creating objects related to the model, as described below.
Construction Geometry
See the Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453) and Surface (Construction Geometry) (p. 459) sections for
details.
Virtual Topology
You can use the Virtual Topology option to reduce the number of elements in a model by merging faces
and lines. This is particularly helpful when small faces and lines are involved. The merging will impact
meshing and selection for loads and supports. See Virtual Topology Overview for details.
Symmetry
For symmetric bodies, you can remove the redundant portions based on the inherent symmetry, and
replace them with symmetry planes. Boundary conditions are automatically included based on the type
of analyses.
Remote Point
See the Remote Point (p. 460) section for details.
Connections
The Connections button is available only if a connection object is not already in the tree (such as a
model that is not an assembly), and you wish to create a connections object. Connection objects include
contact regions, joints, and springs.
You can transfer structural loads and heat flows across the contact boundaries and connect the
various parts. See the Contact section for details.
A joint typically serves as a junction where bodies are joined together. Joint types are characterized
by their rotational and translational degrees of freedom as being fixed or free. See the Joints section
for details.
You can define a spring (longitudinal or torsional) to connect two bodies together or to connect a
body to ground. See the Springs section for details.
Mesh Numbering
The Mesh Numbering feature allows you to renumber the node and element numbers of a generated
meshed model consisting of flexible parts. See the Mesh Numbering (p. 451) section for details.
Solution Combination
Use the Solution Combination option to combine multiple environments and solutions to form a new
solution. A solution combination folder can be used to linearly combine the results from an arbitrary
number of load cases (environments). Note that the analysis environments must be static structural with
no solution convergence. Results such as stress, elastic strain, displacement, contact, and fatigue may
be requested. To add a load case to the solution combination folder, right click on the worksheet view
of the solution combination folder, choose add, and then select the scale factor and the environment
name. An environment may be added more than once and its effects will be cumulative. You may suppress
the effect of a load case by using the check box in the worksheet view or by deleting it through a right
click. For more information, see Solution Combinations (p. 1019).
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Application Interface
Named Selection
You can create named selections to specify and control like-grouped items such as types of geometry.
For more information, see Named Selections (p. 429).
The Geometry Context toolbar is active when you select the Geometry branch in the tree or any items
within the Geometry branch. If you are using an assembly meshing algorithm, you can use the Geometry
toolbar to insert a virtual body. Using the Geometry toolbar you can also apply a Point Mass or a
Thermal Point Mass. You can also add a Commands object to individual bodies. For surface bodies,
you can add a Thickness object or an Imported Thickness object to define variable thickness, or
Layered Section objects to define layers applied to surfaces.
Construction Geometry
See Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453) and Surface (Construction Geometry) (p. 459) for details.
and
buttons: For cycling through virtual topology entities in the sequence in which they were created.
If any virtual topologies are deleted or merged, the sequence is adjusted automatically. See Cycling
Through Virtual Entities in the Geometry Window.
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Toolbars
The Joint Configure context toolbar includes the following settings and functions:
Configure, Set, and Revert buttons; and = field: Graphically configures the initial positioning of a joint.
Refer to Example: Configuring Joints (p. 576) for details.
Assemble button: For joints, performs the assembly of the model, finding the closest part configuration
that satisfies all the joints.
This toolbar only displays when you have a Joint selected. It can be displayed manually by selecting
View>Toolbars>Joint Configure.
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Application Interface
The Coordinate System context toolbar includes the following options:
Create Coordinate System: use the Create Coordinate System button (
a coordinate system.
The Fracture Context toolbar allows you to apply the objects associated with a Fracture Analysis, including Cracks as well as progressive failure features in the form of Interface Delamination and Contact
Debonding objects.
The Gap Tool Context toolbar is used to have the Mechanical application search for face pairs within a
specified gap distance that you specify.
The Environment Context toolbar allows you to apply loads to your model. The toolbar display varies
depending on the type of simulation you choose. For example, the toolbar for a Static Structural
analysis is shown above.
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Toolbars
The Variable Data toolbar allows you to view contours or the isoline representation of variable data,
including spatial varying loads, imported loads, and thicknesses. You can also view the variable data as
an isoline.
Note
The isoline option is drawn based on nodal values. When drawing isolines for imported loads
that store element values (Imported Body Force Density, Imported Convection, Imported
Heat Generation, Imported Heat Flux, Imported Pressure, and Imported Surface Force
Density), the program automatically calculates nodal values by averaging values of the elements
to which a node is attached.
This toolbar is not available for Imported Loads that are scoped to nodal-based Named Selections.
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Application Interface
The Result toolbar applies to Solution level objects that display contour or vector results. The following
subsections describe the options available on this toolbar.
Scaling Deformed Shape (p. 60)
Relative Scaling (p. 61)
Geometry (p. 62)
Contours Options (p. 62)
Edges Options (p. 63)
Vector Display Context Toolbar (p. 64)
Max, Min, and Probe Annotations (p. 66)
Display (p. 66)
Scale factors precede the descriptions in parentheses in the list. The scale factors shown above apply
to a particular model's deformation and are intended only as an example. Scale factors vary depending
on the amount of deformation in the model.
You can choose a preset option from the list or you can type a customized scale factor relative to the
scale factors in the list. For example, based on the preset list shown above, typing a customized scale
factor of 0.6 would equate to approximately 3 times the Auto Scale factor.
Undeformed does not change the shape of the part or assembly.
True Scale is the actual scale.
Auto Scale scales the deformation so that it's visible but not distorting.
The remaining options provide a wide range of scaling.
The system maintains the selected option as a global setting like other options in the Result toolbar.
As with other presentation settings, figures override the selection.
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Toolbars
For results that are not scaled, the combo box has no effect.
Note
Most of the time, a scale factor will be program chosen to create a deformed shape that will
show a visible deflection to allow you to better observe the nature of the results. However,
under certain conditions, the True Scale displaced shape (scale factor = 1) is more appropriate and is therefore the default if any of the following conditions are true:
Rigid bodies exist.
A user-defined spring exists in the model.
Large deflection is on.
This applies to all analyses except for modal and linear buckling analyses (in which case
True Scale has no meaning).
Currently, if you are performing a Modal or Linear Buckling analysis that includes rigid body parts, the
application is experiencing a limitation while scaling and/or animating results.
The motion of rigid parts is subject to changes in the position of the center of mass (linear displacement)
and changes in rotation (angular displacements). Because linear displacement and angular displacement
are different concepts, a scaling (other than True) that satisfies both (and one which is calculated
quickly) has not yet been implemented. Therefore, True scale is the best setting when animating rigid
parts.
For the best scaling results when working on a Modal analysis (where displacements are not true), use
the Auto Scale option.
However, when you have multiple scaling options selected, such as a body whose optimal scaling is
True and another body whose optimal scaling is Auto Scale, then the graphical display of the
motion of the bodies does not appear cleanly.
For random vibration (PSD) and response spectrum analyses, Mechanical sets the scale factor to zero.
In this case, the image of the finite element model does not deform.
Relative Scaling
The combo list provides five "relative" scaling options. These options scale deformation automatically
relative to preset criteria:
Undeformed
True Scale
0.5x Auto
Auto Scale
2x Auto
5x Auto
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Application Interface
Geometry
You can observe different views from the Geometry drop-down menu.
Exterior
This view displays the exterior results of the selected geometry.
IsoSurfaces
This view displays the interior only of the model at the transition point between values in the legend,
as indicated by the color bands.
Capped IsoSurfaces
This view displays contours on the interior and exterior. When you choose Capped IsoSurfaces, a
Capped Isosurface toolbar appears beneath the Result context toolbar. Refer to Capped Isosurfaces
for a description of the controls included in the toolbar.
Section Planes
This view displays planes cutting through the result geometry; only previously drawn Section Planes
are visible.
The model image changes to a wireframe representation.
Contours Options
To change the way you view your results, click any of the options on this toolbar.
Smooth
This view displays gradual distinction of colors.
Contour
This view displays the distinct differentiation of colors.
Isolines
This view displays a line at the transition between values.
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Toolbars
Solid
This view displays the model only with no contour markings.
Edges Options
You can switch to wireframe mode to see gaps in surface body models. Red lines indicate shared edges.
In addition, you can choose to view wireframe edges, include the deformed model against the undeformed model, or view elements.
Showing a subdued view of the undeformed model along with the deformed view is especially useful
if you want to view results on the interior of a body yet still want to view the rest of the body's shape
as a reference. An example is shown here.
The Show Undeformed Model option is useful when viewing any of the options in the Geometry dropdown menu.
No Wireframe
This view displays a basic picture of the body.
Show Undeformed Wireframe
This view shows the body outline before deformation occurred.
If the Creating Section Planes (p. 109) feature is active, choosing Show Undeformed WireFrame actually displays the wireframe with the deformations added to the nodes. This is intended to help you
interpret the image when you drag the section plane anchor across smaller portions of the model.
Show Undeformed Model
This view shows the deformed body with contours, with the undeformed body in translucent form.
Show Elements
This view displays element outlines.
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Application Interface
Click the Graphics button on the Result context toolbar to convert the result display from contours (default)
to vectors.
When in vector display, a Vector Display toolbar appears with controls as described below.
Note
This slider control is active only when the adjacent button is chosen
for displaying vectors that are aligned with a grid.
Displays vector arrows in line form.
Displays vector arrows in solid form.
When in vector display, click the Graphics button on the Result context toolbar to change the result
display back to contours. The Vector Display toolbar is removed.
Presented below are examples of vector result displays.
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Toolbars
Uniform vector lengths identify paths using vector arrows in line form.
Uniform vector lengths , grid display on section plane with vector arrows in solid form.
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Application Interface
Zoomed-in uniform vector lengths , grid display with arrow scaling and vector arrows in solid form.
Toolbar buttons allow for toggling Max and Min annotations and for creating probe annotations.
See also Viewing Annotations (p. 114).
Display
The Display feature on the Result Context Toolbar allows you to view:
All Bodies - Regions of the model not being drawn as a contour are plotted as translucent even for unscoped bodies as long as the bodies are visible (not hidden).
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Toolbars
Scoped Bodies - (default setting) Regions of the model not being drawn as a contour are plotted as
translucent for scoped bodies only. Unscoped bodies are not drawn.
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Results Only - Only the resultant contour or vector is displayed.
Limitations
The following limitations apply to this feature:
The Scoped Bodies and Results Only options support geometry-based scoping (Geometry Selection
property = Geometry) and Named Selections that are based on geometry selections or worksheet criteria.
The Scoped Bodies and Results Only options do not support Construction Geometry features Path and
Surface.
The Results Only option does not support the Explicit Dynamics Solver (AUTODYN).
For the Scoped Bodies option for results that are scoped across multiple entities (vertices, edges, faces,
or volumes), all of these entities may not display because there are times when only the nodes of one of
the shared entities are used in the calculation.
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Toolbars
When you select the Comment button in the standard toolbar or when you select a Comment object
already in the tree, the Comment Context toolbar and Comment Editor appear. The buttons at the top
allow you to insert an image or apply various text formatting.
To insert an image, click the button whose tool tip is Insert Image, then complete the information that
appears in the dialog box. For the Image URL, you can use a local machine reference (C:\...) or a web
reference (http:\\...).
The Print Preview toolbar allows you to print the currently-displayed image, or send it to an e-mail recipient or to a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint file.
The Graphics Options toolbar provides quick access to features that are useful for controlling the
graphical display of models. The toolbar is displayed by default, but can be hidden (or turned back on)
by selecting View> Toolbars> Graphics Options. Refer to the table below for the specific actions you
can take using this toolbars features.
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Application Interface
Icon Button
Description
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Show Mesh
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Toolbars
Icon Button
Description
Random Colors
Annotation Preferences
Note
As illustrated below, annotations may not always display properly when the Show Mesh
button is activated. Turning on Wireframe mode accurately displays Annotations when Show
Mesh is selected.
The Edge Graphics Options toolbar is a graphical display feature used for displaying the edges on a
model; their connectivity and how they are shared by faces. The toolbar is displayed by default, but
can be hidden (or turned back on) by selecting View>Toolbars>Edge Graphics Options. Refer to the
table below for the specific actions you can take using this toolbars features. Also see the Assemblies
of Surface Bodies (p. 376) section for details.
Icon Button
Description
By Body Color: Displays body colors to
represent boundary edges.
Edge Coloring
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Application Interface
Icon Button
Description
Black: Turns off the edge/face connectivity display. The entire model is displayed
in black.
Hide Free: Hides only edges not shared
by any faces.
Free
Single
Double
Triple
Multiple
Edge Direction
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Description
the arrow is proportional to the
edge length.
Note
The following restrictions apply when using the Edge Graphics Options functions on the
mesh, as compared to their use on geometry:
Not all the buttons/options are functional, for example, Double always displays thin black lines.
The width of the colored lines cannot be changed. They are always thick.
During slicing, the colors of shared element edges are not drawn. They display as black and
appear only when the selected section plane is losing focus in the slice tool pane.
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Application Interface
If a Details view option is not allowed for the current license level, and was preselected (either through
reopening of a database or a previous combination of settings) the Details view item will become invalid
and shaded yellow.
Note
When you attempt to add objects that are not compatible with your current license level,
the database enters a read-only mode and you cannot save data. However, provided you
are using any license, you can delete the incompatible objects, which removes the read-only
mode and allows you to save data and edit the database.
Environment Filtering
The Mechanical interface includes a filtering feature that only displays model-level items applicable to
the particular analysis type environments in which you are working. This provides a simpler and more
focused interface.
The environment filter has the following characteristics:
Model-level objects in the tree that are not applicable to the environments under a particular model are
hidden.
The user interface inhibits the insertion of model-level objects that are not applicable to the environments
of the model.
Model-level object properties (in the Details view of objects) that are not applicable to the environments
under the model are hidden.
The filter is enabled by default when you enter the Mechanical application. You can disable the filter
by highlighting the Model object, clicking the right mouse button, and choosing Disable Filter from
the context menu. To enable the filter, repeat this procedure but choose Auto Filter from the context
menu. You can also check the status of the filter by highlighting the Model object and in the Details
view, noting whether Control under Filter Options is set to Enabled or Disabled.
The filter control setting (enabled or disabled) is saved when the model is saved and returns to the
same state when the database is resumed.
Specifying Options
You can control the behavior of functions in the Mechanical application through the Options dialog
box. To access the Mechanical application options:
1. From the main menu, choose Tools> Options. An Options dialog box appears and the Mechanical application options are displayed on the left.
2. Click on a specific option.
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Note
If you enter a number with the thousand separator (in English, the thousand separator is a
comma [,]), you will be asked to confirm the entry before it is accepted. For example, if you
enter 2,300, you receive a message stating the following:
Entered value is 2,300. Do you want to accept the correction proposed below?
2300
To accept the correction, click Yes.
To close this message and correct the number yourself, click No.
Option settings within a particular language are independent of option settings in another
language. If you change any options from their default settings, then start a new Workbench
session in a different language, the changes you made in the original language session are not
reflected in the new session. You are advised to make the same option changes in the new
language session.
Mechanical Options
The following Mechanical application options appear in the Options dialog box:
Connections
Convergence
Import
Export
Fatigue
Frequency
Geometry
Graphics
Miscellaneous
Report
Analysis Settings and Solution
Visibility
Wizard
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Application Interface
Connections
The Auto Detection category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Note
The auto contact detection on geometry attach can be turned on/off from the Workbench
Options dialog box for the Mechanical application. See the Mechanical part of the Setting
ANSYS Workbench Options section of the Help.
Tolerance: Sets the default for the contact detection slider; i.e., the relative distance to search for contact
between parts. The higher the number, the tighter the tolerance. In general, creating contacts at a tolerance
of 100 finds less contact surfaces than at 0. The default is 0. The range is from -100 to +100.
Face/Face: Sets the default preference1 (p. 76) for automatic contact detection between faces of different
parts. The choices are Yes or No. The default is Yes.
Face/Edge: Sets the default preference1 (p. 76) for automatic contact detection between faces and edges
of different parts. The choices are:
Yes
No (default)
Only Solid Body Edges
Only Surface Body Edges
Edge/Edge: Sets the default preference1 (p. 76) for automatic contact detection between edges of different
parts. The choices are Yes or No. The default is No.
Priority: Sets the default preference1 (p. 76) for the types of contact interaction priority between a given
set of parts. The choices are:
Include All (default)
Face Overrides
Edge Overrides
Revolute Joints: Sets the default preference for automatic joint creation of revolute joints. The choices
are Yes and No. The default is Yes.
Fixed Joints: Sets the default preference for automatic joint creation of fixed joints. The choices are Yes
and No. The default is Yes.
1
Unless changed here in the Options dialog box, the preference remains persistent when starting any
Workbench project.
The Transparency category includes the following exclusive controls for this category. There are no
counterpart settings in the Details view.
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Application Interface
Convergence
The Convergence category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Target Change: Change of result from one adapted solution to the next. The default is 20. The range is
from 0 to 100.
Allowable Change: This should be set if the criteria is the max or min of the result. The default is Max.
The Solution category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Max Refinement Loops: Allows you to change the number of loops. The default is 1. The range is from
1 to 10.
Import
The Import category allows you to specify preferences for when you import data into Mechanical.
Currently, these preferences are for importing delamination interfaces from the ANSYS Composite
PrepPost (ACP) application.
Create Delamination Objects: This option controls the automatic creation of Interface Delamination objects
in Mechanical when importing layered section data from ACP. When Interface layers are specified in ACP,
Interface Delamination objects corresponding to Interface Layers are automatically inserted into the
Mechanical Tree Outline under the Fracture object. The default setting is Yes.
Delete Invalid Objects: This option controls the deletion of Invalid Interface Delamination objects scoped
to Interface Layers from ACP. When an Interface Layer specified in ACP is deleted, the corresponding Interface Delamination object is deleted in Mechanical when the project is refreshed. The default settings
is No. This default setting suppresses invalid objects instead of automatically deleting them.
Export
The Export category provides the following exclusive settings. There are no counterpart settings in the
Details view.
Automatically Open Excel: Excel will automatically open with exported data. The default is Yes.
Include Node Numbers: Node numbers will be included in exported file. The default is Yes.
Include Node Location: Node location can be included in exported file. The default is No.
Fatigue
The General category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Design Life: Number of cycles that indicate the design life for use in fatigue calculations. The default is
1e9.
Analysis Type: The default fatigue method for handling mean stress effects. The choices are:
SN - None (default)
SN - Goodman
SN - Soderberg
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Frequency
The Frequency category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Max Number of Modes: The number of modes that a newly created frequency branch will contain. The
default is 6. The range is from 1 to 200.
Limit Search to Range: You can specify if a frequency search range should be considered in computing
frequencies. The default is No.
Min Range (Hz): Lower limit of search range. The default is 0.
Max Range (Hz): Upper limit of search range. The default is 100000000.
Cyclic Phase Number of Steps: The number of intervals to divide the cyclic phase range (0 - 360 degrees)
for frequency couplet results in cyclic modal analyses.
Geometry
The Geometry category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Nonlinear Material Effects: Indicates if nonlinear material effects should be included (Yes), or ignored
(No). The default is Yes.
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Application Interface
Thermal Strain Calculation: Indicates if thermal strain calculations should be included (Yes), or ignored
(No). The default is Yes.
Note
This setting applies only to newly attached models, not to existing models.
The Material category provides the setting Prompt for Model Refresh on Material Edit. This setting
relates to the material Assignment property. If you choose to edit a material or create/import a new
material via this property, the application displays a message (illustrated below) reminding you to refresh
the Model cell in the Workbench Project Schematic. The default setting is Yes. The message in Mechanical provides you with the option to not show the message again. This option is in addition to this
method of changing this setting to No.
Graphics
The Default Graphics Options category allows you to change the default values in the Details view
for the following:
Max Number of Annotations to Show: A slider that specifies the number of annotations that are shown
in the legend and the graphics. The possible values range from 0 to 50. The default is 10.
Show Min Annotation: Indicates if Min annotation will be displayed by default (for new databases). The
default is No.
Show Max Annotation: Indicates if Max annotation will be displayed by default (for new databases). The
default is No.
Contour Option: Selects default contour option. The choices are:
Smooth Contour
Contour Bands (default)
Isolines
Solid Fill
Flat Contour Tolerance: Flat contours (no variation in color) display if the minimum and maximum results
values are equal. The comparison of the minimum and maximum values is made using scientific notation
with the number of significant digits to the right of the decimal point as specified with the flat contour
tolerance setting (3 to 9). Increasing this tolerance allows you to display contours for an otherwise too
narrow range of values. Decreasing this tolerance prevents insignificant range variations from being contoured. This setting has a default value of 3.
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Miscellaneous
The Miscellaneous category allows you to change the default values in the Details view for the following:
Load Orientation Type: Specifies the orientation input method for certain loads. This input appears in
the Define By option in the Details view of the load, under Definition.
Vector (default)
Component
The Image category includes the following exclusive controls for this category. There are no counterpart
settings in the Details view.
Image Transfer Type: Defines the type of image file created when you send an image to Microsoft Word
or PowerPoint, or when you select Print Preview. The choices are:
PNG (default)
JPEG
BMP
The Post Processing (MAPDL Only) category includes the following controls for results files written
by the Mechanical APDL solver:
Result File Caching: By holding substantial portions of a file in memory, caching reduces the amount of
I/O associated with result file reading. The cache can, however, reduce memory that would otherwise be
used for other solutions. The choices are:
System Controlled (default): The operating system determines whether or not the result file is cached
for reading.
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Application Interface
Off: There is no caching during the reading of the result file.
Programmed Controlled: The Mechanical application determines whether or not the result file is cached
for reading.
The Save Options category includes the following controls for this category.
Save Project Before Solution: Sets the Yes / No default for the Save Project Before Solution setting
located in the Project Details panel. Although you can set the default here, the solver respects the latest
Save Project Before Solution setting in the Details panel. The default for this option is No. Selecting Yes
saves the entire project immediately before solving (after any required meshing). If the project had never
been previously saved, you can now select a location to save a new file.
Save Project After Solution: Sets the Yes / No default for the Save Project After Solution setting in the
Project Details panel. The default for this option is No Selecting Yes Saves the project immediately after
solving but before postprocessing. If the project had never been previously saved, nothing will be saved.
Note
The save options you specify on the Project Details panel override the options specified
in the Options dialog box and will be used for the current project.
Report
The Figure Dimensions (in Pixels) category includes the following controls that allow you to make
changes to the resolution of the report for printing purposes.
Chart Width - Default value equals 600 pixels.
Chart Height - Default value equals 400 pixels.
Graphics Width - Default value equals 600 pixels.
Graphics Height - Default value equals 500 pixels.
Graphics Resolution - Resolution values include:
Optimal Onscreen Display (1:1)
Enhanced Print Quality (2:1)
High-Resolution Print Quality (4:1)
The Customization category includes the following controls:
Maximum Number of Table Columns: (default = 6 columns) Changes the number of columns used when
a table is created.
Merge Identical Table Cells: merges cells that contain identical values. The default value is Yes.
Omit Part and Joint Coordinate System Tables: chooses whether to include or exclude Coordinate
System data within the report. This data can sometimes be cumbersome. The default value is Yes.
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Note
This option applies only to Figure objects as pictures. Graph pictures, Engineering Data
graphs, and result graphs (such as phase response in a harmonic analysis) are not affected
and will appear regardless of this option setting.
Custom Report Generator Folder: reports can be run outside of the Workbench installation directory by
copying the Workbench Report2006 folder to a new location. Specify the new folder location in this field.
See the Customize Report Content section for more information.
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Output Controls (Modal): this category allows you to change the default value in the Details for the
Store Modal Results option. The default setting is Program Controlled.
The Output Controls (Random Vibration) category allows you to change the default value in the Details
view for the following:
Keep Modal Results: include or remove modal results from the result file of random vibration analysis.
The default setting is No.
Calculate Velocity: Write Velocity results to the results file. The default setting is Yes.
Calculate Acceleration: Write Acceleration results to the results file. The default setting is Yes.
The Restart Controls category allows you to change the default value in the Details view for the following:
Generate Restart Points: Program Controlled (default setting) automatically generates restart points.
Additional options include Manual, that provides user-defined settings, and Off, which restricts the creation
of new restart points.
Retain Files After Full Solve: when restart points are requested, the necessary restart files are always
retained for an incomplete solve due to a convergence failure or user request. However, when the solve
completes successfully, you have the option to request to either keep the restart points by setting this
field to Yes, or to delete them by setting this field to No.
You can control these settings in the Details view of the Analysis Settings object under Restart Controls (p. 644), or here under Tools> Options in the Analysis Settings and Solution preferences list. The
setting in the Details view overrides the preference setting.
The Solution Information category allows you to change the default value in the Details view for the
following:
Refresh Time: specifies how often any of the result tracking items under a Solution Information object
get updated while a solution is in progress. The default is 2.5 s.
Activate FE Connection Visibility: specifies the value of the Activate Visibility property. The default
setting is Yes.
The Solution Settings category allows you to set the default value in the Details view for the following:
Results Availability: specifies what results to allow under the Solution object in Design Assessment systems
when the Solution Selection object allows combinations. The default is Filter Combination Results.
The Analysis Data Management category allows you to set the default value in the Details view for
the Save MAPDL db control. Values are No (default) or Yes. The setting of the Future Analysis control
(see Analysis Data Management Help section) can sometimes require the db file to be written. In this
case, the Save MAPDL db control is automatically set to Yes.
Visibility
This selection and category provides the Part Mesh Statistics setting. This setting allows you to display
or hide the Statistics category in the Details view for Body and Part objects.
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Wizard
The Wizard Options category includes the following exclusive controls for this category. There are no
counterpart settings in the Details view.
Default Wizard: This is the URL to the XML wizard definition to use by default when a specific wizard
isn't manually chosen or automatically specified by a simulation template. The default is StressWizard.xml.
Flash Callouts: Specifies if callouts will flash when they appear during wizard operation. The default is
Yes.
The Skin category includes the following exclusive controls for this category. There are no counterpart
settings in the Details view.
Cascading Style Sheet: This is the URL to the skin (CSS file) used to control the appearance of the
Mechanical Wizard. The default is Skins/System.css.
The Customization Options category includes the following exclusive controls for this category. There
are no counterpart settings in the Details view.
Mechanical Wizard URL: For advanced customization. See Appendix: Workbench Mechanical Wizard Advanced
Programming Topics for details.
Enable WDK Tools: Advanced. Enables the Wizard Development Kit. The WDK adds several groups of tools
to the Mechanical Wizard. The WDK is intended only for persons interested in creating or modifying wizard
definitions. The default is No. See the Appendix: Workbench Mechanical Wizard Advanced Programming
Topics for details.
Note
URLs in the Mechanical Wizard follow the same rules as URLs in web pages.
Relative URLs are relative to the location of the Mechanical Wizard URL.
Absolute URLs may access a local file, a UNC path, or use HTTP or FTP.
Setting Variables
Variables provide you the capability to override default settings.
To set variables:
1.
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2.
3.
4.
Click OK.
Variable name
Allowable Values
Description
DSMESH OUTPUT
filename
DSMESH DEFEATUREPERCENT
a number between
1e-6 and 1e-3
Keep Modal
Results
Status
The status box indicates if a particular variable is active or not. Checked indicates that the variable is
active. Unchecked indicates that the variable is available but not active. This saves you from typing in
the variable and removing it.
Using Macros
The Mechanical application allows you to execute custom functionality that is not included in a standard
Mechanical application menu entry via its Run Macro feature. The functionality is defined in a macro a script that accesses the Mechanical application programming interface (API).
Macros can be written in Microsoft's JScript or VBScript programming languages. Several macro files
are provided with the ANSYS Workbench installation under \ANSYS
Inc\v150\AISOL\DesignSpace\DSPages\macros. Macros cannot currently be recorded from
the Mechanical application.
To access a macro from the Mechanical application:
1.
2.
3.
Open the macro. The functionality will then be accessible from the Mechanical application.
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Selecting Geometry
This section discusses cursor modes and how to select and pick geometry in the Geometry window. It
includes information on the following:
Pointer Modes (p. 88)
Highlighting (p. 88)
Picking (p. 88)
Blips (p. 89)
Painting (p. 89)
Depth Picking (p. 89)
Selection Filters (p. 90)
Extend Selection Menu (p. 91)
Selection Modes (p. 90)
For Help on how to select mesh nodes and elements, see the Selecting Nodes and Selecting Elements
sections. Many of the same selection and picking tools are employed for mesh selections.
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Pointer Modes
The pointer in the graphics window is always either in a picking filter mode or a view control mode.
When in a view control mode the selection set is locked. To resume the selection, repress a picking filter
button.
The Graphics Toolbar offers several geometry filters and view controls as the default state, for example,
face, edge, rotate, and zoom.
If a Geometry field in the Details View (p. 11) has focus, inappropriate picking filters are automatically
disabled. For example, a pressure load can only be scoped to faces.
If the Direction field in the Details View (p. 11) has focus, the only enabled picking filter is Select Direction. Select Direction mode is enabled for use when the Direction field has focus; you never choose
Select Direction manually. You may manipulate the view while selecting a direction. In this case the
Select Direction button allows you to resume your selection.
Highlighting
Hovering your cursor over a geometry entity highlights the selection and provides visual feedback about
the current pointer behavior (e.g. select faces) and location of the pointer (e.g. over a particular face).
As illustrated here, the face edges are highlighted in colored dots.
Picking
A pick means a click on visible geometry. A pick becomes the current selection, replacing previous selections. A pick in empty space clears the current selection.
By holding the Ctrl key down, you can add additional selections or remove existing selections. Clicking
in empty space with Ctrl depressed does not clear current selections.
For information on picking nodes, see Selecting Nodes (p. 96).
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Blips
As illustrated below, when you make a selection on a model, a crosshair blip appears.
Note
This is important for depth picking, a feature discussed below.
Painting
Painting means dragging the mouse on visible geometry to select more than one entity. A pick is a
trivial case of painting. Without holding the Ctrl key down, painting picks all appropriate geometry
touched by the pointer.
Depth Picking
Depth Picking allows you to pick geometry through the Z-order behind the blip.
Whenever a blip appears above a selection, the graphics window displays a stack of rectangles in the
lower left corner. The rectangles are stacked in appearance, with the topmost rectangle representing
the visible (selected) geometry and subsequent rectangles representing geometry hit by a ray normal
to the screen passing through the blip, front to back. The stack of rectangles is an alternative graphical
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display for the selectable geometry. Each rectangle is drawn using the same edge and face colors as
its associated geometry.
Highlighting and picking behaviors are identical and synchronized for geometry and its associated
rectangle. Moving the pointer over a rectangle highlights both the rectangle its geometry, and vice
versa. Ctrl key and painting behaviors are also identical for the stack. Holding the Ctrl key while clicking
rectangles picks or unpicks associated geometry. Dragging the mouse (Painting (p. 89)) along the
rectangles picks geometry front-to-back or back-to-front.
Selection Filters
The mouse pointer in the graphics window is either in a picking filter mode or a view control mode. A
depressed button in the graphics toolbar indicates the current mode.
Filter
Behavior
Vertices
Vertices are represented by concentric circles about the same size as a blip. The circumference
of a circle highlights when the pointer is within the circle.
Edges
Painting may be used to pick multiple edges or to "paint up to" an edge (to avoid tediously
positioning the pointer prior to clicking).
Faces
Allows selection of faces. Highlighting occurs by dotting the banding edges of the face.
Bodies
Picking and painting: select entire bodies. Highlighted by drawing a bounding box around
the body. The stack shows bodies hidden behind the blip (useful for selecting contained
bodies).
Selection Modes
The Select Mode toolbar button allows you to select items designated by the Selection Filters through
the Single Select or Box Select drop-down menu options.
Single Select (default): Click on an item to select it.
Box Select: Define a box that selects filtered items. When defining the box, the direction that you drag
the mouse from the starting point determines what items are selected, as shown in the following figures:
Dragging to the right to form the box selects entities that are completely enclosed by the box.
Visual cue: 4 tick marks completely inside the box.
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Dragging to the left to form the box selects all entities that touch the box.
Visual cue: 4 tick marks that cross the sides of the box.
Box Volume Select: Available for node-based Named Selections only. Selects all the surface and internal
node within the box boundary across the cross-section. The line of selection is normal to the screen.
Lasso Select: Available for node-based Named Selections only. Selects surface nodes that occur within
the shape you define.
Lasso Volume Select: Available for node-based Named Selections only. Selects nodes that occur within
the shape you define.
Note
Selection shortcuts:
You can use the Ctrl key for multiple selections in both modes.
You can change your selection mode from Single Select to Box Select by holding the right
mouse button and then clicking the left mouse button.
Given a generated mesh and that the Mesh Select option is active, holding the right mouse
button and then clicking the left mouse button scrolls through the available selection options
(single section, box selection, box volume, lasso, lasso volume).
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For edges, Extend to Adjacent searches for edges adjacent to edges in the current selection that meet
an angular tolerance at their shared vertex.
Extend to Limits
For faces, Extend to Limits searches for faces that are tangent to the current selection as well as all
faces that are tangent to each of the additional selections within the part. The selections must meet
an angular tolerance along their shared edges.
For edges, Extend to Limits searches for edges that are tangent to the current selection as well as all
edges that are tangent to each of the additional selections within the part. The selections must meet
an angular tolerance along their shared vertices.
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Extend to Instances (available only if CAD pattern instances are defined in the model): When a CAD
feature is repeated in a pattern, it produces a family of related topologies (for example, vertices, edges,
faces, bodies) each of which is named an "instance". Using Extend to Instances, you can use one of the
instances to select all others in the model.
As an example, consider three parts that are instances of the same feature in the CAD system. First
select one of the parts.
Then, choose Extend to Instances. The remaining two part instances are selected.
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Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not
supported by Mechanical solvers.
The extent of the faces that will be included depends greatly on the current set of connections, as defined by the specified connections criteria (for example, Connection Type,
Tolerance Value, and so on). By modifying the criteria and regenerating the connections,
a different set of faces may be included. Refer to Common Connections Folder Operations
for Auto Generated Connections (p. 501) for more information.
The figures below illustrate simple usage of the Extend to Connection option. Refer to
Defining Virtual Bodies in the Meshing help for a practical example of how you can use
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For all options, you can modify the angle used to calculate the selection extensions in the Workbench
Options dialog box setting Extend Selection Angle Limit under Graphics Interaction.
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Selecting Nodes
As with geometry selection, you use many of the same selection and picking tools for mesh node selections. Once you have generated the mesh on your model, you use picking tools to select individual or
multiple nodes on a mesh. You use node selections to define objects such as a node-based coordinate
system or node-based Named Selections as well as examining solution information about your node
selections. This section describes the steps to perform node selections on a mesh.
Additional topics included in this section, as show below, cover additional uses for the node selection
capability.
Node Selection (p. 96)
Selection Modes for Node Selection (p. 97)
View Node Information (p. 98)
Select Mesh Nodes on a Result Contour (p. 99)
Also see the following sections for the steps to create node-based coordinate systems and Named Selections.
Creating a Coordinate System by Direct Node Selection
Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection
Node Selection
To select individual nodes:
1.
Generate a mesh by highlighting the Mesh object and clicking the Generate Mesh button.
2.
3.
Choose the appropriate selection tool in the Select Mode list. For more information on the node-based
selection modes, see Selection Modes for Node Selection (p. 97).
Note
The Vertex geometry selection option is the only selection option available to pick nodes.
When working with Line Bodies: Nodes can be selected using volume selection modes
only (Box Volume Select or Lasso Volume Select).
When working with Line Bodies and Surface Bodies: it is recommended that you turn
off the Thick Shells and Beams option (View>Thick Shells and Beams). This option
changes the graphical display of the models thickness and as a result can affect how your
node selections are displayed.
4.
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Box Select
Selects all the surface and internal nodes within the box boundary across the crosssection. The line of selection is normal to the screen.
Is similar to the Box Select mode. Selects surface nodes that occur within the
shape you define for surfaces oriented toward the screen.
Lasso Select
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Similar to Box Volume Select mode. Selects the nodes that occur within the shape
you define.
Lasso Volume
Select
Tip
To select multiple nodes, press the Ctrl key or press the left mouse and then drag over the
surface. You can also create multiple node groups at different locations using the Ctrl key.
To select all internal and surface nodes, use the Box Volume Select or Lasso Select tool and
cover the entire geometry within the selection tool boundary.
Description
Coordinate System
Show Individual
Show Summary
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The positions of selected nodes reported in the Selection Information window are those from nondeformed mesh.
Note
If the graphics expansion is used (for shells and cyclic expansion, for example), the selection will work on the expanded graphics, while the reported node ID and position
will be those in the non-expanded mesh. To eliminate confusion, switch the expansion
off.
2.
Note
The mesh is not shown after coordinate system creation. To view the mesh again,
from the Tree Outline, select Mesh.
If you re-mesh the body at this point, you will see that the coordinate system remains in the same location, as it is based on node location rather than node number.
Note
While you cannot create an aligned coordinate system based on multiple nodes, you
can create a local coordinate system at the centroid with an axis oriented in the direction
of the global coordinate system.
To create an aligned coordinate system:
1.
From the Tree Outline, select a Vector Principal Stress or Vector Principal Strain result.
2.
Select a single node using the method outlined in Selecting Nodes (p. 96).
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Right-click in the Graphics window and select Create Aligned Coordinate System.
A coordinate system is created. The Y-axis of the local coordinate system is oriented in the direction
of S1 (direction of max. principal stress).
Note
Vector Principal Stress and Vector Principal Strain results cannot be applied to line bodies
or a node located on a line body. As a result, any automatically generated (aligned) coordinate
system would be incorrect.
Note
You can make direct node selections when working with beams (line bodies) using the
Worksheet. Direct graphical selection is also available but requires the appropriate selection tool (Select Mode) as described in the Node Selection section.
To define node-based Named Selections:
1. Select individual nodes or define the shape to select nodes, as described in Selecting Nodes (p. 96).
Note
For accuracy, ensure that the selected node lies within the scoped area of the result
Note
If you select a large number of nodes (order of magnitude: 10,000), you are prompted with a
warning message regarding selection information time requirements.
Following a remesh or renumber, all nodes are removed from named selections. If named selections were defined with Scoping Method set to Worksheet and if the Generate on Remesh
field was set to Yes in the Details view of the Named Selection folder, then the nodes are
updated. Otherwise, node scoping does not occur and the named selection will be empty.
Selecting Elements
Once you have generated the mesh on your model, you can select individual elements or multiple
elements on a mesh using the appropriate selection filters (Body) and modes (Single Select and Box
Select). The following topics describe element-based selection methods and features:
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Application Interface
Selecting Elements (p. 102)
Viewing Element Information (p. 103)
Specifying Element-Based Named Selections (p. 104)
Selecting Elements
To select an element or elements:
1.
Generate the mesh by highlighting the Mesh object and clicking the Generate Mesh button.
2.
From the Select Type drop-down menu on the Graphics Toolbar, choose Select Mesh.
3.
Choose the desired selection tool from the Select Mode drop-down menu on the Graphics Toolbar.
Active options include either Single Select or Box Selection.
4.
Note
The Body Selection Filter must be used to pick elements.
As illustrated below for the example Named Selection, Graphically Selected Elements,
when the Show Mesh feature is active, the elements of a named selection, or multiple
named selections, are highlighted. Otherwise, the elements are drawn.
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When working with Line Bodies and Surface Bodies: it is recommended that you turn
off the Thick Shells and Beams option (View>Thick Shells and Beams). This option
changes the graphical display of the models thickness and as a result can affect how your
element selections are displayed.
The Select All (Ctrl+A) option is not available when selecting elements.
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Note
The Status Bar at the bottom of the application window also displays the number of elements
you currently have selected.
For additional information, see the Selection Information Toolbar section.
2.
With your desired element selections highlighted, right-click the mouse and select Create Named Selection from the context menu.
3.
Element-based Named Selections are written into the MAPDL input file and this data can be used by
the Command object for further processing.
Defining Direction
Orientation may be defined by any of the following geometric selections:
A planar face (normal to).
A straight edge.
Cylindrical or revolved face (axis of ).
Two vertices.
This section discusses the following topics:
Direction Defaults (p. 105)
Highlighting Geometry in Select Direction Mode (p. 105)
Selecting Direction by Face (p. 105)
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Direction Defaults
If you insert a load on selected geometry that includes both a magnitude and a direction, the Direction
field in the Details view states a particular default direction. For example, a force applied to a planar
face by default acts normal to the face. One of the two directions is chosen automatically. The load
annotation displays the default direction.
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Note
The scope is indicated by painting the geometry.
Using Viewports
The Viewports toolbar button allows you to split the graphics display into a maximum of four simultaneous views. You can see multiple viewports in the Geometry Window (p. 20) window when any
object in the tree is in focus except Project. You can choose one, horizontal, vertical, or four viewports.
Each viewport can have separate camera angles, labels, titles, backgrounds, etc. Any action performed
when viewports are selected will occur only to the active viewport. For example, if you animate a
viewport, only the active viewport will be animated, and not the others.
A figure can be viewed in a single viewport only. If multiple viewports are created with the figure in
focus, all other viewports display the parent of the figure.
Note
Each viewport has a separate Section tool, and therefore separate Section Plane. The
concept of copying a Section Plane from one window to the next does not exist. If you
want Section Planes in a new window, you must create them in that window.
Viewports are not supported in stepped analyses.
Control
Pan
Zoom
Box Zoom
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button.
Creating a View
To save the current graphical view:
1.
2.
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Application Interface
You can now return to this view at any time using this view entry.
Note
You must save the project to save your created views in the Manage Views window.
Applying a View
Saved graphical views are listed in the Manage Views window. You can return to a saved view at any
time.
To return to a saved graphical view:
1.
2.
Renaming a View
To rename a saved graphical view:
1.
In the Manage Views window, select the view you want to rename.
2.
3.
4.
Deleting a View
To delete a saved graphical view:
1.
In the Manage Views window, select the view you want to delete.
2.
In the Manage Views window, select the view you want to update.
2.
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2.
Navigate to the file directory where you want to store the XML file and enter the desired file name.
3.
Click Save.
2.
3.
Click Open.
In the Manage Views window, right-click a view and select Copy as MAPDL Command.
2.
3.
Paste the new Mechanical APDL command into the file. The settings structure is:
/FOC
/VIEW
/ANG
/DIST
4.
Select the Solve button, and the new view is available in the Commands (APDL) file.
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Application-Level Command
New Section Plane
Edit Section Plane
Delete Section Plane
Show Whole Elements (available when the Mesh object is selected)
The mesh display will show 75% of the model while the geometry display will show 25% of the model.
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For additional information about the use of the Section Plane feature, see the following topics.
Adding a Section Plane
Using Section Planes
Modifying a Section Plane
Deleting a Section Plane
In the Section Planes window, click the New Section Plane button.
2.
Drag the mouse pointer across the geometry where you want to create a section plane.
The new section plane is listed in the Section Planes window with a default name of Section
Plane #. The checkmark next to the planes name indicates it is an active section plane.
3.
You can construct additional Section Planes by clicking the New Section Plane button and dragging
additional lines across the model. Note that activating multiple planes displays multiple sections:
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Note that in incidences such as very large models where the accessible memory is exhausted, the New
Section Plane tool will revert to a Hardware Slice Mode that prohibits visualization of the mesh on the
cut-plane.
The Section Plane acts differently depending if you are viewing a result, mesh, or geometry display.
When viewing a result or a mesh, the cut is performed by a software algorithm. When viewing geometry,
the cut is performed using a hardware clipping method. This hardware clipping cuts away the model
in a subtractive method. The software algorithm cuts away the model but always starts with the whole
model.
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Note that the software algorithm caps the surfaces created by the section plane as opposed to the
hardware clipping method. When capping, the software algorithm creates a visible surface at the intersection of the object and the section plane."
In the Section Planes window, select the plane you want to edit.
2.
3.
Drag the Section Plane or Capping Plane anchor to change the position of the plane.
You can click on the line on either side of the anchor to view the exterior on that side of the plane. The
anchor displays a solid line on the side where the exterior is being displayed. Clicking on the same side
a second time toggles between solid line and dotted line, i.e. exterior display back to section display.
Note that for Geometry display, a capped view is always shown.
In the Section Planes window, select the plane you want to delete.
2.
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Positive directions arrows are labeled and color-coded. Negative direction arrows display
only when you hover the mouse cursor over the particular region.
Clicking an arrow animates the view such that the arrow points out of the screen.
Arrows and the isometric sphere highlight when you point at them.
Isometric sphere visualizes the location of the isometric view relative to the current
view.
Clicking the sphere animates the view to isometric.
Rotation
Cursors
Free rotation.
Viewing Annotations
Annotations provide the following visual information:
Boundary of the scope region by coloring the geometry for edges, faces or vertices.
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Note
The custom annotations you add using Label remain visible even when you suppress the
body.
This section addresses the following types of annotations:
Highlight and Selection Graphics (p. 115)
Scope Graphics (p. 115)
Annotation Graphics and Positioning (p. 116)
Annotations of Multiple Objects (p. 117)
Rescaling Annotations (p. 117)
Solution Annotations (p. 118)
In addition, you can also specify preferences for your annotations. For more information, see Specifying
Annotation Preferences (p. 119).
See Selecting Geometry (p. 87) for details on highlighting and selection.
Scope Graphics
In general, selecting an object in the Tree Outline (p. 3) displays its Scope by painting the geometry
and displays text annotations and symbols as appropriate. The display of scope via annotation is carried
over into the Report Preview (p. 22) if you generate a figure.
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Contours are painted for results on the scoped geometry. No boundary is drawn.
If other geometry hides the 3D point (e.g. the point lies on a back face) the block arrow is unfilled
(transparent).
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Rescaling Annotations
This feature modifies the size of annotation symbols, such as load direction arrows, displayed in the
Mechanical application. For example, and as illustrated below, you can reduce the size of the pressure
direction arrow when zooming in on a geometry selection. To change the size of an annotation, click
the Rescale Annotation toolbar button (
).
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Application Interface
Solution Annotations
Solution annotations work similar to Annotations of Multiple Objects (p. 117). The Max annotation has
red background. The Min annotation has blue background. Probe annotations have cyan backgrounds.
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By default, annotations for Max and Min appear automatically for results but may be controlled by buttons
in the Result Context Toolbar (p. 59).
in the Result Context Toolbar (p. 59). Probe an You may create "probe" annotations by clicking
notations show the value of the result at the location beneath the tip, when initially constructed. When
probe annotations are created, they do not trigger the database to be marked as save being needed (i.e.
you will not be prompted to save). Be sure to issue a save if you wish to retain these newly created probe
annotations in the database. Changes to the unit system deletes active probe annotations. In addition,
probe annotations are not displayed if a Mechanical application database is opened in a unit system
other than the one in which it was saved; however, the probe annotations are still available and display
when the Mechanical application database is opened in the original unit system.
If you apply a probe annotation to a very small thickness, such as when you scope results to an edge, the
probe display may seem erratic or non-operational. This is because, for ease of viewing, the colored edge
result display is artificially rendered to appear larger than the actual thickness. You can still add a probe
annotation in this situation by zooming in on the thin region before applying the probe annotation.
To delete a probe annotation, activate the Label button
key.
Click the Annotation Preferences button on the Graphics Options toolbar, or select View>Annotation
Preferences.
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The Annotation Preferences dialog box appears. By default, all annotations are selected, and thus
set to visible.
2.
Under Basic Annotations, select or clear the check boxes for the following options:
Annotations: Toggles the visibility of annotations in the graphics window.
User Defined Graphics Annotations: Toggles the visibility of custom user annotation in the graphics
window.
Annotation Labels: Toggles the visibility of annotation labels in the graphics window.
3.
Under Remote Boundary Conditions, select or clear the check boxes for the following options:
Point Masses: Toggles the visibility of annotations for point masses.
Springs: Toggles the visibility of annotations for springs.
Beam Connections: Toggles the visibility of annotations for beam connections.
Bearings: Toggles the visibility of annotations for bearings.
Note
The size range for Point Masses and Springs is from 0.2-2 (Small-0.2, Default-1, Large-2).
4.
Under Remote Boundary Conditions, slide the indicator to specify the size of the annotations for Point
Masses and Springs.
5.
Under Additional Display Preferences, select or clear the check boxes for the following options:
Crack Annotations: Toggles the visibility of annotations on crack objects.
Individual Force Arrows on Surface Reactions: Toggles the visibility of individual force arrows on
surface reactions.
Body Scoping Annotations: Toggles the visibility of annotations on body scoping.
6.
Under Mesh Display, select or clear the check boxes for the following options:
Mesh Annotations: Toggles the visibility of mesh node and mesh element annotations in Named
Selection displays.
Node Numbers: Toggles the visibility of mesh node numbers in Named Selection, Mesh, and Result
displays.
Plot Elements Attached to Named Selections: Toggles the visibility of elements for all items in the
Named Selections group. For nodal Named Selections, this option shows the full elements, while for
face or body Named Selections this option shows just the element faces. This option does not affect
Line Bodies. You must have the Show Mesh button toggled off to see the elements in the Named
Selection.
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When you are finished specifying your annotation preferences, click Apply Changes to apply your
preferences and leave the dialog box open, or click OK to apply and close.
Controlling Lighting
The Details view properties of the Model object provide lighting controls that affect the display in the
Graphics Window.
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Application Interface
In the Tree Outline (p. 3), the name of a figure defaults to simply Figure appended by a number as
needed.
You may enter a caption for a figure as a string in the figure's details. It is your responsibility to maintain
custom captions when copying figures.
Mechanical Hotkeys
To quickly perform certain actions in Mechanical, use the following hotkeys and hotkey combinations.
Graphics Actions
F6: toggles between the Shaded Exterior and Edges, Shaded Exterior, and Wireframe views (also
available on the View Menu).
F7: executes Zoom to Fit option (also available on the Graphics Toolbar).
F8: hide selected faces.
F9: hide selected bodies.
Ctrl + A: selects all entities based on the active selection filter (bodies, faces, edges, vertices, nodes).
Selection Filters
These selection filters are also available on the Graphics Toolbar.
Ctrl
Ctrl
Ctrl
Ctrl
+
+
+
+
Wizards
Wizards provide a layer of assistance above the standard user interface. They are made up of tasks or
steps that help you interpret and work with simulations. Conceptually, the wizards act as an agent
between you and the standard user interface.
Wizards include the following features:
An interactive checklist for accomplishing a specific goal
A reality check of the current simulation
A list of a variety of high-level tasks, and guidance in performing the tasks
Links to useful resources
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Wizards
A series of Callout windows which provide guidance for each step
Note
Callouts close automatically, or you may click inside a Callout to close it.
Wizards use hyperlinks (versus command buttons) because they generally represent links to locations
within the standard user interface, to content in the help system, or to a location accessible by a
standard HTML hyperlink. The status of each step is taken in context of the currently selected Tree
Outline (p. 3) object. Status is continually refreshed based on the Outline state (not on an internal
wizard state). As a result you may:
Freely move about the Tree Outline (p. 3) (including between branches).
Make arbitrary edits without going through the wizards.
Show or hide the wizards at any time.
Wizards are docked to the right side of the standard user interface for two reasons:
The Tree Outline (p. 3) sets the context for status determination. That is, the wizards interpret the Outline
rather than control it. (The user interface uses a top-down left-right convention for expressing dependencies.)
Visual symmetry is maintained.
To close wizards, click the . To show/hide tasks or steps, click the section header. Options for wizards
are set in the Wizard (p. 85) section of the Options dialog box under the Mechanical application.
The The Mechanical Wizard (p. 123) is available for your use in the Mechanical application.
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Application Interface
Most tasks indicate a status via the icon to the left of the task name. Rest your mouse on a task for a
description of the status. Each task updates its status and behavior based on the current Tree Outline (p. 3) selection and software status.
Tasks are optional. If you already know how to perform an operation, you don't need to activate the
task.
Click the Choose Wizard task at the top of the Mechanical Wizard to change the wizard goal. For example, you may change the goal from Find safety factors to Find fatigue life. Changing the wizard
goal does not modify your simulation.
At your discretion, simulations may include any available feature not covered under Required Steps
for a wizard. The Mechanical Wizard does not restrict your use of the Mechanical application.
You may use the Mechanical Wizard with databases from previous versions of the Mechanical application.
To enable the Mechanical Wizard, click
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Attach Geometry
There are no geometry creation tools in the Mechanical application. You create your geometry in an
external application or import an existing mesh file. Options to bring geometry into Mechanical; include:
From within Workbench using DesignModeler. See the DesignModeler Help for details on the use of the
various creation tools available.
From a CAD system supported by Workbench or one that can export a file that is supported by ANSYS
Workbench. See the CAD Systems section for a complete list of the supported systems.
From within Workbench using the External Model component system. This feature imports an ANSYS
Mesh (.cdb) file. See the Mesh-Based Geometry section in the Specifying Geometry in the Mechanical Application Help.
Before attaching geometry, you can specify several options that determine the characteristics of the
geometry you choose to import. These options are: solid bodies, surface bodies, line bodies, parameters,
attributes, named selections, material properties; Analysis Type (2D or 3D), allowing CAD associativity,
importing coordinate systems (Import Work Points are only available in the DesignModeler application),
saving updated CAD file in reader mode, smart refreshing of models with unmodified components,
and allowing parts of mixed dimension to be imported as assembly components that have parts of
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Attach Geometry
different dimensions. The availability of these options varies across the supported CAD systems. See
the Geometry Preferences section for details.
Related Procedures
Procedure
Specifying
geometry
options
Condition
Optional task that can be
done before attaching
geometry.
Procedural Steps
1. In an analysis system schematic, perform either of the
following:
Right-click on the Geometry cell and choose Properties
OR
Select the Geometry cell in the schematic for a standard analysis, then from the View drop-down menu,
choose any option that includes Properties or Components.
2. Check boxes to specify Default Geometry Options and
Advanced Geometry Defaults.
Attaching
DesignModeler geometry
to the Mechanical application
DesignModeler is running
in an analysis system.
DesignModeler is not
running. Geometry is
stored in an agdb file.
Attaching
CAD geometry to the
Mechanical
application
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Condition
in a native CAD system
file, or in a CAD neutral
file such as Parasolid or
IGES.
Procedural Steps
Right-click on the Geometry cell in the Project
Schematic and choose Import Geometry.
3. Double-click on the Model cell in the Project Schematic.
The Mechanical application opens and displays the geometry.
Note
Changes to either the number of turns or the thickness properties associated with a body
do not update the CAD model.
This update feature only applies parts that you select. It does not import new parts added in the CAD
system following the original import or last complete update. Assembly Parameter values are always
updated.
In addition, this feature is not a tool for removing parts from the Mechanical application tree, however;
it will remove parts which have been selected for update in WB, but that no longer exist in the CAD
model if an update is successful (if at least one valid part is updated).
The Update Selected Parts feature supports the associative geometry interfaces for:
DesignModeler
Autodesk Inventor
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Stiffness Behavior
In addition to making changes to the material properties of a part, you may designate a part's Stiffness
Behavior as being flexible, rigid, or as a gasket.
Setting a parts behavior as rigid essentially reduces the representation of the part to a single point mass
thus significantly reducing the solution time.
A rigid part will need only data about the density of the material to calculate mass characteristics. Note
that if density is temperature dependent, density will be evaluated at the reference temperature. For
contact conditions, specify Youngs modulus.
Flexible and rigid behaviors are applicable only to static structural, transient structural, rigid dynamics,
explicit dynamics, and modal analyses. Gasket behavior is applicable only to static structural analyses.
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Note
Rigid behavior is not available for the Samcef solver.
Coordinate Systems
The Coordinate Systems object and its child object, Global Coordinate System, is automatically placed
in the tree with a default location of 0, 0, 0, when a model is imported.
For solid parts and bodies: by default, a part and any associated bodies use the Global Coordinate System.
If desired, you can apply a apply a local coordinate system to the part or body. When a local coordinate
system is assigned to a Part, by default, the bodies also assume this coordinate system but you may
modify the system on the bodies individually as desired.
For surface bodies, solid shell bodies, and line bodies: by default, these types of geometries generate
coordinates systems on a per element type basis. It is necessary for you to create a local coordinate
system and associated it with the parts and/or bodies using the Coordinate System setting in the Details
view for the part/body if you wish to orient those elements in a specific direction.
Reference Temperature
The default reference temperature is taken from the environment (By Environment), which occurs
when solving. This necessarily means that the reference temperature can change for different solutions.
The reference temperature can also be specified for a body and will be constant for each solution (By
Body). Selecting By Body will cause the Reference Temperature Value field to specify the reference
temperature for the body. It is important to recognize that any value set By Body will only set the reference temperature of the body and not actually cause the body to exist at that temperature (unlike
the Environment Temperature entry on an environment object, which does set the body's temperature).
Note
Selecting By Environment can cause the body to exist at that temperature during the analysis but selecting By Body will only ever effect reference temperature. So if the environment
temperature and the body have a different specification, thermal expansion effects can occur
even if no other thermal loads are applied.
Note
If the material density is temperature dependent, the mass that is displayed in the Details
view will either be computed at the body temperature, or at 22C. Therefore, the mass
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Note
When nonlinear material effects are turned off, values for thermal conductivity, specific heat,
and thermal expansion are retrieved at the reference temperature of the body when creating
the ANSYS solver input.
Reference Frame
The Reference Frame determines the analysis treatment perspective of the body for an Explicit Dynamics
analysis. The Reference Frame property is available for solid bodies when an Explicit Dynamics system
is part of the solution. The valid values are Langrangian (default) and Eulerian (Virtual). Eulerian is
not a valid selection if Stiffness Behavior is set to Rigid.
Material Assignment
Once you have attached your geometry, you can choose a material for the simulation. When you select
a part in the tree outline, the Assignment entry under Material in the Details view lists a default material for the part.
From the fly-out menu, you can:
Create a new material definition
Import a material
Edit the characteristics of the current material
Assign a material from the list of available materials.
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Cross Section
When a line body is imported into the Mechanical application, the Details view displays the Cross
Section field and associated cross section data. These read-only fields display the name and data assigned
to the geometry in DesignModeler or the supported CAD system, if one was defined. See Line Bodies (p. 387) for further information.
Model Dimensions
When you attach your geometry or model, the model dimensions display in the Details View (p. 11) in
the Bounding Box sections of the Geometry or Part objects. Dimensions have the following characteristics:
Units are created in your CAD system.
ACIS and CATIA model units may be set.
Other geometry units are automatically detected and set.
Assemblies must have all parts dimensioned in the same units.
Define Connections
Once you have addressed the material properties and part behavior of your model, you may need to
apply connections to the bodies in the model so that they are connected as a unit in sustaining the
applied loads for analysis. Available connection features are:
Contacts: defines where two bodies are in contact or a user manually defines contact between two bodies.
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Highlight the Analysis Settings object in the tree. This object was inserted automatically when you
established a new analysis in the Create Analysis System (p. 125) overall step.
2.
Verify or change settings in the Details view of the Analysis Settings object. These settings include
default values that are specific to the analysis type. You can accept or change these defaults. If your
analysis involves the use of steps, refer to the procedures presented below.
To create multiple steps (applies to structural static, transient structural, rigid dynamics,
steady-state thermal, transient thermal, magnetostatic, and electric analyses):
You can create multiple steps using any one of the following methods:
1.
Highlight the Analysis Settings object in the tree. Modify the Number of Steps field in the Details
view. Each additional Step has a default Step End Time that is one second more than the previous
step. These step end times can be modified as needed in the Details view. You can also add more steps
simply by adding additional step End Time values in the Tabular Data window.
The following demonstration illustrates adding steps by modifying the Number of Steps field in
the Details view.
Or
2.
Highlight the Analysis Settings object in the tree. Begin adding each step's end time values for the
various steps to the Tabular Data window. You can enter the data in any order but the step end time
points will be sorted into ascending order. The time span between the consecutive step end times will
form a step. You can also select a row(s) corresponding to a step end time, click the right mouse button
and choose Delete Rows from the context menu to delete the corresponding steps.
The following demonstration illustrates adding steps directly in the Tabular Data window.
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Highlight the Analysis Settings object in the tree. Choose a time point in the Graph window. This will
make the corresponding step active. Click the right mouse button and choose Insert Step from the
context menu to split the existing step into two steps, or choose Delete Step to delete the step.
The following demonstration illustrates inserting a step in the Graph window, changing the End
Time in the Tabular Data window, deleting a step in the Graph window, and deleting a step in
the Tabular Data window.
Create multiple steps following the procedure To create multiple steps above.
2.
Most Step Controls, Nonlinear Controls, and Output Controls fields in the Details view of Analysis
Settings are step aware, that is, these settings can be different for each step. Refer to the table in
Analysis Settings for Most Analysis Types (p. 635) to determine which specific controls are step aware
(designated as footnote 2 in the table). Activate a particular step by selecting a time value in the Graph
window or the Step bar displayed below the chart in the Graph window. The Step Controls grouping
in the Details view indicates the active Step ID and corresponding Step End Time.
The following demonstration illustrates turning on the legend in the Graph window, entering
analysis settings for a step, and entering different analysis settings for another step.
If you want to specify the same analysis setting(s) to several steps, you can select all the steps of
interest as follows and change the analysis settings details.
To change analysis settings for a subset of all of the steps:
From the Tabular Data window:
1. Highlight the Analysis Settings object.
2. Highlight steps in the Tabular Data window using either of the following standard windowing
techniques:
Ctrl key to highlight individual steps.
Shift key to highlight a continuous group of steps.
3. Click the right mouse button in the window and choose Select All Highlighted Steps from
the context menu.
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The Worksheet for the Analysis Settings object provides a single display of pertinent settings in
the Details view for all steps.
Details of various analysis settings are discussed in "Configuring Analysis Settings" (p. 635).
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Tree Object
Description
Transient
Structural
Initial Condi- By default, a transient structural analysis is at rest. However, you can
tions folder
define velocity as an initial condition by inserting a Velocity object under
the Initial Conditions folder.
Explicit Dynamics
Because an explicit dynamics analysis is better suited for short duration events, preceding it with an implicit analysis may produce a
more efficient simulation especially for cases in which a generally
slower (or rate-independent) phenomenon is followed by a much
faster event, such as the collision of a pressurized container. For an
Explicit Dynamics system, the Initial Conditions folder includes a
Pre-Stress object to control the transfer of data from an implicit
static or transient structural analysis to the explicit dynamics analysis.
Transferable data include the displacements, or the more complete
Material State (displacements, velocities, stresses, strains, and temperature).
See Recommended Guidelines for Pre-Stress Explicit Dynamics (p. 141)
for more information.
An explicit dynamics analysis is at rest by default. However, for both
Explicit Dynamics and Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems, you can define velocity or angular velocity as initial conditions
by inserting a Velocity object or Angular Velocity object under the
Initial Conditions folder.
Modal
Pre-Stress
object
A Modal analysis can use the stress results from a static structural analysis
to account for stress-stiffening effect. See the Modal Analysis (p. 196)
section for details.
Linear Buckling
Pre-Stress
object
Pre-Stress
object
Steady-State
Thermal
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137
Tree Object
Description
Transient
Thermal
Note
Temperatures from a steady-state thermal or transient thermal analysis can be applied to a
static structural or transient structural analysis as a Thermal Condition load.
Depending upon the analysis type an object is automatically added to the tree. To define an initial
condition in the Mechanical application:
For a Transient Structural analysis, use the Initial Conditions object to insert Velocity. For an Explicit
Dynamics analysis, use the Initial Conditions object to insert Velocity, Angular Velocity. These values
can be scoped to specific parts of the geometry.
For a Harmonic Response, Modal, Linear Buckling, or Explicit Dynamics analysis, use the Details view
of the Pre-Stress object to define the associated Pre-Stress Environment. For an Explicit Dynamics
analysis, use the Details view of this object to select either Material State (displacements, velocities,
strains and stresses) or Displacements only modes, as well as the analysis time from the implicit analysis
which to obtain the initial condition. For Displacements only, a Time Step Factor may be specified to
convert nodal DOF displacements in the implicit solution into constant velocities for the explicit analysis
according to the following expression:
Velocity = Implicit displacement/(Initial explicit time step x time step factor)
Note
The Displacements only mode is applicable only to results from a linear, static structural
analysis.
For a Random Vibration or Response Spectrum analysis, you must point to a modal analysis using the
drop-down list of the Modal Environment field in the Details view.
For the Steady-State and Transient Thermal analyses, use the Details of the Initial Temperature object
to scope the initial temperature value. For a Transient Thermal analysis that has a non-uniform temperature,
you need to define an associated Initial Temperature Environment.
The Details view of the Modal (Initial Conditions) object for linked Mode Superposition Harmonic and
Mode Superposition Transient analyses displays the name of the pre-stress analysis system in the PreStress Environment field, otherwise the field indicates None.
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Note
If performing a pre-stress modal analysis, it is recommended that you always include large
deflection effects to produce accurate results in the modal analysis.
Pre-stress results should always originate from the same version of the application as that
of the modal solution.
Although the modal results (including displacements, stresses, and strains) will be correctly
calculated in the modal analysis, the deformed shape picture inside Mechanical will be based
on the initial geometry, not the deformed geometry from the static analysis. If you desire to
see the mode shapes based on the deformed geometry, you can take the result file into
Mechanical APDL.
True contact status as calculated at the time in the static analysis from which the eigen analysis is based.
Support for cyclic analysis.
Support for multiple result sets in the static analysis.
For a pre-stressed eigen analysis, you can insert a Commands object beneath the Pre-Stress initial
conditions object. The commands in this object will be executed just before the first solve for the prestressed modal analysis.
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Note
If you use Pre-Stress Time, then Mechanical will pick the closest restart point available. It
may not be the last sub step of a load step; and if it is some intermediate substep in a load
step, then the result may not be reproducible if you make any changes in the parent static
structural analysis or you solve it again.
If there is no restart point available in the parent static structural analysis, then Reported
Loadstep, Reported Substep and Reported Time are set to None Available regardless of
the user input of LoadStep/Time but these will be updated to correct values once the analysis is solved with the correct restart controls for the parent structural analysis.
Contact Status
You may choose contact status for the pre-stressed eigen analysis to be true contact status, force
sticking, or force bonded. A property called Contact Status is available in the Details view of the PreStress object in the eigen analysis. This property controls the CONTKEY field of the Mechanical APDL
PERTURB command.
Use True Status (default): Uses the current contact status from the restart snapshot. If the previous run
for parent static structural is nonlinear, then the nonlinear contact status at the point of restart is frozen
and used throughout the linear perturbation analysis.
Force Sticking: Uses sticking contact stiffness for the frictional contact pairs, even when the status is
sliding (that is, the no sliding status is allowed). This option only applies to contact pairs whose frictional
coefficient is greater than zero.
Force Bonding: Uses bonded contact stiffness and status for contact pairs that are in the closed (sticking/sliding) state.
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Pre-stress condition:
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st
st
t rst sst
t s
You can edit the table of load vs. time and modify this behavior as needed.
By default you have one step. However you may introduce multiple steps at time points where you
want to change the analysis settings such as the time step size or when you want to activate or deactivate a load. An example is to delete a specified displacement at a point along the time history.
You do not need multiple steps simply to define a variation of load with respect to time. You can use
tables or functions to define such variation within a single step. You need steps only if you want to
guide the analysis settings or boundary conditions at specific time points.
When you add loads or supports in a static or transient analysis, the Tabular Data and Graph windows
appear. You can enter the load history, that is, Time vs Load tabular data in the tabular data grid. Another option is to apply loads as functions of time. In this case you will enter the equation of how the
load varies with respect to time. The procedures for applying tabular or function loads are outlined
under the Defining Boundary Condition Magnitude (p. 848) section.
Note
You can also import or export load histories from or to any pre-existing libraries.
If you have multiple steps in your analysis, the end times of each of these steps will always
appear in the load history table. However you need not necessarily enter data for these time
points. These time points are always displayed so that you can activate or deactivate the load
over each of the steps. Similarly the value at time = 0 is also always displayed.
If you did not enter data at a time point then the value will be either a.) a linearly interpolated
value if the load is a tabular load or b.) an exact value determined from the function that defines
the load. An = sign is appended to such interpolated data so you can differentiate between
the data that you entered and the data calculated by the program as shown in the example
below. Here the user entered data at Time = 0 and Time = 5. The value at Time = 1e-3, the end
time of step 1, is interpolated.
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Solve
Solve
The Mechanical application uses the same solver kernels that ANSYS Mechanical APDL (MAPDL) uses.
At the Solve step, Mechanical passes its data to the appropriate MAPDL solver kernel, based on the
type of analysis to be performed. That kernel then passes the solution data back to Mechanical, where
you are able to look at the results. Because the same solver kernels are used, you will obtain the same
results from Mechanical that you would if doing the same analysis in MAPDL.
Based on the analysis type, the following solvers are available in Mechanical:
Mechanical ANSYS Parametric Design Language (MAPDL) Solver.
ANSYS Rigid Dynamics Solver: only available for Rigid Dynamics Analysis.
LS-DYNA Solver: only available for Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Explicit Dynamics Solver (AUTODYN): only available for Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Samcef Solver: only available for Static Structural and Modal analyses.
You can execute the solution process on your local machine or on a remote machine such as a powerful
server you might have access to. The Remote Solve Manager (RSM) feature allows you to perform
solutions on a remote machine. Once completed, results are transferred to your local machine for post
processing. Refer to the Solve Modes and Recommended Usage section for more details.
Solution Progress
Since nonlinear or transient solutions can take significant time to complete, a status bar is provided
that indicates the overall progress of solution. More detailed information on solution status can be obtained from the Solution Information object which is automatically inserted under the Solution folder
for all analyses.
The overall solution progress is indicated by a status bar. In addition you can use the Solution Information object which is inserted automatically under the Solution folder. This object allows you to i) view
the actual output from the solver, ii) graphically monitor items such as convergence criteria for nonlinear
problems and iii) diagnose possible reasons for convergence difficulties by plotting Newton-Raphson
residuals. Additionally you can also monitor some result items such as displacement or temperature at
a vertex or contact regions behavior as the solution progresses.
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Review Results
The analysis type determines the results available for you to examine after solution. For example, in a
structural analysis, you may be interested in equivalent stress results or maximum shear results, while
in a thermal analysis, you may be interested in temperature or total heat flux. The "Using Results" (p. 857)
section lists various results available to you for postprocessing.
To add result objects in the Mechanical application:
1.
2.
Select the appropriate result from the Solution context toolbar or use the right-mouse click option.
2.
After the solution has been calculated, you can review and interpret the results in the following ways:
Contour results - Displays a contour plot of a result such as stress over geometry.
Vector Plots - Displays certain results in the form of vectors (arrows).
Probes - Displays a result at a single time point, or as a variation over time, using a graph and a table.
Charts - Displays different results over time, or displays one result against another result, for example,
force vs. displacement.
Animation - Animates the variation of results over geometry including the deformation of the structure.
Stress Tool - to evaluate a design using various failure theories.
Fatigue Tool - to perform advanced life prediction calculations.
Contact Tool - to review contact region behavior in complex assemblies.
Beam Tool - to evaluate stresses in line body representations.
Note
Displacements of rigid bodies are shown correctly in transient structural and rigid dynamics analyses. If rigid bodies are used in other analyses such as static structural or
modal analyses, the results are correct, but the graphics will not show the deformed
configuration of the rigid bodies in either the result plots or animation.
Note
If you resume a Mechanical model from a project or an archive that does not contain result
files, then results in the Solution tree can display contours but restrictions apply:
The result object cannot show a deformed shape; that is, the node-based displacements
are not available to deform the mesh.
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See the "Using Results" (p. 857) section for more references on results.
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Analysis Types
You can perform several types of analyses in the Mechanical application using pre-configured analysis
systems (see Create Analysis System (p. 125)). For doing more advanced analysis you can use Commands
objects in the Mechanical interface. This allows you to enter sMechanical APDL application commands
in the Mechanical application to perform the analysis. If you are familiar with the Mechanical APDL application commands, you will have the capability of performing analyses and techniques that are beyond
those available using the analysis systems in Workbench.
This section describes the following analysis types that you can perform in the Mechanical interface.
Available features can differ from one solver to another. Each analysis section assumes that you are familiar with the nature and background of the analysis type as well as the information presented in the
"Steps for Using the Mechanical Application" (p. 125) section.
Design Assessment Analysis
Electric Analysis
Explicit Dynamics Analysis
Linear Dynamic Analysis Types
Magnetostatic Analysis
Rigid Dynamics Analysis
Static Structural Analysis
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Structural Analysis
Transient Structural Analysis Using Linked Modal Analysis System
Transient Thermal Analysis
Special Analysis Topics
149
Analysis Types
Points to Remember
The BEAMCHECK and FATJACK assessment types are not available on Linux.
Design Assessment is not supported on the SUSE 10 x64 platform.
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Analysis Types
... for this analysis type:
The following Mechanical results are available when Solution Combination is enabled
for the design assessment analysis:
Stress Tool
Fatigue Tool
Contact Tool (for the following contact results: Frictional Stress, Penetration, Pressure, and
Sliding Distance)
Beam Tool
Beam Results
Stresses
Elastic Strains
Deformations
The results available for insertion will depend on the types of the systems selected for
combination and the setting of the Results Availability field in the Details panel of the
Design Assessment Solution object in the tree.
In addition, DA Result objects will be available if they are enabled for the design assessment analysis.
Note
Not all of the standard right-click menu options are available for DA
Result objects. Cut, Copy, Paste, Copy to Clipboard, Duplicate, Rename,
and Export are removed.
Electric Analysis
Introduction
An electric analysis supports Steady-State Electric Conduction. Primarily, this analysis type is used to
determine the electric potential in a conducting body created by the external application of voltage or
current loads. From the solution, other results items are computed such as conduction currents, electric
field, and joule heating.
An Electric Analysis supports single and multibody parts. Contact conditions are automatically established
between parts. In addition, an analysis can be scoped as a single step or in multiple steps.
An Electric analysis computes Joule Heating from the electric resistance and current in the conductor.
This joule heating may be passed as a load to a Thermal analysis simulation using an Imported Load if
the Electric analysis Solution data is to be transferred to Thermal analysis. Similarly, an electric analysis
can accept a Thermal Condition from a thermal analysis to specify temperatures in the body for material property evaluation of temperature-dependent materials.
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Electric Analysis
Points to Remember
A steady-state electric analysis may be either linear (constant material properties) or nonlinear (temperature dependent material properties). Additional details for scoping nonlinearities are described in the
Nonlinear Controls section.
Once an Electric Analysis is created, Voltage and Current loads can be applied to any conducting body.
For material properties that are temperature dependent, a temperature distribution can be imported
using the Thermal Condition option.
In addition, equipotential surfaces can be created using the Coupling Condition load option.
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Analysis Types
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
In an electric analysis, only bonded, face-face contact is valid. Any joints or springs are
ignored. For perfect conduction across parts, use the MPC formulation. To model contact
resistance, use Augmented Lagrange or Pure Penalty with a defined Electric Conductance.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Only higher order elements are allowed for an electric analysis.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For an electric analysis, the basic controls are:
Step Controls (p. 635): used to specify the end time of a step in a single or multiple step
analysis.
Multiple steps are needed if you want to change load values, the solution settings, or
the solution output frequency over specific steps. Typically you do not need to change
the default values.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. A multi-step analysis involves calculating solutions at several time points in the load history. However you may not be interested in all of the
possible results items and writing all the results can make the result file size unwieldy.
You can restrict the amount of output by requesting results only at certain time points
or limit the results that go onto the results file at each time point.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There is no initial condition specification for an Electric analysis.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
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Analysis Types
An explicit dynamics analysis is used to determine the dynamic response of a structure due to stress
wave propagation, impact or rapidly changing time-dependent loads. Momentum exchange between
moving bodies and inertial effects are usually important aspects of the type of analysis being conducted.
This type of analysis can also be used to model mechanical phenomena that are highly nonlinear.
Nonlinearities may stem from the materials, (for example, hyperelasticity, plastic flows, failure), from
contact (for example, high speed collisions and impact) and from the geometric deformation (for example,
buckling and collapse). Events with time scales of less than 1 second (usually of order 1 millisecond)
are efficiently simulated with this type of analysis. For longer time duration events, consider using a
Transient Structural Analysis (p. 285) system.
This section contains the following topics:
Using Explicit Dynamics to Define Initial Conditions for Implicit Analysis
Points to Remember
An explicit dynamics analysis typically includes many different types of nonlinearities including large
deformations, large strains, plasticity, hyperelasticity, material failure etc.
The time step used in an explicit dynamics analysis is constrained to maintain stability and consistency
via the CFL condition, that is, the time increment is proportional to the smallest element dimension in
the model and inversely proportional to the sound speed in the materials used. Time increments are
usually on the order of 1 microsecond and therefore thousands of time steps (computational cycles)
are usually required to obtain the solution.
Explicit dynamics analyses only support the mm, mg, ms solver unit system. This will be extended to
support more unit systems in a future release.
2-D Explicit Dynamics analyses are supported for Plane Strain and Axisymmetric behaviors.
When attempting to use the Euler capabilities in the Explicit Dynamics analysis system, the following license
restrictions are observed:
Set-up and solve of Euler capabilities in the Explicit Dynamics system are supported for the full ANSYS
Autodyn (acdi_ad3dfull) license.
Set-up but not solve of Euler capabilities in the Explicit Dynamics system are supported for the pre-post
ANSYS Autodyn (acdi_prepost) license.
Set-up or solve of Euler capabilities in the Explicit Dynamics system are not supported for the ANSYS
Explicit STR (acdi_explprof ) license.
Euler capabilities are not supported for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system.
(Linux only) In order to run a distributed solution on Linux, you must add the MPI_ROOT environment
variable and set it to the location of the MPI software installation. It should be of the form:
{ANSYS installation}/commonfiles/MPI/Platform/{version}/{platform}
For example: usr/ansys_inc/v150/commonfiles/MPI/Platform/9.1/linx64
Consideration should be given to the number of elements in the model and the quality of the mesh to
give larger resulting time steps and therefore more efficient simulations.
A coarse mesh can often be used to gain insight into the basic dynamics of a system while a finer mesh
is required to investigate nonlinear material effects and failure.
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Note
The intent of this document is to provide an overview of an explicit dynamics analysis. Consult
our technical support department to obtain a more thorough treatment of this topic.
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Analysis Types
... for this analysis type:
From the Toolbox drag an Explicit Dynamics or an Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
template to the Project Schematic.
Define Engineering Data
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Material properties can be linear elastic or orthotropic. Many different forms of material
nonlinearity can be represented including hyperelasticity, rate and temperature dependant
plasticity, pressure dependant plasticity, porosity, material strength degradation (damage),
material fracture/failure/fragmentation. For a detailed discussion on material models
used in Explicit Dynamics, refer to Appendix F (p. 1703).
Density must always be specified for materials used in an explicit dynamics analysis.
Data for a range of materials is available in the Explicit material library.
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems, only the following material models are
supported (also see *MAT_ keywords in Supported LS-DYNA Keywords (p. 1617)). Any
models that are not mentioned in this list can be entered through the "Keyword Snippet"
facility (see the LS-DYNA General Descriptions section):
Strength models
Linear Elastic
Isotropic
Orthotropic
Plasticity
Bilinear Isotropic Hardening
Multilinear Isotropic Hardening
Bilinear Kinematic Hardening
Johnson Cook
Hyperelastic:
Mooney-Rivlin
Polynomial
Yeoh
Ogden
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Note
For line bodies, the LS-DYNA solver only supports the following three material properties from the above list: Isotropic Linear Elastic, Bilinear Kinematic
Hardening Plasticity and Rigid bodies. Additional material models that are
supported by the LS-DYNA solver for line bodies can be added through the
"Keyword Snippet" facility.
Attach Geometry
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Solid, Surface, and Line bodies can be present in an Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Only symmetric cross sections are supported for line bodies in Explicit Dynamics analyses,
except for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems. The following cross sections
are not supported: T-Sections, L-Sections, Z-Sections, Hat sections, Channel Sections. For
I-Sections, the two flanges must have the same thickness. For rectangular tubes, opposite
sides of the rectangle must be of the same thickness. For LS-DYNA Export systems all
available cross sections in DesignModeler will be exported for analysis with the LS-DYNA
solver. However there are some limitations in the number of dimensions that the LSDYNA solver supports for the Z, Hat and Channel cross sections. For more information
consult the LS-DYNA Keywords manual.
To prevent the generation of unnecessarily small elements (and long run times) try using
DesignModeler to remove unwanted small features or holes from your geometry.
Thickness can be specified for selected faces on a surface body by inserting a thickness
object. Constant, tabular, and functional thickness are all supported.
Symmetry is not supported when exporting to the LS-DYNA .k file.
Stiffness Behavior
Flexible behavior can be assigned to any body type.
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Analysis Types
Rigid behavior can be applied to Solid and Surface bodies.
Coordinate System
Local Cartesian coordinate systems can be assigned to bodies. These will be used to
define the material directions when using the Orthotropic Elasticity property in a material definition. The material directions 1, 2, 3 will be aligned with the local x, y and z axes
of the local coordinate system.
Note
Cylindrical coordinate systems are not supported for Explicit Dynamics systems.
Reference Temperature
This option defines the initial (time=0.0) temperature of the body.
Reference Frame
Available for solid bodies when an Explicit Dynamics system is part of the solution; the
user has the option of setting the Reference Frame to Lagrangian (default) or Eulerian
(Virtual). If Stiffness Behavior is defined as Rigid, Eulerian is not a valid setting.
Rigid Materials
For bodies defined to have rigid stiffness, only the Density property of the material associated with the body will be used. For Explicit Dynamics systems all rigid bodies must
be discretized with a Full Mesh. This will be specified by default for the Explicit meshing
physics preference.
The mass and inertia of the rigid body will be derived from the elements and material
density for each body.
By default, a kinematic rigid body is defined and its motion will depend on the resultant
forces and moments applied to it through interaction with other Parts of the model.
Elements filled with rigid materials can interact with other regions via contact.
Constraints can only be applied to an entire rigid body. For example, a fixed displacement
cannot be applied to one edge of a rigid body, it must be applied to the whole body.
Note
Only symmetric cross-sections are supported for line bodies
Flexible and rigid bodies cannot be combined in Multi-body Parts. Bonded
connections can be applied to connect rigid and flexible bodies
The Thickness Mode and Offset Type fields for surface bodies are not supported
for Explicit Dynamics systems
Initial over-penetrations of nodes/elements of different bodies should be avoided
or minimized if sliding contact is to be used. There are several methods available
in Workbench to remove initial penetration
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Analysis Types
Contact Detection should be set to Proximity Based in the Body Interactions Details
view.
Edge on Edge is set to Yes in the Body Interactions Details view.
The Interaction Type is defined as Frictional or Frictionless bonded interactions
and connections are not supported for line bodies.
LS-DYNA Export systems export the *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL and *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE keywords when a friction or frictionless Body
Interaction is scoped to geometry that contains line bodies. The keywords handle
contacts between line bodies only, and line bodies to other body types respectively.
In the case where the Body Interaction is scoped to only line bodies, then only the
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL keyword is exported.
Reinforcement body interaction should be supported in the case when only line bodies
are scoped to a Body Interaction of Type = Reinforcement. The line bodies will then
be tied to any solid body that they intersect. Reinforcement body interactions are not
supported for LS-DYNA Export systems or for 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses. However
utilizing Keyword Snippets under Contact Region objects should provide a suitable alternative.
Body Interactions, Contact and Spot Welds are all valid in explicit dynamics analyses.
Frictional, Frictionless and Bonded body interactions and contact options are available.
Conditionally bonded contact can be simulated using the breakable property of each
bonded region. Spot Welds can also be made to fail using the breakable property.
Joints and Beam connections are not supported for explicit dynamics analyses. Springs
are not supported for Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) analyses. The Contact Tool is
also not applicable to explicit dynamics analyses.
By default, a Body Interaction object will be automatically inserted in the Mechanical
application tree and will be scoped to all bodies in the model. This object activates
frictionless contact behavior between all bodies that come into proximity during the
analysis.
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems, bonded body interactions are not
supported. Also, Contact Region objects with Auto Asymmetric Behavior or just
Asymmetric Behavior are treated the same. Symmetric Behavior will create a _SURFACE_TO_SURFACE keyword for the contact and an Asymmetric Behavior will create
a _NODES_TO_SURFACE keyword.
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems, contacts between line bodies and solids
can be implemented using the Keyword Snippets facility available under the Manual
Contact Region objects.
Bonded contact is not supported in an explicit dynamics analysis for bodies that have
their Reference Frame set to Eulerian (Virtual). A solver warning is shown to let the user
know that such bodies will be ignored for bonds. Bonded contact is not support in a
2D explicit dynamics analysis.
To avoid hourglassing problems, remote points should be used instead of bonded contact
in certain situations.
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Analysis Types
It is possible to over-constrain bodies by having an incorrect mix of boundary conditions
(loads and supports) and Remote Points applied. Remote Points effectively make a face
act as rigid, and it is important to remember that remote points are defined per model
and therefore may conflict when shared with another analysis type with different constraint requirements. Remote displacements are boundary conditions but are applied
to remote points, and for the purpose of this document are not considered as constraining
boundary conditions.
Constraining boundary conditions (Restricted Fixed Support
Use)
Velocity
Simply Supported
Fixed Rotation
Displacement
Gravity
Hydrostatic Pressure
Detonation Point
Examples of permitted boundary conditions
(Unrestricted Use)
Pressure
Acceleration
Force
Symmetry Planes
Euler Boundary Flow Out
Line Pressure
The following rules apply when applying constraints and Remote Points to Flexible and
Rigid Bodies in an Explicit Dynamics analysis. If incompatible conditions are applied, the
pre-solve checks will identify the problem and inform the user prior to starting the Solve.
FLEXIBLE BODY
Example
164
Conditions
Allowed? + Notes
Yes
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Conditions
Allowed? + Notes
No
The 2 faces share
common nodes
along one edge.
Yes
Yes
No
The boundary
condition scope
shares nodes
with the scope of
the Remote Displacement.
No
The boundary
condition scope
shares nodes
with the scope of
the Remote
Point.
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Analysis Types
FLEXIBLE BODY
Example
Conditions
Allowed? + Notes
RIGID BODY
Example
166
Conditions
Allowed? + Notes
Yes
This is largely superfluous as the body is rigid
already so making the
face rigid does not
make any difference.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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Conditions
Allowed? + Notes
No
Two constraining
boundary conditions on
a Rigid body are not allowed.
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Analysis Types
Pyramid elements are not supported in Explicit Dynamics analyses. Any elements of this
type are converted into two tetrahedral elements, and will warrant a warning in the
message window of the Mechanical application.
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems, only the element types listed below
are supported (partly due to LS-DYNA limitations). Any parts with a mesh containing
unsupported elements will be excluded from the exported mesh. A warning is displayed
specifying excluded parts.
Shells
1st Order: triangles, quadrilaterals
2nd Order: none
Solids
1st Order: tetrahedrons, pyramids, wedges, hexahedrons, beams
2nd Order: tetrahedrons
Note
Pyramids are not recommended for LS-DYNA. A warning is issued if such
elements are present in the mesh.
When performing an implicit static structural or transient structural analysis to an Explicit
Dynamics analysis, the same mesh is required for both the implicit and explicit analysis
and only low order elements are allowed. If high order elements are used, the solve will
be blocked and an error message will be issued.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The basic analysis settings for explicit dynamics analyses are:
Step Controls - The required input for step control is the termination time for the analysis.
This should be set to your best estimate of the solution time required to simulate the event
being modeled. You should normally allow the solver to determine its own time step size
based on the smallest CFL condition in the model. The efficiency of the solution can be
increased with the help of mass scaling options. Use this feature with caution. Too much
mass scaling can give rise to non-physical results.
An explicit dynamics solution may be started, interrupted and resumed at any point
in time. For example, an existing solution that has reached its End Time may be extended to continue to review the progression of the mechanical phenomena simulated.
The Resume From Cycle option allows you to select which Restart file you would like
the Solve to resume the analysis from. See Resume Capability for Explicit Dynamics
Analyses (p. 1136) for more information. Explicit dynamics analyses are always solved
in a single analysis step.
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Note
Euler capabilities are not supported for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA
Export) system.
The domain size can be defined automatically (Domain Size Definition = Program
Controlled) or manually (Domain Size Definition = Manual). For both the automatic
and manual options, the size is defined from a 3D origin point and the X, Y, and Z
dimensions of the domain.
For the automatic option, specify the Scope of the Domain Size Definition so that the
origin and X, Y, and Z dimensions are set to create a box large enough to include all
bodies in the geometry (Scope = All Bodies) or the Eulerian Bodies only (Scope =
Eulerian Bodies Only). The automatically determined domain size can be controlled
with three scaling parameters, one for each direction (X Scale Factor, Y Scale Factor,
Z Scale Factor).
The size of the domain is affected by the scale factors according to the following
equations:
(1)
(2)
(3)
where
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Analysis Types
lx, ly, lz are the lengths of the unscaled domain in the x, y, and z directions respectively.
These parameters are obtained automatically from the mesh.
l'x, l'y, l'z are the lengths of the scaled domain in the x, y, and z directions respectively.
Fx, Fy, Fz are the scale factors for the x, y, and z directions respectively.
For the Manual option of the Domain Size Definition, specify the origin of the Euler
Domain (Minimum X Coordinate, Minimum Y Coordinate, Minimum Z Coordinate)
and the dimension in each direction (X Dimension, Y Dimension, Z Dimension).
The domain resolution specifies how many cells should be created in the X, Y, and Z
directions of the domain. Use the Domain Resolution Definition field to specify how
to determine the resolution: either the cell size (Cell Size), the number of cells in each
of the X, Y, and Z directions (Cells per Component), or the total number of cells to
be created (Total Cells).
For the Cell Size option, specify the size of the cell in the Cell Size parameter. The value
specified is the dimension of the cell in each of the X, Y, and Z directions. The units used
for the cell size follow the ones specified in the Mechanical application window and are
displayed in the text box.
The number of the cells in each direction of the domain are then determined from
this cell size and the size of the domain with the following equations:
(4)
(5)
(6)
where
Nx, Ny, Nz are the number of cells in the X, Y, and Z directions respectively.
D is the dimension of the cell in each direction (this is the same in all directions).
For the Cells per Component option, enter the number of cells required in each of the
X, Y, and Z directions (Number of Cells in X, Number of Cells in Y, Number of Cells
in Z).
For the Total Cells option, specify Total Cells (the default is 250,000). The size of the
cells will depend on the size of the Euler Domain.
The size of the cell is calculated from the following equation:
where
Ntot is the total number of cells in the domain.
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(7)
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Analysis Types
dynamics analysis using the LS-DYNA solver, LS-DYNA does not allow for two coefficients to be entered in *CONTROL_HOURGLASS. Thus the non-zero coefficient determines the damping format to be either Flanagan-Belytschko viscous or FlanaganBelytschko stiffness, accordingly. If both are non-zero, the Stiffness Coefficient will
be used.
Note
Linear Viscosity in Expansion options are available only for ANSYS Autodyn.
Hourglass damping in LS-DYNA is standard by default; in ANSYS Autodyn
the same control is AUTODYN Standard.
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Analysis Types
For Explicit Dynamics analyses, the y component (that is, direction) of a displacement
constraint defined with a cylindrical coordinate system has units of rotation.
Step or time varying tabular loads can be applied in an explicit dynamics analysis. However,
explicit dynamics does not support tabular data to specify the magnitude or components
of Accelerations or Line Pressures.
For Explicit Dynamics analyses, functionally defined loads are supported for Pressure and
Velocity but only when defined as varying in time. See "Setting Up Boundary Conditions" (p. 691).
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA) analyses, functionally defined loads are not supported.
Loads must be applied in a single step.
Loads and supports are not valid when applied to bodies having a Reference Frame of
Eulerian (Virtual).
Detonation Points are only available for 3D Explicit Dynamics analyses, not for Explicit
Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) or 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses.
For Explicit Dynamics analyses, if multiple constraints (for example, displacements) are
applied to a node then they must use the same coordinate system. This restriction is especially applicable at nodes on a shared topology such as an edge, where two adjacent faces,
each with different constraints, may come together. These constraints must use the same
coordinate system in their specification.
In the LS-DYNA solver, a Velocity or Displacement boundary condition (implemented with
the *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION keyword) will override a Fixed Support or a Simple
Support or a Fixed Rotation boundary condition (implemented with the *BOUNDARY_SPC
keyword). Hence if a body has a Velocity constraint and a Fixed Support applied to it, the
whole body will move in the direction of the applied velocity.
The default unconstrained body is valid. It is not a requirement to constrain any DOF of a
body In Explicit Dynamics systems.
An Explicit Dynamics solve can be performed if the model contains at least one Initial
Condition (Translational or Rotational velocity) or a non-zero constraint (displacement or
velocity) or a valid load.
The Remote Displacement boundary condition only works with the Explicit Dynamics system
for 3D analyses, not the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system or 2D Explicit Dynamics
analyses.
A Remote Displacement boundary condition must have the Behavior field set to Rigid for
an Explicit Dynamics analysis. An error will be reported if it is set to Deformable. If the
Remote Displacement object is scoped to a Remote Point that has its Behavior set to Rigid,
the Remote Displacement Behavior will automatically be set to Rigid also.
Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
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Note
If you choose the My Computer, Background setting, it is necessary
that you also click the Advanced... button and check Use Shared License, if possible, to obtain a successful solution.
Result Tracker
Full transient time history data can be viewed after the insertion of Result Tracker objects. Body averaged data such as momentum and energy can be selected for display.
Data at a specific location (position, velocity, stress etc.) can also be displayed.
The frequency at which Result Tracker information is provided is defined in the Save
Result Tracker Data On option of the analysis settings.
Solve an Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system to produce the LS-DYNA keyword file.
This can be used to directly solve with the LS-DYNA solver, outside of the Workbench environment.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The following structural result types are available as results of an explicit dynamic analysis:
Deformation (p. 879)
Stress and Strain (p. 882)
Energy (Transient Structural and Rigid Dynamics Analyses) (p. 936)
Stress Tools (p. 904)
Structural Probes (p. 926) - Limited to: Deformation, Strain, Stress, Position, Velocity,
Acceleration.
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Analysis Types
Once a solution is available you can display contour results or animate them to review the
response of the structure through time.
Note
For an explicit dynamics analysis, there is no results interpolation between
the results sets. Specifying a time in the GUI will display results for the
closest results set.
Note
This method is currently limited to cases where there is no change in mesh topology between
the start of both the explicit and implicit analyses.
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Note
Explicit uses SHELL163 for shells and SOLID164 for solids. These get automatically
converted to SHELL181 and SOLID185 respectively.
Command(s): ET, 1, 185, , 1 and so on
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Analysis Types
v. Reenter the solution processor.
Command(s): /SOLU
vi. Set any necessary constraints on the model by modifying or adding to the boundary conditions
defined during the explicit analysis (for example, in a metal forming analysis, you need to constrain
the blank).
Command(s): D, and so on
vii. Import stresses from the Explicit Dynamics analysis. For solids, this will be one set of values per
element. For shells, this will be one set of values for every layer within each element.
Command(s): INISTATE , SET, DTYPE, STRESS
Command(s): INISTATE , DEFINE, and so on
viii.Import plastic strains and accumulated equivalent plastic strain from Explicit Dynamics analysis
Command(s): INISTATE, SET, DTYPE, EPPL
Command(s): INISTATE, DEFINE, and so on
Command(s): INISTATE, SET, DTYPE, PLEQ
Command(s): INISTATE, DEFINE, and so on
ix. Solve analysis.
Command(s): SOLVE
4. Add an implicit system, either Static Structural or Transient Structural. In this system include the file that
was created with the Design Assessment script by adding a Commands object that reads in the file that
was created by the python script.
Command(s): /INPUT, and so on
5. When post processing, view results by issuing Mechanical APDL commands in order to view results with
the initial deformed mesh. When post processing in the standard Workbench view, results will appear
to deform in the opposite direction to the Explicit Dynamics analysis because it has not taken into account
the redefined deformed mesh. To create graphic files showing the correctly deformed mesh, add a new
Commands object under the Solution branch of the implicit analysis.
Command(s): /SHOW, PNG
Command(s): PLNSOL, and so on
6. When using shell elements, another step must be included in order to view the results. Shells only accept
INISTATE in the element coordinate system and so when the stresses are initialized, they are not in the
global coordinate system. Therefore, in order to view the results correctly, you must first change the
solution to plot the results in the solution coordinate system.
Command(s): /VIEW, , , -1
Command(s): /SHOW, PNG
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Introduction
In a structural system, any sustained cyclic load will produce a sustained cyclic or harmonic response.
Harmonic analysis results are used to determine the steady-state response of a linear structure to loads
that vary sinusoidally (harmonically) with time, thus enabling you to verify whether or not your designs
will successfully overcome resonance, fatigue, and other harmful effects of forced vibrations.
This analysis technique calculates only the steady-state, forced vibrations of a structure. The transient
vibrations, which occur at the beginning of the excitation, are not accounted for in a harmonic analysis.
In this analysis all loads as well as the structures response vary sinusoidally at the same frequency. A
typical harmonic analysis will calculate the response of the structure to cyclic loads over a frequency
range (a sine sweep) and obtain a graph of some response quantity (usually displacements) versus frequency. Peak responses are then identified from graphs of response vs. frequency and stresses are
then reviewed at those peak frequencies.
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Points to Remember
A Harmonic Analysis is a linear analysis. Some nonlinearities, such as plasticity will be ignored, even if
they are defined.
All loads and displacements vary sinusoidally at the same known frequency (although not necessarily
in phase).
If the Reference Temperature is set as By Body and that temperature does not match the environment
temperature, a thermally induced harmonic load will result (from the thermal strain assuming a nonzero
thermal expansion coefficient). This thermal harmonic loading is ignored for all harmonic analysis.
Mechanical offers the following solution methods for harmonic analyses:
Mode Superposition (default)
For the Mode Superposition (MSUP) method, the harmonic response to a given loading condition is
obtained by performing the necessary linear combinations of the eigensolutions obtained from a Modal
analysis.
For MSUP, it is advantageous for you to select an existing modal analysis directly (although Mechanical can automatically perform a modal analysis behind the scene) since calculating the eigenvectors
is usually the most computationally expensive portion of the method. In this way, multiple harmonic
analyses with different loading conditions could effectively reuse the eigenvectors. For more details,
refer to Harmonic Response Analysis Using Linked Modal Analysis System (p. 189).
Full
Using the Full method, you obtain harmonic response through the direct solution of the simultaneous
equations of motion. In addition, a Harmonic Response analysis can be linked to, and use the structural
responses of, a Static-Structural analysis. See the Harmonic Analysis Using Pre-Stressed Structural System
section of the Help for more information.
Variational Technology
This property is available when the Solution Method is set to Full. When this property is set to No, the
harmonic response uses the Full method, in which a direct solution of the simultaneous equations of
motion are solved for each excitation frequency, i.e., frequency steps defined in the Solution Intervals.
When this property is set to Yes, it uses Variational Technology to evaluate harmonic response for each
excitation frequency based on one direct solution. This property is set to Program Controlled by default
allowing the application to select the best solution method based on the model. For more technical information about Variational Technology, see the Harmonic Analysis Variational Technology Method
section of the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference.
This option is an alternate Solution Method that is based on the harmonic sweep algorithm of the
Full method.
For additional information, see the HROPT command in the MAPDL Command Reference.
If a Command object is used with the MSUP method, object content is sent twice; one for the modal
solution and another for the harmonic solution. For that reason, harmonic responses are double if a
load command is defined in the object, e.g., F command.
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Analysis Types
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For a Harmonic Analysis, the basic controls are:
Options - Here you specify the frequency range and the number of solution points at
which the harmonic analysis will be carried out as well as the solution method to use and
the relevant controls.
Two solution methods are available to perform harmonic analysis: the Mode Superposition method, the Direct Integration (Full) method, and the Variational Technology
method.
Mode Superposition (MSUP) method: In this method a modal analysis is first performed
to compute the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Then the mode superposition
solution is carried out where these mode shapes are combined to arrive at a solution.
This is the default method, and generally provides results faster than the Full
method or the Variational Technology method. The Mode Superposition method
cannot be used if you need to apply imposed (nonzero) displacements. This method
also allows solutions to be clustered about the structure's natural frequencies. This
results in a smoother, more accurate tracing of the response curve. The default
method of equally spaced frequency points can result in missing the peak values.
Without Cluster Option:
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The Store Results At All Frequencies option, when set to No, requests that only
minimal data be retained to supply just the harmonic results requested at the time
of solution. The availability of the results is therefore not determined by the settings
in the Output Controls.
Note
With this option set to No, the addition of new frequency or phase responses to a solved environment requires a new solution. Adding a new
contour result of any type (stress or strain) or a new probe result of any
type (reaction force or reaction moment) for the first time on a solved
environment requires you to solve, but adding additional contour results
or probe results of the same type does not share this requirement; data
from the closest available frequency is displayed (the reported frequency
is noted on each result).
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Analysis Types
New and/or additional displacement contour results as well as bearing
probe results do not share this requirement. These results types are basic
data and are available by default.
The values of frequency, type of contour results (stress or strain) and
type of probe results (reaction force, reaction moment, or bearing) at
the moment of the solution determine the contents of the result file and
the subsequent availability of data. Planning these choices can significantly reduce the need to re-solve an analysis.
Caution
Use caution when adding result objects to a solved analysis. Adding a new result invalidates the solution and
requires the system to be re-solved, even if you were to
add and then delete a result object.
Full method: Calculates all displacements and stresses in a single pass. Its main disadvantages are:
It is more expensive in CPU time than the Mode Superposition method.
It does not allow clustered results, but rather requires the results to be evenly spaced
within the specified frequency range.
Damping Controls allow you to specify damping for the structure in the Harmonic analysis.
Controls include: Constant Damping Ratio, Stiffness Coefficient (beta damping), and a
Mass Coefficient (alpha damping). They can also be applied as Material Damping using
the Engineering Data tab.
Element Damping: You can also apply damping through spring-damper elements.
The damping from these elements is used only in a Full method harmonic analysis.
Note
If multiple damping specifications are made the effect is cumulative.
Analysis Data Management settings enable you to save solution files from the harmonic
analysis. The default behavior is to only keep the files required for postprocessing. You
can use these controls to keep all files created during solution or to create and save the
Mechanical APDL application database (db file).
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
For a Pre-Stressed Full Harmonic analysis, the preloaded status of a structure is used as
a starting point for the Harmonic analysis. That is, the static structural analysis serves as
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Note
In the Pre-Stressed MSUP Harmonic Analysis, the prestress effects are applied
using a Modal analysis.
... for this analysis type:
Currently, the initial conditions Initial Displacement and Initial Velocity are not supported for Harmonic analyses.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
A Harmonic Response Analysis supports the following boundary conditions for a Solution
Method setting of either Full or MSUP:
Inertial
Acceleration (Phase Angle not supported.)
Loads
Pressure
Pipe Pressure (line bodies only) - Not supported for MSUP Solution Method.
Force (applied to a face, edge, or vertex)
Moment
Remote Force
Bearing Load (Phase Angle not supported.)
Line Pressure
Given a specified Displacement
Supports
Any type of linear Support can be used in harmonic analyses.
Note
The Compression Only support is nonlinear but should not be utilized
even though it behaves linearly in harmonic analyses.
Conditions
Constraint Equation
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Analysis Types
Direct FE (Node-based Named Selection scoping only)
Nodal Orientation (Phase Angle not supported.)
Nodal Force
Nodal Displacement
Note
Support for boundary conditions varies for a Harmonic Response analysis that
is linked to either a Static-Structural or Modal analysis. See the Harmonic Response Analysis Using Linked Modal Analysis System (p. 189) or the Harmonic
Analysis Using Pre-Stressed Structural System sections of the Help for specific
boundary condition support information.
In a Harmonic Analysis, boundary condition application has the following requirements:
You can apply multiple boundary conditions to the same face.
All boundary conditions must be sinusoidally time-varying.
Transient effects are not calculated.
All boundary conditions must have the same frequency.
Boundary conditions supported with the Phase Angle property allow you to specify a
phase shift that defines how the loads can be out of phase with one another. As illustrated
in the example Phase Response below, the pressure and force are 45o out of phase. You
can specify the preferred unit for phase angle (in fact all angular inputs) to be degrees or
radians using the Units toolbar.
An example of a Bearing Load acting on a cylinder is illustrated below. The Bearing Load,
acts on one side of the cylinder. In a harmonic analysis, the expected behavior is that the
other side of the cylinder is loaded in reverse; however, that is not the case. The applied
load simply reverses sign (becomes tension). As a result, you should avoid the use of
Bearing Loads in this analysis type.
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Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Solution Information continuously updates any listing output from the solver and
provides valuable information on the behavior of the structure during the analysis.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Two types of results can be requested for harmonic analyses:
Contour plots include stress, elastic strain, and deformation, and are basically the same as
those for other analyses. For these results, you must specify an excitation frequency and
a phase. The Sweeping Phase property in the details view for the result is the specified
phase, in time domain, and it is equivalent to the product of the excitation frequency and
time. Because Frequency is already specified in the Details view, the Sweeping Phase
variation produces the contour results variation over time. The Sweeping Phase property
defines the parameter used for animating the results over time. You can then see the total
response of the structure at a given point in time, as shown below.
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Analysis Types
Since each node may have different phase angles from one another, the complex response can also be animated to see the time-dependent motion.
Frequency Response and Phase Response charts which give data at a particular location
over an excitation frequency range and a phase period (the duration of the Phase Response
results, respectively). Graphs can be either Frequency Response graphs that display how
the response varies with frequency or Phase Response plots that show how much a response
lags behind the applied loads over a phase period.
Note
You can create a contour result from a Frequency Response result type in a
Harmonic Analysis using the Create Contour Result feature. This feature creates
a new result object in the tree with the same Type, Orientation, and Frequency
as the Frequency Response result type. However, the Phase Angle of the
contour result has the same magnitude as the frequency result type but an
opposite sign (negative or positive). The sign of the phase angle in the contour
result is reversed so that the response amplitude of the frequency response
plot for that frequency and phase angle matches with the contour results.
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Note
Any other boundary conditions must be defined in the prerequisite (parent)
Structural Analysis, such as Support Type boundary conditions.
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Analysis Types
gineering data, geometry and boundary condition type definitions made in modal analysis.
Note
The Mode Superposition harmonic is allowed to be linked to a pre-stressed
modal analysis.
From the Toolbox, drag a Modal template to the Project Schematic. Then, drag a
Harmonic Response template directly onto the Solution cell of the Modal template.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Options - See the Harmonic Analysis Options Group section for a complete listing of
the Details properties for a Harmonic analysis. Please note that for a Harmonic Analysis
Using Linked Modal Analysis System, only the Mode Superposition option is applicable,
and therefore is read-only. In addition, you can turn the Include Residual Vectors
property On to execute the RESVEC command and calculate residual vectors. Also, Mode
Frequency Range is not applicable because available modes are defined in the linked
Modal system.
Output Controls - You can request Stress, Strain, Nodal Force, and Reaction results
to be calculated. For better performance, you can also choose to have these results expanded from Harmonic or Modal solutions. To expand reaction forces in the modal
solution, set the Nodal Force property to Yes or Constrained Nodes.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The Harmonic analysis must point to a Modal analysis in the Modal (Initial Conditions)
object. This object also indicates whether the upstream Modal analysis is pre-stressed.
If it is a pre-stress analysis, the name of the pre-stress analysis system is displayed in the
Pre-Stress Environment field, otherwise the field indicates None. The Modal Analysis
must extract enough modes to cover the frequency range. A conservative rule of thumb
is to extract enough modes to cover 1.5 times the maximum frequency in the excitation.
Note
Command objects can be inserted into Initial Conditions object to execute
a restart of the solution process for the Modal Analysis.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
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Support Limitations
Note the following analysis requirements.
Remote Force is not supported for vertex scoping.
Moment is not supported for vertex scoping on 3D solid bodies because a beam entity
is created for the load application.
During a linked MSUP Transient analysis, if a Remote Force or Moment is specified
with the Behavior property set to Deformable, the boundary conditions cannot be
scoped to the edges of line bodies such that all of their nodes in combination are
collinear.
Caution
Mode Superposition (MSUP) Harmonic Analysis
When you have a Modal Analysis that is pre-stressed by a Static Structural
Analysis, you cannot include the following boundary conditions with
non-zero magnitude values in the Static Structural Analysis.
Displacement
Remote Displacement
Pretension Bolt Load (Pre-adjustment)
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Analysis Types
tr
rt t
t r
r
Points to Remember
A Linear Buckling Analysis must be linked to (preceded by) a Static Structural Analysis.
The results calculated by the linear buckling analysis are buckling load factors that scale the loads applied
in the static structural analysis. Thus for example if you applied a 10 N compressive load on a structure
in the static analysis and if the linear buckling analysis calculates a load factor of 1500, then the predicted
buckling load is 1500x10 = 15000 N. Because of this it is typical to apply unit loads in the static analysis
that precedes the buckling analysis.
The buckling load factor is to be applied to all the loads used in the static analysis.
A structure can have infinitely many buckling load factors. Each load factor is associated with a different
instability pattern. Typically the lowest load factor is of interest.
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You can apply a nonzero constraint in the static analysis. The load factors calculated in the buckling analysis should also be applied to these nonzero constraint values. However, the buckling mode shape associated with this load will show the constraint to have zero value.
Buckling mode shape displays are helpful in understanding how a part or an assembly deforms when
buckling, but do not represent actual displacements.
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... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a linear buckling analysis.
Define Part Behavior
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a linear buckling analysis.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
When the Formulation property is set to MPC, the Bonded and No Separation options
of the Type property are valid linear contact behaviors for linear buckling analyses.
Springs are taken into account if they are present in the static analysis.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no considerations specifically for a linear buckling analysis.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For linear buckling analysis the basic controls are:
Options for Analyses (p. 648): Use the Number of Modes property to specify the number
of buckling load factors and corresponding buckling mode shapes of interest. Typically
the first (lowest) buckling load factor is of interest.
Solver Controls: The default option, Program Controlled, allows the application to
select the appropriate solver type. Options include Program Controlled, Direct, and
Subspace. By default, the Program Controlled option uses the Direct solver.
Output Controls (p. 658): By default only buckling load factors and corresponding buckling
mode shapes are calculated. You can request Stress and Strain results to be calculated
but note that stress results only show the relative distribution of stress in the structure
and are not real stress values.
In Analysis Data Management (p. 664), users can set the save the Mechanical APDL application database and delete unneeded file settings.
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Analysis Types
You can view the buckling mode shape associated with a particular load factor by displaying a contour plot or by animating the deformed mode shape. The contours represent
relative displacement of the part.
Buckling mode shape displays are helpful in understanding how a part or an assembly
deforms when buckling, but do not represent actual displacements.
Stresses from a Linear Buckling analysis do not represent actual stresses in the structure,
but give you an idea of the relative stress distributions for each mode. Stress and Strain
results are available only if requested before solution using Output Controls (p. 658).
Modal Analysis
Introduction
A modal analysis determines the vibration characteristics (natural frequencies and mode shapes) of a
structure or a machine component. It can also serve as a starting point for another, more detailed, dynamic analysis, such as a transient dynamic analysis, a harmonic analysis, or a spectrum analysis. The
natural frequencies and mode shapes are important parameters in the design of a structure for dynamic
loading conditions. You can also perform a modal analysis on a prestressed structure, such as a spinning
turbine blade.
If there is damping in the structure or machine component, the system becomes a damped modal
analysis. For a damped modal system, the natural frequencies and mode shapes become complex.
For a rotating structure or machine component, the gyroscopic effects resulting from rotational velocities
are introduced into the modal system. These effects change the systems damping. The damping can
also be changed when a Bearing is present, which is a common support used for rotating structure or
machine component. The evolution of the natural frequencies with the rotational velocity can be
studied with the aid of Campbell Diagram Chart Results.
A modal analysis can be performed using the ANSYS or Samcef solver. Any differences are noted in the
sections below. Rotordynamic analysis is not available with the Samcef solver.
Points to Remember
The Rotational Velocity load is not available in Modal Analysis when the analysis is linked to a Static
structural analysis.
Prestressed modal analysis requires performing a static structural analysis first. In the modal analysis you
can use the Initial Condition object to point to the Static Structural analysis to include prestress effects.
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Note
Hyperelastic materials are supported for pre-stress modal analyses. They are
not supported for standalone modal analyses.
Attach Geometry
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
When 2D geometry is used, Generalized Plane Strain is not supported for the Samcef
solver.
When performing a Rotordynamic Analysis, the rotors can be easily generated using the
Import Shaft Geometry feature of ANSYS DesignModeler. The feature uses a text file to
generate a collection of line bodies with circular or circular tube cross sections.
Define Part Behavior
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
You can define a Point Mass for this analysis type.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Joints are allowed in a modal analysis. They restrain degrees of freedom as defined by the
joint definition.
The stiffness of any spring is taken into account and if specified, damping is also considered.
For the Samcef solver, only contacts, springs, and beams are supported. Joints are not
supported.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
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Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no special considerations for this analysis type.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Number of Modes: You need to specify the number of frequencies of interest. The default
is to extract the first 6 natural frequencies. The number of frequencies can be specified
in two ways:
1. The first N frequencies (N > 0), or
2. The first N frequencies in a selected range of frequencies.
Solver Controls (p. 639): Two settings are available in this control Damped and Solver
Type. For Damped, you can specify if the modal system is undamped or damped. Depending on the selection made for Damped, different solver options are provided accordingly.
Damped by default, it is set No and assumes the modal system is an undamped system.
Solver Type (p. 640): Typically you should let the program choose the type of solver appropriate for your model in both undamped and damped modal systems.
Note
If a solver type of Unsymmetric, Full Damped or Reduced Damped is selected,
the modal system cannot be followed by a Transient Structural, Harmonic Response, Random Vibration, or Response Spectrum system. However, for a MSUP
Harmonic Analysis and a MSUP Transient Analysis, you can use the Reduced
Damped solver with the Store Complex Solution property set to No. In this
case, regular (non-complex) mode shapes are calculated and are used for mode
superposition. Although complex frequencies are used for mode superposition,
regular (non-complex) frequencies are reported in tabular data. In the presence
of damping , the Reduced Damped solver with Store Complex Solution set
to No is not equivalent to the Undamped solver.
If an undamped Modal analysis has a pre-stressed environment from a Static
Structural Analysis with the Newton-Raphson Option set to Unsymmetric, the
Program Controlled option selects Unsymmetric as the Solver Type setting
(the MAPDL command MODOPT,UNSYM is issued).
Store Complex Solution: This control is only available when a damped solver type of
Reduced Damped is selected. This control allows you to solve and store a damped
modal system as an undamped modal system. By default, it is set to Yes.
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Note
Solver Type, Scratch Solver Files, Save ANSYS db, Solver Units, and Solver
Unit System are applicable to Modal systems only.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
You can point to a Static Structural analysis in the Initial Condition environment field
if you want to include prestress effects. A typical example is the large tensile stress induced in a turbine blade under centrifugal load that can be captured by a static structural analysis. This causes significant stiffening of the blade. Including this pre-stress effect
will result in much higher, realistic natural frequencies in a modal analysis.
If the Modal analysis is linked to a Static Structural analysis for initial conditions and the
parent static structural analysis has multiple result sets (multiple restart points at load
steps/sub steps), you can start the Modal analysis from any restart point available in the
Static Structural analysis. By default, the values from the last solve point are used as the
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Analysis Types
basis for the modal analysis. See Restarts from Multiple Result Sets (p. 139) in the Applying
Pre-Stress Effects for Implicit Analysis Help section for more information.
Note
When you perform a prestressed Modal analysis, the support conditions from
the static analysis are used in the Modal analysis. You cannot apply any new
supports in the Modal analysis portion of a prestressed modal analysis. See
the Pressure Load Stiffness topic in the Applying Pre-Stress Effects for Implicit
Analysis Help Section for more information about using a pre-stressed environment.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Only Rotational Velocity load is allowed in a stand-alone modal analysis. All structural
supports can be applied except the Non-zero Displacement, Remote Displacement, and
the Velocity boundary condition. Due to their nonlinear nature, compression only supports
are not recommended in a modal analysis. Use of compression only supports may result
in extraneous or missed natural frequencies.
For the Samcef solver, the following supports are not available: Compression Only Support, Elastic Support. When using line bodies, the following Pipe Pressure and Pipe
Temperature loads are not available to the Samcef solver. Additionally, the Pipe Idealization object is also unavailable for the Samcef solver.
Note
Pre-stressed Modal Analysis:
In a pre-stressed modal analysis any structural supports used in the static
analysis persist. Therefore, you are not allowed to add new supports in the
pre-stressed modal analysis.
Rotational Velocity is not available for Modal Analysis system in a prestressed modal analysis.
Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Solution Information continuously updates any listing output from the solver and
provides valuable information on the behavior of the structure during the analysis.
Review Results
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Note
In a Modal Analysis (and other eigenvalue-based analyses such as buckling),
the solution consists of a deformed shape scaled by an arbitrary factor. The
actual magnitudes of the deformations and any derived quantities, such as
strains and stresses, are therefore meaningless. Only the relative values of
such quantities throughout the model should be considered meaningful. The
arbitrary scaling factor is numerically sensitive to slight perturbations in the
analysis; choosing a different unit system, for example, can cause a significantly
different scaling factor to be calculated.
For an undamped modal analysis, only frequencies are available in the Tabular Data
window. For a damped modal analysis, real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalues of
each mode are listed as Stability and Damped Frequency, respectively, in the Tabular
Data window. If the real/stability value is negative, the eigenmode is considered to be
stable. For the damped modal analysis, Modal Damping Ratio and Logarithmic
Decrement are also included in the Tabular Data window. Like the stability value, these
values are an indicator of eigenmode stability commonly used in rotordynamics.
If Campbell Diagram is set to On, a Campbell diagram chart result is available for insert
under Solution. A Campbell diagram chart result conveys information as to how damped
frequencies and stabilities of a rotating structural component evolve/change in response
to increased rotational velocities. More detailed information about the result can be
found in Campbell Diagram Chart Results (p. 949). The Campbell Diagram function is
not available to the Samcef solver.
Note
The Campbell diagram result chart is only appropriate for a rotating structural
component that is axis-symmetrical. It is supported for all body types: solid,
shell, and line bodies, but limited to single spool systems. For a single spool
system, all bodies in the modal system are subjected to one and only single
rotational velocity.
The contour and probe results are post-processed using set number, instead of mode
number. The total set number is equal to number of modes requested multiplied by
number of rotational velocity solve points. You can use the Set, Solve Point and Mode
columns in the table to navigate between the set number and mode, and rotational
velocity solve point and mode.
You can choose to review the mode shapes corresponding to any of these natural frequencies by selecting the frequency from the bar chart or tabular data and using the
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context sensitive menu (right mouse click) to choose Create Mode Shape Results. You
can also view a range of mode shapes.
Stresses from a Modal analysis do not represent actual stresses in the structure, but
they give you an idea of the relative stress distributions for each mode. Stress and Strain
results are available only if requested before solution using Output Controls.
You can view the mode shape associated with a particular frequency as a contour plot.
You can also animate the deformed shape including, for a damped analysis, the option
to allow or ignore the time decay animation for complex modes. The contours represent
relative displacement of the part as it vibrates.
For complex modes, the Phase Angle associated with a particular frequency represents
the specified angle in time domain and is equivalent to the product of frequency and
time. Since the frequency is already specified in the results details view for a specific
mode, the phase angle variation produces the relative variation of contour results over
time.
When running a cyclic symmetry analysis, additional result object settings in the Details
view are available, as well as enhanced animations and graph displays. See Cyclic Symmetry in a Modal Analysis for more information.
Note
The use of construction geometry is not supported for the postprocessing of
cyclic symmetry results.
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Points to Remember
The excitation is applied in the form of Power Spectral Density (PSD). The PSD is a table of spectral values
vs. frequency that captures the frequency content. The PSD captures the frequency and mean square
amplitude content of the loads time history.
The square root of the area under a PSD curve represents the root mean square (rms) value of the excitation.
The unit of the spectral value of acceleration, for example, is G2/Hertz.
The input excitation is expected to be stationary (the average mean square value does not change with
time) with a zero mean.
This analysis is based on the mode superposition method. Hence a modal analysis that extracts the natural
frequencies and mode shapes is a prerequisite.
This feature covers one type of PSD excitation only- base excitation.
The base excitation could be an acceleration PSD (either in acceleration2 units or in G2 units), velocity PSD
or displacement PSD.
The base excitation is applied in the specified direction to all entities that have a Fixed Support boundary
condition. Other support points in a structure such as Frictionless Surface are not excited by the PSD.
Multiple uncorrelated PSDs can be applied. This is useful if different, simultaneous excitations occur in
different directions.
If stress/strain results are of interest from the random vibration analysis then you will need to request
stress/strain calculations in the modal analysis itself. Only displacement results are available by default.
Postprocessing:
The results output by the solver are one sigma or one standard deviation values (with zero mean value).
These results follow a Gaussian distribution. The interpretation is that 68.3% of the time the response
will be less than the standard deviation value.
You can scale the result by 2 times to get the 2 sigma values. The response will be less than the 2 sigma
values 95.45% of the time and 3 sigma values 99.73% of the time.
The Coordinate System setting for result objects is, by default, set to Solution Coordinate System
and cannot be changed because the results only have meaning when viewed in the solution coordinate
system.
Since the directional results from the solver are statistical in nature they cannot be combined in the
usual way. For example the X, Y, and Z displacements cannot be combined to get the magnitude of
the total displacement. The same holds true for other derived quantities such as principal stresses.
A special algorithm by Segalman-Fulcher is used to compute a meaningful value for equivalent stress.
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... for this analysis type:
Because a random vibration analysis is based on modal responses, a modal analysis is
a required prerequisite. The requirement then is for two analysis systems, a modal analysis system and a random vibration analysis system that share resources, geometry, and
model data.
From the Toolbox, drag a Modal template to the Project Schematic. Then, drag a
Random Vibration template directly onto the Modal template.
Define Engineering Data
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Both Youngs modulus (or stiffness in some form) and density (or mass in some form)
must be defined in the modal analysis. Material properties must be linear but can be
isotropic or orthotropic, and constant or temperature-dependent. Nonlinear properties,
if any, are ignored.
Attach Geometry
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a random vibration analysis.
Define Part Behavior
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a random vibration analysis.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Only linear behavior is valid in a random vibration analysis. Nonlinear elements, if any,
are treated as linear. If you include contact elements, for example, their stiffnesses are
calculated based on their initial status and are never changed.
Only the stiffness of springs are taken into account in a random vibration analysis.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
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Note
The Inertia Relief option (under Analysis Settings) for an upstream static
structural analysis is not supported in a random vibration analysis.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
You must point to a modal analysis in the Initial Condition environment field. The
modal analysis must extract enough modes to cover the PSD frequency range. A conservative rule of thumb is to extract enough modes to cover 1.5 times the maximum frequency in the PSD excitation. When a PSD analysis is linked to a modal analysis, additional solver files must be saved to achieve the PSD solution. (See Analysis Data Management (p. 664).) If the files were not saved, then the modal analysis has to be solved again
and the files saved.
Apply Loads and Supports
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Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Any Support Type boundary condition must be defined in the prerequisite Modal Analysis.
The only applicable load is a PSD Base Excitation of spectral value vs. frequency.
Remote displacement cannot coexist with other boundary condition types (for example,
fixed support or displacement) on the same location for excitation. The remote displacement
will be ignored due to conflict with other boundary conditions.
Four types of base excitation are supported: PSD Acceleration, PSD G Acceleration, PSD
Velocity, and PSD Displacement.
Each PSD base excitation should be given a direction in the nodal coordinate of the excitation points.
Multiple PSD excitations (uncorrelated) can be applied. Typical usage is to apply 3 different
PSDs in the X, Y, and Z directions. Correlation between PSD excitations is not supported.
Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Solution Information continuously updates any listing output from the solver and
provides valuable information on the behavior of the structure during the analysis. In
addition to solution progress you will also find the participation factors for each PSD
excitation. The solver output also has a list of the relative importance of each mode in
the modal covariance matrix listing.
Note
When using a random vibration system database from a version prior to the
most current version of Mechanical, it is possible to encounter incompatibility
of the files file.mode and/or file.esav, created by the modal system. This incompatibility can cause the random vibration systems solution to fail. In the event
you experience this issue, use the Clear Generated Data feature and resolve
the modal system.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
If stress/strain results are of interest from the random vibration analysis then you will need
to request stress/strain calculations in the modal analysis itself. You can use the Output
Controls under Analysis Settings in the modal analysis for this purpose. Only displacement
results are available by default.
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Analysis Types
A response spectrum analysis has similarities to a random vibration analysis. However, unlike a random
vibration analysis, responses from a response spectrum analysis are deterministic maxima. For a given
excitation, the maximum response is calculated based upon the input response spectrum and the
method used to combine the modal responses. The combination methods available are: the Square
Root of the Sum of the Squares (SRSS), the Complete Quadratic Combination (CQC) and the Rosenblueths
Double Sum Combination (ROSE). See Response Spectrum Options Group (p. 653) for further details.
Points to Remember
The excitation is applied in the form of a response spectrum. The response spectrum can have displacement,
velocity or acceleration units. For each spectrum value, there is one corresponding frequency.
The excitation must be applied at fixed degrees of freedom.
The response spectrum is calculated based on modal responses. A modal analysis is therefore a prerequisite.
If response strain/stress is of interest, then the modal strain and the modal stress need to be determined
in the modal analysis.
Because a new solve is required for each requested output, for example, displacement, velocity and acceleration, the content of Commands objects inserted in a response spectrum analysis is limited to SOLUTION
commands.
The results from the ANSYS solver are displayed as the models contour plot. The results are in terms of
the maximum response.
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Note
The Inertia Relief option (under Analysis Settings) for an upstream
static structural analysis is not supported in a response spectrum analysis.
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Analysis Types
Output Controls (p. 658). By default, only displacement responses are calculated. To include
velocity and/or acceleration responses, set their respective Output Controls to Yes.
Damping Controls (p. 653) allow you to specify damping for the structure in the response
spectrum analysis. Controls include: Constant Damping Ratio, Stiffness Coefficient
(beta damping), and a Mass Coefficient (alpha damping). They can also be applied as
Material Damping using the Engineering Data tab. For the CQC mode combination
type, non-zero damping is required.
Note
Damping is not applicable to the SRSS combination method. Damping
Controls are not available when the Modes Combination Type property
is set to SRSS.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings enable you to save solution files from the
response spectrum analysis. An option to save the Mechanical APDL application database
(db file) from the analysis is provided.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
A specific Modal Environment must be set as an initial condition/environment for response spectrum analysis to be solved.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Supported boundary condition types include fixed support, displacement, remote displacement and body-to-ground spring. If one or more fixed supports are defined in the model,
the input excitation response can be applied to all fixed supports.
Remote displacement cannot coexist with other boundary condition types (for example,
fixed support or displacement) on the same location for excitation. The remote displacement
will be ignored due to conflict with other boundary conditions.
Note that the All boundary condition types for Single Point Response Spectrum only includes those fixed degree of freedoms defined using Fixed Support, Displacement, Remote
Displacement and Body-to-Ground Spring. To apply an RS load to All boundary condition
types for Single Point Response Spectrum, at least one allowed boundary condition must
be defined.
For a Single Point spectrum type, input excitation spectrums are applied to all boundary
condition types defined in the model. For Multiple Points however, each input excitation
spectrum is associated to only one boundary condition type.
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Analysis Types
In addition to standard files generated by the Mechanical APDL application after the solve,
the file Displacement.mcom is also made available. If the Output Controls are set to
Yes for Calculate Velocity and/or Calculate Acceleration, the corresponding Velocity.mcom and/or Acceleration.mcom are also made available. These files contain
the combination instructions including mode coefficients.
Force Reaction and Moment Reaction probes can be scoped to a Remote Displacement
boundary condition to view Reactions Results.
These probe results are not supported when the Missing Mass Effect and/or Rigid
Response Effect properties of the RS Acceleration base excitation are set to Yes.
Magnetostatic Analysis
Introduction
Magnetic fields may exist as a result of a current or a permanent magnet. In the Mechanical application
you can perform 3D static magnetic field analysis. You can model various physical regions including
iron, air, permanent magnets, and conductors.
Typical uses for a magnetostatic analysis are as follows:
Electric machines
Transformers
Induction heating
Solenoid actuators
High-field magnets
Nondestructive testing
Magnetic stirring
Electrolyzing cells
Particle accelerators
Medical and geophysical instruments.
Points to Remember
This analysis is applicable only to 3D geometry.
The geometry must consist of a single solid multibody part.
A magnetic field simulation requires that air surrounding the physical geometry be modeled as part of
the overall geometry. The air domain can be easily modeled in DesignModeler using the Enclosure feature.
Ensure that the resulting model is a single multibody part which includes the physical geometry and the
air.
In many cases, only a symmetric portion of a magnetic device is required for simulation. The geometry
can either be modeled in full symmetry in the CAD system, or in partial symmetry. DesignModeler has a
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Magnetostatic Analysis
Symmetry feature that can slice a full symmetry model, or identify planes of symmetry for a partial symmetry
model. This information is passed to the Mechanical application for convenient application of symmetry
plane boundary conditions.
A Magnetostatic analysis supports a multi-step solution.
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For convenience, a library of common B-H curves for soft magnetic material is supplied
with the product. Use the Import tool in Engineering Data to review and retrieve curves
for use.
Note
In a magnetostatic analysis, you can orient a polarization axis for a Linear or
Nonlinear Hard material in either the positive or negative x direction with
respect to a local or global coordinate system. Use the Material Polarization
setting in the Details view for each body to establish this direction. The Material Polarization setting appears only if a hard material property is defined
for the body. For a cylindrical coordinate system, a positive x polarization is
in the positive radial direction, and a negative x polarization is in the negative
radial direction.
Attach Geometry
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a magnetostatic analysis.
Define Part Behavior
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations for a magnetostatic analysis.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Connections are not supported in a magnetostatic analysis.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Although your body is automatically meshed at solve time, it is recommended that you
select the Electromagnetic Physics Preference in the Details view of the Mesh object
folder.
Solution accuracy is dependent on mesh density. Accurate force or torque calculations
require a fine mesh in the air regions surrounding the bodies of interest.
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Magnetostatic Analysis
The use of pyramid elements in critical regions should be minimized. Pyramid elements
are used to transition from hexagonal to tetrahedral elements. You can eliminate pyramid
elements from the model by specifying Tetrahedrons using a Method mesh control tool.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The basic controls are:
Step Controls (p. 635): used to specify the end time of a step in a single or multiple step
analysis.
Multiple steps are needed if you want to change load values, the solution settings, or
the solution output frequency over specific steps. Typically you do not need to change
the default values.
Solver Controls (p. 639) allow you to select either a direct or iterative solver. By default
the program will use the direct solver. Convergence is guaranteed with the direct solver.
Use the Iterative solver only in cases where machine memory is an issue. The solution
is not guaranteed to converge for the iterative solver.
Nonlinear Controls (p. 655) allow you to modify convergence criteria and other specialized
solution controls. These controls are used when your solution is nonlinear such as with
the use of nonlinear material properties (B-H curve). Typically you will not need to change
the default values for this control. CSG convergence is the criteria used to converge the
magnetic field. CSG represents magnetic flux. AMPS convergence is only used for temperature-dependent electric current conduction for solid conductor bodies. AMPS represents current.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. A multi-step analysis involves calculating solutions at several time points in the load history. However you may not be interested in all of the
possible results items and writing all the results can make the result file size unwieldy.
You can restrict the amount of output by requesting results only at certain time points
or limit the results that go onto the results file at each time point.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings enable you to save solution files from the
magnetostatic analysis. The default behavior is to only keep the files required for postprocessing. You can use these controls to keep all files created during solution or to
create and save the Mechanical APDL application database (db file).
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There is no initial condition specification for a magnetostatic analysis.
Apply Loads and Supports
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Analysis Types
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
You can apply electromagnetic boundary conditions and excitations in the Mechanical
application. See Electromagnetic Boundary Conditions and Excitations (p. 769) for details.
Boundary conditions may also be applied on symmetry planes via a Symmetry. A Symmetry
folder allows support for Electromagnetic Symmetry, Electromagnetic Anti-Symmetry, and
Electromagnetic Periodicity conditions.
Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The Solution Information object provides some tools to monitor solution progress in
the case of a nonlinear magnetostatic analysis.
Solution Output continuously updates any listing output from the solver and provides
valuable information on the behavior of the structure during the analysis. Any convergence data output in this printout can be graphically displayed as explained in the
Solution Information section.
Adaptive mesh refinement is available for magnetostatic analyses.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
A magnetostatic analysis offers several results for viewing. Results may be scoped to
bodies and, by default, all bodies will compute results for display. For Inductance or
Flux Linkage, define these objects prior to solution. If you define these after a solution,
you will need to re-solve.
Points to Remember
Inputs and outputs are forces, moments, displacements, velocities and accelerations.
All parts are rigid such that there are no stresses and strain results produced, only forces, moments, displacements, velocities and accelerations.
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Note
Refer to the Multibody Analysis Guide for a reference that is particular to multibody motion
problems. In this context, multibody refers to multiple rigid parts interacting in a dynamic
fashion.
Although not all dynamic analysis features discussed in this manual are directly applicable
to Workbench features, it provides an excellent background on general theoretical topics.
This section contains the following topics:
Preparing a Rigid Dynamics Analysis
Command Reference for Rigid Dynamics Systems
Rigid Body Theory Guide
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Analysis Types
You can define a Point Mass for this analysis type.
Part stiffness behavior is not required for the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver in ANSYS
Workbench.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Applicable connections are joints, springs, and contact.
When an assembly is imported from a CAD system, joints or constraints are not imported,
but joints may be created automatically after the model is imported. You can also choose
to create the joints manually.
Each joint is defined by its coordinate system of reference. The orientation of this coordinate system is essential as the free and fixed degrees of freedom are defined in this
coordinate system.
Automatic contact generation is also available after the model is imported.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Mesh controls apply to surfaces where contact is defined.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For rigid dynamics analyses the basic controls are:
Step Controls (p. 635) allow you to create multiple steps. Multiple steps are useful if new
loads are introduced or removed at different times in the load history.
Rigid dynamics analyses use an explicit time integration scheme. Unlike the implicit time
integration, there are no iterations to converge in an explicit time integration scheme.
The solution at the end of the time step is a function of the derivatives during the time
step. As a consequence, the time step required to get accurate results is usually smaller
than is necessary for an implicit time integration scheme. Another consequence is that
the time step is governed by the highest frequency of the system. A very smooth and
slow model that has a very stiff spring will require the time step needed for the stiff
spring itself, which generates the high frequencies that will govern the required time
step.
Because it is not easy to determine the frequency content of the system, an automatic
time stepping algorithm is available, and should be used for the vast majority of models.
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Analysis Types
the ratio to the Energy Accuracy Tolerance, Workbench will decide to increase or decrease
the time step.
Note
For systems that have very heavy slow moving parts, and also have small
fast moving parts, the portion of the energy contained in the small parts
is not dominant and therefore will not control the time step. It is recommended that you use a smaller value of integration accuracy for the motion
of the small parts.
Spherical, slot and general joints with three rotation degrees of freedom
usually require a small time step, as the energy is varying in a very nonlinear
manner with the rotation degrees of freedom.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. In a transient nonlinear analysis it may be necessary to
perform many solutions at intermediate time values. However i) you may not be interested
in reviewing all of the intermediate results and ii) writing all the results can make the
results file size unwieldy. This group can be modified on a per step basis.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Before solving, you can configure the joints and/or set a joint load to define initial conditions.
1. Define a Joint Load to set initial conditions on the free degrees of freedom of a joint.
For the ANSYS Mechanical APDL solver to converge, it is recommended that you
ramp the angles and positions from zero to the real initial condition over one step.
The ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver does not need these to be ramped. For example,
you can directly create a joint load for a revolute joint of 30 degrees, over a short
step to define the initial conditions of the simulation. If you decide to ramp it, you
have to keep in mind that ramping the angle over 1 second, for example, means
that you will have a non-zero angular velocity at the end of this step. If you want to
ramp the angle and start at rest, use an extra step maintaining this angle constant
for a reasonable period of time or, preferably, having the angular velocity set to zero.
Another way to specify the initial conditions in terms of positions and angles is to
use the Configure tool, which eliminates the time steps needed to apply the initial
conditions.
To fully define the initial conditions, you must define position and velocities. Unless
specified by joint loads, if your system is initially assembled, the initial configuration
will be unchanged. If the system is not initially assembled, the initial configuration
will be the closest configuration to the unassembled configuration that satisfies
the assembly tolerance and the joint loads.
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A large difference between the interpolated curve and the linear interpolation may
prevent the solution from completing. If this is the case and you intend to use the
linear interpolation, you can simply use multiple time steps, as the interpolation is
done in one time step.
Fast Fourier Transform: Fast Fourier Transform is performed to fit tabular data. Unlike
cubic spline fitting, no verification on the fitting quality is performed. The additional cutoff
frequency parameter specifies the threshold (expressed in Hz) used to filter high frequencies.
Higher cutoff frequency results in a better fitting, but leads to smaller time steps. The following graphs show the effect of cutoff frequency on FFT fitting on a triangular signal using
5 Hz and 10 Hz, respectively.
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When defining a joint load for a position and an angle, the corresponding velocities and
accelerations are computed internally. When defining a joint load for a translational and
angular velocity, corresponding accelerations are also computed internally. By activating
and deactivating joint loads, you can generate some forces/accelerations/velocities, as
well as position discontinuities. Always consider what the implications of these discontinuities are for velocities and accelerations. Force and acceleration discontinuities are
perfectly valid physical situations. No special attention is required to define these velocity
discontinuities. Discontinuities can be obtained by changing the slope of a relative displacement joint load on a translational joint, as shown on the following graphs using
two time steps:
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Analysis Types
This discontinuity of velocity is physically equivalent to a shock, and implies infinite acceleration if the change of slope is over a zero time duration. The ANSYS Rigid Dynamics
solver will handle these discontinuities, and redistribute velocities after the discontinuity
according to all active joint loads. This process of redistribution of velocities usually
provides accurate results; however, no shock solution is performed, and this process is
not guaranteed to produce proper energy balance. A closer look at the total energy
probe will tell you if the solution is valid. In case the redistribution is not done properly,
use one step instead of two to use an interpolated, smooth position variation with respect
to time.
Discontinuities of positions and angles are not a physically acceptable situation. Results
obtained in this case may not be physically sensible. Workbench cannot detect this
situation up front. If you proceed with position discontinuities, the solution may abort
or produce false results.
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Note
If you highlight Deformation results in the tree that are scoped to rigid
bodies, the corresponding rigid bodies in the Geometry window are not
highlighted.
To plot different results against time on the same graph or plot one result quantity
against a load or another results item, use the Chart and Table (p. 988) feature.
If you duplicate a rigid dynamics analysis, the results of the duplicated branch are also
cleared.
Remote Force
Remote Force direction can be configured in rigid dynamics analyses using the Follower Load option.
Remote direction can be either constant (Follower Load=No, Default), or it can follow the underlying
body/part (Follower Load=Yes).
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Analysis Types
IronPython References
Because rigid dynamics uses an object-based approach, it is advantageous to have some knowledge
of object oriented programming and the Python language for writing commands for the solver. ANSYS
Workbench scripting is based on IronPython 2.6, which is well integrated with the rest of the .NET
Framework (on Windows) and Mono CLR (on Linux). This makes all related libraries easily available to
Python programmers while maintaining compatibility with the Python language. For more information
on IronPython, see http://ironpython.codeplex.com/.
IronPython is compatible with existing Python scripts; however, not all C-based Python library modules
are available under IronPython. For details, refer to the IronPython website. For more information on
Python, including a standard language reference, see http://www.python.org/.
GetId()
Using this call, each object can return its ID.
GetName()
Using this call, each object can return its name.
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Body
A body corresponds to a Part in the geometry node of the Mechanical tree. The preset _bid variable
can be used to find a corresponding body.
ID table: CS_Body
Example:
MyBody = CS_Body.Find(_bid)
print MyBody.Name
Members:
Name: Name of the body.
Origin: Origin Coordinate System of the body. This Coordinate System is the moving coordinate system of one of the joints connected to the body. The choice of this joint, called
parent joint, is the result of an optimization that will minimize the number of degrees of
freedom of the system.
InertiaBodyCoordinateSystem: Inertia body coordinate system of the body.
Member Functions:
SetMassAndInertia(double mass, double Ixx, double Iyy, double
Izz, double Ixy, double Iyz, double Ixz ): Allows you to overwrite the
mass and inertia values of a body.
SetCenterOfMassAndOrientationAngles(double Xg, double Yg, double
Zg, double XYAngle, double YZAngle, double XZAngle): Allows you to
overwrite the position of the center of mass and the orientation of the inertia coordinate
system.
Body Coordinate System
The body coordinate system is used to connect a body to joints, to hold the center of mass, or to define
load. See Joint to access existing coordinate systems.
ID table: CS_BodyCoordinateSystem
Members:
None
Member Functions:
RotateArrayThroughTimeToLocal(MeasureValues): Rotates the transient values
of a measure to a coordinate system. MeasureValues is a python two-dimensional array,
such as that coming out of FillValuesThroughTime or FillDerivativesThroughTime. This function works for 3D vectors such as relative translation between two coordinate
systems or 6-D vectors such as forces/moments.
RotateArrayThroughTimeToGlobal(MeasureValues): Rotates the transient values
of a measure from a coordinate system to the global coordinate system.
Derived Classes:
None
Example:
jointRotation = J1.GetRotation()
jointVelocity = J1.GetVelocityMeasure()
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Condition
Condition is a way to make a load or a joint condition to be active only under some circumstances. A
condition is expressed in one of the following forms:
1. MeasureComponent operator threshold
2. LeftThreshold < MeasureComponent < RightThreshold
3. LeftCondition operator RightCondition
For case 1:
MeasureComponent is a scalar Measure.
Operator is a math operator chosen from the following list:
E_GreaterThan
E_LessThan
E_DoubleEqual
E_ExactlyEqual
Threshold is the threshold value.
Example:
DispCond = CS_Condition(CS_Condition.E_ConditionType.E_GreaterThan,DispX,0.1)
For case 2:
MeasureComponent is a scalar Measure.
LeftThreshold and RightThreshold are the bounds within which the condition will be
true.
Example:
RangeCond = CS_Condition(DispX,0.0,0.1)
For case 3:
LeftThreshold and RightThreshold are two conditions (case 1, 2 or 3).
Operator is a boolean operator chosen from the following list:
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E_Or
E_And
Example:
BoolCond = CS_Condition(CS_Condition.E_ConditionType.E_Or, RangeCond, DispCond)
Driver
A driver is a position, velocity or acceleration, translational or rotational joint condition. Drivers derive
from the Actuator class.
Corresponding ID table: CS_Actuator
Constants:
E_Acceleration, E_Position, E_Velocity
Members:
None
Member Functions:
CS_Driver(CS_Joint joint, int[] components, E_MotionType driverMotionType): Creation of a joint driver, on joint joint, degree of freedom components, and with motion
type driverMotionType. Note that the same driver can prescribe more than one joint motion at the
same time. This can be useful if you want to add the same condition to all components of a prescribed
motion, for example. Components must be ordered, are zero based, and refer to the actual free degrees of freedom of the joint.
Environment
This is the top level of the Rigid Dynamics model.
ID table: CS_Environment
Members:
System:
Corresponding system.
Example:
Env=CS_Environment.FindFirstNonNull()
Sys = Env.System
Loads:
The vector of existing loads. This includes Springs that are considered by the solver as loads, as
well as force and torque joint conditions.
Example:
Xdof = 0
Friction=CS_JointDOFLoad(PlanarJoint,Xdof)
Env.Loads.Add(Friction)
Relations:
The vector of external constraint equations.
Example:
rel3=CS_Relation()
rel3.MotionType=CS_Relation.E_MotionType.E_Velocity
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Drivers:
The vector of Displacements, Velocity and Acceleration joint conditions.
InitialConditions:
The vector of Displacements, Velocity, and Acceleration joint conditions to be used only at
time=0.
PotentialEnergy:
Gets the Potential Energy Measure.
KineticEnergy:
Gets the Kinetic Energy Measure.
TotalEnergy:
Gets the Total Energy Measure.
ActuatorEnergy:
Gets the Actuator Energy Measure.
RestartTime
Specifies the starting time in a restart analysis
Member Functions:
FindFirstNonNull():
Returns the first environment in the global list. Usually, the table contains only one environment.
Hence, thus it is the common way to access the current environment.
Example:
Env=CS_Environment.FindFirstNonNull()
Derived Classes:
None
Joint
ID table: CS_Joint
Constants: For the joint type (E_JointType):
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E_2DSlotJoint, E_BushingJoint, E_CylindricalJoint, E_GeneralJoint, E_FixedJoint , E_FreeJoint, E_PlanarJoint, E_PointOnCurveJoint , E_RevoluteJoint,
E_ScrewJoint, E_SingleRotationGeneralJoint, E_SlotJoint, E_SphericalJoint,
E_TranslationalJoint, E_TwoRotationGeneralJoint, E_UniversalJoint,
Members:
Name:
Name of the joint
ReferenceCoordinateSystem:
Joint reference coordinate system
Example:
J1 = CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
CSR = J1.ReferenceCoordinateSystem
MovingCoordinateSystem:
Joint moving coordinate system
Example:
J1 = CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
CSM = J1. MovingCoordinateSystem
Type:
Joint type
IsRevert:
The internal representation of the joint can use flipped reference and mobile coordinate systems.
In that case, all the joint results (e.g., forces, moments, rotation, velocities and acceleration) must
be multiplied by -1 to go from their internal representation to the user representation. As transient
values of joint measures are giving the internal representation, use this IsRevert information
to know if results should be negated.
AccelerationFromVelocitiesDerivatives:
When extracting joint degrees of freedom on joints that return true, accelerations should be
done by using the time derivatives of the joint velocity measure. On joints that return false, extracting of the joint DOFs derivatives should be done using the joint acceleration measure. It is
important to check this flag first. Using the wrong method to query joint acceleration would fail
or give incorrect results.
Example:
if Universal.AccelerationFromVelocitiesDerivatives:
UniversalAccelerationValues=UniversalVelocityM.FillDerivativesThroughTime()
else:
UniversalAcceleration = Universal.GetAcceleration()
UniversalAccelerationValues=UniversalAcceleration.FillDataThroughTime()
Member Functions:
GetVelocity():
Returns the joint velocity measure. The size of this measure is the number of degrees of freedom
of the joint. The derivatives of this measure give access to the joint accelerations.
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Derived Classes:
On SphericalJoint, SlotJoint, BushingJoint, FreeJoint, GeneralJoint.
Member Function
AddStop(angle_max, restitution_factor): Adds a spherical stop to a joint
that has three rotations. A spherical stop constrains the motion of the X and Y rotational
degrees of freedom, to give to the joint the behavior of a loose revolute joint, with a
rotational gap. This will allow easier handling of over-constrained systems and building
higher fidelity models without having to use contact.
angle_max is the angle between the reference coordinate system Zr axis and the
moving coordinate system Zm. Zr is the natural revolute axis.
restitution_factoris the restitution factor, similar to other joint stops.
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Zr
Zm
Yr
Xr
On CylindricalJoint:
ReplaceByScrew(pitch): Creates a relation between the translational and the
rotational degrees of freedom of a cylindrical joint. Note that the pitch is in the
current length unit.
On Bushing Joint:
GetBushingAngles(): Returns the measure of the joint angles. This measure is
used to compute the forces and torques developed in the joint. Note that this is
only available for post processing operations, as the measure does not exist before
the solve has been performed.
JointDOFLoad
JointDOFLoads are loads applied on a given degree of freedom of a joint. The load is applied in the joint
reference coordinate system.
JointDOFLoad derives from Load.
The constructor for CS_JointDOFLoad is called as follows :
Load=CS_JointDOFLoad(joint,dof)
joint is a joint object.
dof is an integer that defines the joint degree of freedom to be included in the term. The ordering of the degrees of freedom sets the translation degrees of freedom first. The degrees of
freedom numbering is zero based. For example, in a slot joint, the translational degree of freedom
is 0, while the third rotational degree of freedom is 3.
Members:
None
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Type:
Measure type
Calculation Method:
A measure can use direct calculation, or be time integrated. On a measure that uses direct calculation, it is possible to retrieve the measure value through time. On a measure that is time-integrated, both values and time derivatives can be retrieved.
Name:
Measure Name
Member Functions:
FillValuesThroughTime():
Returns a two dimensional array. This function shall be called after the solution has been performed. The first dimension of the returned array is the number of time values in the transient.
The second dimension is the size of the measure plus one: the first column contains the time
values, while the subsequent columns contain the corresponding measure values.
FillDerivativesThroughTime():
Returns a two dimensional array. This function shall be called after the solution has been performed. The first dimension of the returned array is the number of time values in the transient.
The second dimension is the size of the measure plus one: the first column contains the time
values, while the subsequent columns contain the corresponding measure derivatives. These
derivatives are available on measures that are time integrated. To know if a measure is time integrated, use the CalculationMethod member.
Derived Classes:
CS_JointVelocityMeasure:
Joint velocities, both translational and rotational, are expressed in the joint reference coordinate
system. The number of components is the number of translational degrees of freedom plus the
number of rotational degrees of freedom. For example, for a revolute joint, the size of the joint
velocity measure is 1. It contains the relative joint rotation velocity along the z axis of the joint
reference coordinate system. For a slot joint, the size of the measure will be 4; one component
for the relative translational velocity, and the 3 components of the relative rotational velocity.
The joint velocity measure can be obtained from the joint using the GetVelocity function. Rotational velocities are expressed in radians/second.
CS_JointAccelerationMeasure:
Joint accelerations, both translational and rotational, are expressed in the joint reference coordinate
system. The number of components is the number of translational degrees of freedom plus the
number of rotational degrees of freedom. The joint acceleration measure can be obtained from
the joint using the GetAcceleration function.
CS_JointRotationMeasure:
For revolute joints, cylindrical joints, or single rotation general joints, this measure has only
one component the relative angle between the reference and the moving coordinate system
of the joint. Rotations are expressed in radians.
For slots, spherical joints, bushing joints, and 3 rotation vectors, this measure contains values
that are not directly usable.
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PointTable
Corresponding ID table: CS_PointTable
Members Functions:
CS_PointTable( tab ):
tab is a two dimensional array, where the first column contains the input values, and the second
column contains the corresponding output values.
Example:
tab = System.Array.CreateInstance(float,6,2)
tab[0,0]=-100.
tab[1,0]=-8.
tab[2,0]=-7.9
tab[3,0]= 7.9
tab[4,0]= 8.
tab[5,0]= 100.
tab[0,1]=1.0
tab[1,1]=1.0
tab[2,1]=0.1
tab[3,1]=0.1
tab[4,1]=1.0
tab[5,1]=1.0
Table = CS_PointsTable(tab);
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Here, the output (shown as Stiffness in the chart above) varies in a linear, piece-wise manner.
For values of input less than -8.0 or greater than 8.0, the output is equal to 1.0. For values
between -7.9 and +7.9, the output is 0.1. The transition is linear between -8.0 and -7.9 , and
as well between +7.9 and +8.0.
Polynomial Table
Corresponding ID: CS_PolynomialTable
Create a polynomial relation between sizeIn inputs and sizeOut outputs using the following
function:
Where i denotes the index of input and goes from 1 to n (sizeIn), j denotes the index of output
(from 1 to sizeOut).
Member Functions:
CS_PolynomialTable(): Creates an empty polynomial table.
Initialize(constant): Specialized for 1x1 table. Initializes the table to be a 1 input,
1 output table, and sets the constant term (constant is a float value).
Initialize(sizeIn,sizeOut,constantValues): (generic version) Initializes the
table with sizeIn inputs and sizeOut outputs and sets the constant terms. sizeIn and
sizeOut are two integer values, and constantValues is an array of sizeOut float
values.
AddTerm(coefficient,order): Specialized for 1x1 table. Adds one monomial term
to the table. The coefficient is a float value and order is an integer value giving the power
of the input.
AddTerm(coefficients,orders): (generic version) Adds one monomial term to the
table. The coefficients are given by a sizeOut float array and the power for each input by
an array of sizeIn integers.
Relation
The relation object allows you to write constraint equations between degrees of freedom of the model.
For example, two independent lines of shaft can be coupled using a relation between their rotational
velocities.
If you have a gear coupling between two shafts where the second shaft rotates twice faster than
the first one, you can write the following equation:
2.0 X 1 + 2 = 0
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Members:
None
Member Functions:
ToggleCompressionOnly()
Calling this function on a translational spring will make the spring develop elastic forces only if
its length is less than the spring free length. The free length has to be defined in the regular
spring properties.
ToggleTensionOnly()
Calling this function on a translational spring will make the spring develop elastic forces only if
its length is greater than the free length of spring. The free length has to be defined in the regular spring properties.
SetLinearSpringProperties(system, stiffness, damping)
Allows you to overwrite damping and stiffness of a translational spring. This can be useful to
parameterize these properties. For example, system is the system object, stiffness and damping
are the double precision values of stiffness and damping.
SetNonLinearSpringProperties(table_id)
Allows you to replace the constant stiffness of a spring with a table of ID table_id that gives
the force as a function of the elongation of the spring. The table gives the relation between the
force and the relative position of the two ends.
GetDamper()
The user interface has stiffness and damping properties of the spring. Internally, the Spring is
made of two objects; a spring and a damper. This function allows you to access the internal
damper using the Spring object in the GUI.
Derived Classes:
None
System
Corresponding ID table: CS_System
Members:
None
Member Functions:
AddMeasure(measure): Adds a measure to the system, to be calculated during the
simulation. This function has to be called prior to solving so that the measure values through
time can be retrieved.
(istat,found,measure)=FindOrCreateInternalMeasure( MeasureType):
Extracts an existing global measure on the system. Supported measure types are: E_Energy,
E_PotentialEnergy, E_ElasticEnergy, E_KineticEnergy, and E_Time.
Derived Classes:
None
Variable
A variable is an n-dimensional vector quantity that varies over time. It is used to define the variation of
a load or a joint condition, or to express the coefficients in a relation between degrees of freedom. For
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Screw Joint
This example considers a screw joint. While the screw joint is not displayed by the Mechanical GUI,
there are two ways to create a screw joint.
Use a cylindrical joint and link translation and rotation with the following relation:
Tz = Pitch * Rz
Modify an existing cylindrical joint into a specialized screw joint. Retrieve the joint using its
ID (_jid) to the joint, then replace the joint with a screw joint giving the pitch. The commands for
this approach are shown below:
Joint = CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
Pitch = 2
Joint.ReplaceByScrew(Pitch)
Note that the pitch value is unit dependant. The joint where these commands are inserted must be a
cylindrical joint.
Constraint Equation
This example considers the gear mechanism shown below.
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A relation is created between two revolute joints to simulate a gear with a ratio 2 M. Commands are
used to enforce the ratio of velocities between the two wheels, and create a linear relation between
rotational velocities, defined by:
(1)* 1 + (-2)*2 = 0
First, the joint objects are retrieved using their IDs:
j1id = CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
j2id = CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
Next, the relationship between the two wheels is defined. The complete list of commands is shown
below. A description of these commands follows.
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2. The constant coefficients that appear in the relation are created. The first constant term is created by:
var1=CS_ConstantVariable()
var1.SetConstantValues(System.Array[float]([1.]))
3. The second coefficient and constant right hand side are created by:
var2=CS_ConstantVariable()
var2.SetConstantValues(System.Array[float]([-2.]))
varrhs=CS_ConstantVariable()
varrhs.SetConstantValues(System.Array[float]([0.]))
The first argument is the joint object. The second argument defines the DOF (degrees of freedom)
of the joint that are involved in the relation. Here, 0 represents the rotation, which is the joints first
and only DOF is the rotation.
5. The second term and right hand side are introduced in the same manner:
rel.AddTerm(j2id,0,var2)
rel.SetVariable (varrhs)
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The driver constructor takes the joint instance as the first argument. The second argument is an array
of integer that defines which DOFs are active. The physical meaning of these integers is dependent
of the joint. For instance, if the underlying joint is a translation joint, 0 is the translation along x. But
if the joint is revolute, 0 now is the rotation along z axis. Similarly, for a cylindrical joint,0 is is the
translation along z, and 1 is the rotation. The last argument gives the type of driver here velocity.
Drivers can be one of three types: position, velocity, or acceleration:
3. The default environment and corresponding system are retrieved
Env=CS_Environment.GetDefault()
Sys=Env.System
4. This command returns an instance on an internal measure. It is often used to obtain the instance of the
time measure:
(ret,found,time) = Sys.FindOrCreateInternalMeasure(CS_Measure.E_MeasureType.E_Time)
5. The time measure is specified as the input measure for the driver and a constant value is given to the
driver. As the driver may be applied to several components of the joint, the values are given as an array
of float:
driver.SetInputMeasure(time)
driver.SetConstantValues(System.Array[float]([-4.9033]))
6. The driver is added to the list of initial conditions. Consequently, it will be active only at t=0 and will
give an initial velocity to the joint:
Env.InitialConditions.Add(driver)
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Method 1
Obtain the velocity measure from the joint.
Next, modify an existing moment in order to use the velocity measure as its input measure.
Method 2
Using this method, the load is created entirely using commands. These commands are shown below.
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2. Create an array of real values and fill it with the pairs of values (elongation, force):
Spring_table=System.Array.CreateInstance(float,7,2)
In this command, 7 represents the number of rows and 2 for the number of columns. The first column
gives elongation and the second, the corresponding force value. This command generates a PointsTable assigned to the spring, as shown below.
Each spring object in the Mechanical GUI is actually a combination of a spring and a damper. The
GetDamper method allows you to retrieve the damper object on a given spring, as shown below.
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Spherical Stop
This example describes the implementation of a spherical stop. A spherical stop is a joint that has 3
rotations (joints include spherical, slot, bushing, free and general joints). This specific type of stop creates
a limit to the angle between the z-axis of the reference frame and the z-axis of the moving frame. This
functionality is available using the following command:
AddStop(angle_max, restitution_factor)
For example, to add a spherical stop for an angle value equal to 0.45 radians and a restitution factor
equal to 1.0, the following command would be issued:
Joint.AddStop(0.45,1.0)
An example of the model and the results of this command are shown below.
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Next, the commands object shown below is inserted in the result node. An explanation of these commands follows.
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fich.close()
9. Get the joint reference coordinate system, and rotate the forces from the global coordinate system to
the joint coordinate system:
TopRevolute.ReferenceCoordinateSystem.RotateArrayThroughTimeToLocal(TRF)
fich=open(r"TopRevoluteForceRotated.csv",'w')
fich.write('Time,FX,FY,FZ,MX,MY,MZ\n')
for i in range(0,nbValues):
fich.write('{0:4.3f},{1:11.4e},{2:11.4e},{3:11.4e},{4:11.4e},{5:11.4e},
{6:11.4e}\n'.format(TRF[i,0],fact*TRF[i,1],fact*TRF[i,2],fact*TRF[i,3],
fact*TRF[i,4],fact*TRF[i,5],fact*TRF[i,6]))
fich.close()
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Breakable Joint
This example considers a breakable joint. A breakable joint is a joint that cannot withstand an internal
force higher than a given value. To create a breakable joint:
1. Get the joint by inserting a command on a planar joint:
joint=CS_Joint.Find(_jid)
2. Create a joint condition to prescribe zero velocity on the two translational degrees of freedom:
driver=CS_Driver(joint,System.Array[int]([0,1]),CS_Driver.E_MotionType.E_Velocity)
3. Define the value of the velocity, then retrieve the time measure:
Env=CS_Environment.GetDefault()
Sys=Env.System
(ret,found,time)=Sys.FindOrCreateInternalMeasure(CS_Measure.E_MeasureType.E_Time)
4. Define the time as variable, and use constant values for the two components:
driver.SetInputMeasure(time)
driver.SetConstantValues(System.Array[float]([0.,0.]))
Next, make the driver only active if the force in the joint is less than a maximum threshold of 3N.
To do that, create a Condition based on the joint force measure norm.
5. Retrieve the force on the joint:
force=joint.GetForce()
6. Create a component measure, that is the norm 2 of the force. To be computed at each time step, this
measure has to be added to the system.
norm=CS_ComponentMeasure(force,-2)
Sys.AddMeasure(norm)
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Degrees of freedom
This section discusses the options available when selecting degrees of freedom (DOFs) in a rigid body
assembly and their effect on simulation time.
The double pendulum model shown below is considered in this section. The first body in this model
(in blue) has center of gravity G1. This body is linked to the ground through revolute joint R1, and linked
to a second body through revolute joint R2. The second body (in red) has center of gravity G2, and is
linked to the first body through revolute joint R2.
Figure 1: Double Pendulum Model
The two bodies in this model are rigid, meaning that the deformations of these bodies are neglected.
The distance between any two points on a single rigid body is constant regardless of the forces applied
to it. All the points on the body can move together, and the body can translate and rotate in every
direction.
Many parameters are available to describe the body position and orientation, but the parameter usually
chosen for the translation is the position of the center of mass with respect to a ground coordinate
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system. It is extremely difficult to represent 3D rotations for the orientation in a universal way. A sequence
of angles is often used to describe the orientation, but some configurations are singular. An option
frequently used to describe the orientation in computer graphics is the use of quaternion (also known
as Euler-Rodrigues parameters); however, this option uses four parameters instead of three, and does
not have a simple interpretation.
A natural choice of parameters to describe the position and orientation of the double pendulum model,
is to use the position and orientation of the two individual bodies. In other words, use three translational
and rotational degrees of freedom for each body, and introduce the joints using constraint equations.
The constraint equations used state that the two points belonging to the two bodies linked by the revolute joint are always coincident, and that the rotation axis of the joint remains perpendicular to the
other body. This requires five constraint equations for each revolute joint.
The selected degrees of freedom (six DOFs per body and certain joints based on constraint equations)
are considered absolute parameters.
Figure 2: Absolute Degrees of Freedom
The model shown in Figure 2: Absolute Degrees of Freedom (p. 254) depicts global parameters in 2-D
for the double pendulum. Body 1 and 2 are respectively parameterized by X and Y translation and theta
rotation. Because the model has only two degrees of freedom, it does not require any additional constraint equations.
Global parameters for the body are chosen independently of the joints that exist between those bodies.
When these joints are known, parameters for the joints can be chosen that reduce the number of
parameters and constraint equations needed. For this example, the first degree of freedom is defined
as the relative orientation of the first body with respect to the ground. The second degree of freedom
is defined as the relative orientation of the second body with respect to the first body. Relative degrees
of freedom are shown in the figure below:
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Next, a third body is added to the model that is grounded on one side and linked to the second body
with another revolute joint, as shown below:
Figure 4: Closed Loop Model
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Analysis Types
The closed loop model shown above has three bodies (plus the ground) and four revolute joints. The
degrees of freedom can be chosen for the example as follows:
1 - The relative rotation of body 1 with respect to ground
2 - The relative rotation of body 2 with respect to body 1
3 - The relative rotation of body 3 with respect to ground
The fourth revolute joint cannot be based on degrees of freedom because both the motions of Body
2 and Body 3 are already defined by existing degrees of freedom. For this joint, constraint equations
are added to the relative degree of freedom parameters.
1, 2, and 3 will be the degrees of freedom, and the corresponding joints will be topological joints.
The fourth joint will be based on a constraint equation. Constraint equation-based joints are also known
as kinematic joints. Kinematic joints are needed when the model has closed loops, i.e., when there is
more than one way to reach the ground from a given body in the system.
To determine which joints will be topological joints and which will be kinematic joints, a graph is constructed to show connections where the bodies are vertices and the joints are arcs. This graph is decomposed into a tree, and the joints corresponding to arcs that are not used in the tree are transformed
into kinematic joints.
The Model Topology view displays whether joints are based on degrees of freedom or constraint
equations.
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Geometric variables, expressed as {g}, as well as the position variables for the translations. The geometric
variables are obtained by time-integration of the kinematic variables.
Shape Functions
Shape functions, also called generalized velocities, are the projections of the velocity of material point
Mk attached to body k on the kinematic variables of the model. Generalized velocities of a material
point are depicted in the figure below:
Figure 5: Generalized Velocities of a Material Point
0
L(L(L(k)))
L(L(k))
L(k)
k
Mk
Because of the choice of relative degrees of freedom, the velocity of Mk is a function of kinematic variables
of the joint located between body k and its parent body L(k), as well as those of the joint between L(k)
and L(L(k)), continuing until the ground is reached.
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Analysis Types
To understand how these generalized velocities are formed, it helps to first focus on the contribution
of the first joint of the chain (pictured below). This joint is located between body k and its parent, L(k).
Figure 6: Contribution of the Parent Joint to the Generalized Velocities
0 L(k)
Rk
Vk/L(k)
k/L(k)
0k
k
Mk
Because body k is rigid, the velocity of point Mk with respect to the ground 0 can be expressed from
the velocity of point Ok. Point Ok is the material point on the mobile coordinate system of the joint
between body k and its parent, L(k). This is expressed as follows:
= +
(9)
The angular velocity of body k with respect to the ground can be expressed as the angular velocity
of its parent, plus the contribution of the joints linking body k and its parent, L(k). This is expressed as
follows:
= +
(10)
Similarly, can be expressed using point Rk , which is the reference coordinate system of the
joint between body k and its parent, L(k). Note that Rk is a material point on body L(k). This is expressed
as follows:
= + +
where
is the joint relative velocity, i.e. the translational velocity between body k and its parent,
L(k).
258
(11)
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translational degrees of freedom, and rotational degrees of freedom. The translation is expressed in the
reference coordinate system, while the rotation center is the moving coordinate system. In other words,
the joint translation is applied first, and the rotation is applied after the coordinate system is updated
with the results of the joint translation. The decomposition of the Model Topology graph into a tree
results in an oriented parent-child relationship. When the joint has both translational and rotational
degrees of freedom and its reference coordinate system is on the child side, the joint must be split into
a rotational joint linked to the parent side, and a translational joint linked to the child side, with a fictitious
mass-less body between these two joints. While this is an internal representation of that reverted joint
(i.e., a joint that has both translational and rotational degrees of freedom and a link to the ground on
the mobile coordinate system side), results are reported on the original user-defined joint.
Because Rk is a material point of body L(k), the same methodology can be used to decompose the velocity into the contribution of the parent joint located between L(k) and L(L(k)) and the contribution of
the parent.
Two important quantities have been introduced in this process:
The concept of recursive calculation of the generalized velocities has also been introduced. The generalized velocities on body k can be computed by adding the contribution of the parent joint to the
generalized velocities of body L(k).
The contribution of each joint in the chain between body k and the ground can be found and expressed
as:
(12)
(13)
Vector , which is associated with the kinematic variable qi, is the partial velocity of the variable
expressed at point Mk. It is configuration dependent, i.e., it varies with the geometric variables of the
joints located between body k and the ground.
The translational and accelerations can similarly be derived to obtain:
= +
= +
(14)
(15)
Equations of Motion
Many methods are available to derive the equations of motion, such as Newton Euler equations, GibbsAppell equations, and Lagrange equations.
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Analysis Types
The combination of Gibbs-Appell equations with generalized velocities is often referred to as Kanes
equations [KAN61]. Kanes equations are used for this example.
= +
(16)
Similarly, the translational acceleration of point Mk can be expressed using reduction point Ok:
+ + +
(17)
The virtual work of the acceleration can be formed and integrated over body k, and summed over the
bodies as follows:
(18)
(19)
(20)
In this equation, Mk stands for the mass of body k, and Gk stands for the center of gravity of that body.
Other terms lead to:
(21)
where v is a constant vector. Those terms can be expressed as a function of the inertia tensor of body
k.
Similarly, the virtual work of external distributed forces is computed as follows:
(22)
Finally, the open loop equations of motion lead to the following algebraic system:
(23)
Both the mass matrix M and the force vector F are dependent on the geometric variables and time t.
The force vector is also a function of the generalized velocities.
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(24)
= =
(26)
(27)
Subject to:
= =
(28)
An additional scalar variable (called a Lagrange Multiplier) is introduced for each constraint equation.
These constraint equations are introduced in the algebraic system, which then becomes:
(29)
M, B, F, and G can be formed from a set of known geometric variables and kinematic variable values.
The above system can be resolved, providing both accelerations q and Lagrange multipliers .
These Lagrange multipliers can be interpreted as constraint forces, i.e., the amount of force needed
to prevent motion in the direction of the constraint equations.
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Analysis Types
Figure 7: Crankshaft Mechanism
The revolute joint between point P1 on body 1 and point P2 on body 2 generates five constraint
equations. For the sake of simplicity, these equations are written below in the global coordinate system,
even if it is not always possible in general cases. The equations are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
These equations must be projected on the degrees of freedom. This is achieved in the code by writing
the shape functions on each body on points P1 and P2:
= +
(30)
(31)
and:
(32)
(33)
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5.
The five equations above only generate two nontrivial constraints. The third equation indicates that
the mechanism cannot shift along the z axis. It also indicates that the mechanism cannot be assembled
if the z-coordinate of O2 and O2 are not the same. Similarly, the fourth and fifth equations indicate that
the orientation of the axis of the revolute joint in P1/P2 is already entirely dependent on the axis of
the two other revolute joints. A manufacturing error in the parallelism of the axis would result in a
model that cannot be assembled. As such, this system is redundant.
Because introducing the five equations into Equation 29 (p. 261) would make the system matrix singular,
some processing must be done on the full set of equations to find a consistent set of equations. Equations
that are trivial need to be removed, as well as equations that are colinear. An orthogonalization technique
is used to form a new set of equations that keep the matrix invertible. The matrix is decomposed into
two orthogonal matrices, Bf and R:
(34)
where the [Bf] matrix has a full rank and [R] is a projection matrix . This matrix can then used in Equation 29 (p. 261):
(35)
Time Integration
Equation 8 (p. 256) provides a relation between generalized accelerations
{q}.
Equation 8 (p. 256) provides a relation between generalized velocities {q} and the time derivatives of the
geometry variables
These two sets of equations form a system of first order explicit ordinary differential equations (ODE).
(36)
This system is integrated using two explicit Runge-Kutta methods: RK4 and RK5.
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Analysis Types
RK4 Method
The fourth order method is based on four estimations. Given an initial value y at time value t, and a
time step value dt, the following four estimations are formed:
(37)
= +
(38)
= + +
= + +
A fourth order approximation of y(t+dt) is given by:
+ +
+ + +
(39)
(40)
(41)
RK5 Method
The fifth order method is based on six estimations. This method was introduced by Cash and Karp
[CAS90]
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variables and geometric variables, expressed as = , is usually not polynomial. As a consequence, the constraint equations that are exactly satisfied in terms of accelerations at each of the
Runge-Kutta estimations might not be satisfied in terms of velocities and positions at the end of the
time step. After a number of time steps, closed loops will not be closed anymore, and points P1 and
P2 in the crankshaft example will slowly drift away from each other.
To avoid these violations of constraint equations, various strategies can be used.
The method known as Baumgarte stabilization [BAU72] introduces additional correction terms in the
constraint equation that will be proportional to the current violation of the constraints.
For constraint equations that are expressed in terms of velocities, the following is used:
(42)
= +
(43)
For constraint equations expressed in terms of positions, the constraint equation becomes:
= + +
(44)
where the subscript p represents the position violation and the subscript v stands for the velocity violation. Careful selection of and results in stabilization of the drift.
Another option proposed by Dehombreux [DEH95] is to project back the solution of the constraint
equation.
Both positions and velocities can be projected back using this correction.
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Analysis Types
By projecting the solution, an increment of the geometry variables can be found iteratively:
=
=
= +
(45)
(46)
(47)
Note that the relation between the kinematic variables and the geometric variables is reused in an incremental form.
Because of the dependency of the constraint equations on the geometric variables, this solution is
nonlinear, and must be performed until the increment is small enough.
Once the position has been corrected, another step can be done to correct velocities:
=
= +
(48)
(49)
As these equations are not velocity dependant, there is no need to iterate on this system.
Contact Formulation
Two bodies will impact when their distance is equal to zero. Once the distance is equal to zero and the
bodies are touching, forces can develop in the contact. When the contact distance is greater than zero,
there is no interaction between the bodies. Introducing interaction in the equations of motion results
in the addition of inequalities to the system:
q rt s
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(50)
Determining the time of the transition using this point mass model involves advancing in time without
introducing non-penetration constraint equations, and realizing at the end of the time step that the
penetration is not acceptable. By using the polynomial interpolation that the time integration scheme
provides over the time step, the moment where the penetration reaches zero can be found fairly accurately. This time value can be expressed as a fraction of the time step. To determine this time value, find
such that p(t+t)=0 where p is the penetration distance.
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Analysis Types
Advancing in time up to t will position the system exactly at the impact time and position, where
an impact occurs between the bodies. This impact is assumed to have a very short duration, orders of
magnitude smaller than the simulation time. During the impact, the interaction forces between the
bodies are first increasing in a compression phase, and then decreasing in the expansion phase until
they vanish entirely. This impact will lead to a certain amount of energy loss determined by the material of the bodies interacting.
Newtons impact laws are idealized in this impact process. They relate the relative velocity before the
impact to the bouncing velocity after the impact using a restitution factor. This restitution factor varies
from zero to one. A restitution factor of one indicates that the normal velocity after the impact is equal
to the velocity before the impact.
+
(51)
=
Where the superscript + represents quantities after the impact, and the superscript represents quantities before the impact.
A restitution of zero leads to:
+
=
(52)
=
+
(53)
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Contact Kinematics
The figure below depicts the contact between convex bodies j and k.
Figure 8: Contact Between Two Convex Bodies
Body j
Mj
Mk
Body k
The non-penetration equation below describes the contact between these bodies, and is written along
the shared normal at the contact point:
(54)
In this equation, the two points Mj and Mk are the points that minimize the distance between the two
bodies, and thus are not material points, i.e., their location varies over the bodies with time.
For more information on the definition of the contact point, refer to Pfeiffer [PFE96] in References
(p. 272).
Special Cases
Some special cases are worth mentioning. For instance, when contact occurs in a joint between two
bodies linked by that joint, the contact points become material points, and Equation 54 (p. 269) can
become dependent on one single degree of freedom. Figure 9: Stops on a Translational Joint (p. 270)
shows an example of stop on a translational joint. Both left and right vertical surfaces can impact the
red body, but this translates very easily into a simple double inequality:
(55)
where subscript m stands for the minimum bound, and M stands for the maximum bound. The normal
here is replaced by the projection on the joint degree of freedom.
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Analysis Types
Figure 9: Stops on a Translational Joint
Another case of specialized contact geometry is the radial gap where contact points can be computed
explicitly. In the general case of complex geometries, the strategy for computing the contact points
and the impact times is more complex.
General Cases
In general cases, geometries that are potentially in contact are neither simple nor convex. It is however
required to find the accurate position of the contact points between two bodies. Sometimes the contact
point is unique, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 10: One Contact Point
But for the same pair, the contact can occur in more than one point, as shown in the figure below.
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Finally, the contact can exist along a full line for some geometries, or even on an entire surface, as
shown in the figure below. In this case, there is an infinite number of contact points.
Figure 12: Cylinder/Cylinder Contact
To control the density of contact points that will need to be adjusted, a surface mesh is used on the
bodies that has contact defined. Mesh based contact points are first computed, and these discrete
points are then adjusted on the actual geometrical surfaces.
It is important to understand that contact will create constraints between the two bodies. The relative
motion between these two bodies varies in a 6-dimensional space, so 6 contact points at most will be
used to constrain the relative motion of two bodies. These constraints will be added to already existing
constraint, so contact can create additional redundancies. For example, two cams with parallel axis will
contact along a line (as shown in the figure below). However, if the two axes are maintained parallel
by existing joints in the model, one single point through the thickness of the cam is necessary to
properly represent the kinematics of the assembly. To avoid useless calculation, the mesh through the
thickness can be coarse.
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Analysis Types
Figure 13: Contact Requiring One Single Point
If the mesh is very refined, many points through thickness can satisfy the contact equations. An automatic filtering of the contact points will also be performed, but the position of the points through
thickness might vary from one step to the next. This can cause some unexpected changes in the moment
developed in the contact. To avoid this situation, it can be useful to modify the joints or the geometry
itself, and include a draft angle in the cam profile extrusion for force the contact along a line.
References
1. [BAU72] J. Baumgarte, Stabilization of constraints and integrals of motion in dynamical systems, Comp.
Math. Appl. Mech. Eng. 1, 1972, p. 1-16
2. [CAS90] J. R. Cash, A. H. Karp, "A variable order Runge-Kutta method for initial value problems with rapidly
varying right-hand sides", ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 1990, Vol 16, p.201-222
3. [DEH95] P. Dehombreux, Simulation Dynamique des systemes multicorps constraints, These de Doctorat,
Faculte Polytechnique de Mons
4. [PFE96] F. Pfeiffer, C. Glocker, Multibody Dynamics with Unilateral Contacts, Wiley, New. York, 1996.
5. [KAN61] Kane, T.R., Dynamics of nonholonomic systems, Transactions of the ASME, J. App. Mech., 1961,
Vol. 28, December, p.574-578
6. [WIT77] Wittenburg, J., Dynamics of Systems of Rigid Bodies. Stuttgart. B. G. Teubner. 1977.
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Point to Remember
A static structural analysis can be either linear or nonlinear. All types of nonlinearities are allowed large deformations, plasticity, stress stiffening, contact (gap) elements, hyperelasticity and so on. This
chapter focuses on linear static analyses, with brief references to nonlinearities. Details of how to handle
nonlinearities are described in Nonlinear Controls (p. 655).
Note that available nonlinearities can differ from one solver to another.
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Analysis Types
A rigid part is essentially a point mass connected to the rest of the structure via joints.
Hence in a static structural analysis the only applicable loads on a rigid part are acceleration and rotational velocity loads. You can also apply loads to a rigid part via joint
loads. The output from a rigid part is the overall motion of the part plus any force
transferred via that part to the rest of the structure. Rigid behavior cannot be used with
the Samcef solver.
If your model includes nonlinearities such as large deflection or hyperelasticity, the
solution time can be significant due to the iterative solution procedure. Hence you may
want to simplify your model if possible. For example you may be able to represent your
3D structure as a 2-D plane stress, plane strain, or axisymmetric model or you may be
able to reduce your model size through the use of symmetry or antisymmetry surfaces.
Similarly if you can omit nonlinear behavior in one or more parts of your assembly
without affecting results in critical regions it will be advantageous to do so.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Contact, joints, springs, beams, mesh connections, and end releases are all valid in a
static structural analysis.
For the Samcef solver, only contacts, springs, and beams are supported. Joints are not
supported.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Provide an adequate mesh density on contact surfaces to allow contact stresses to be
distributed in a smooth fashion. Likewise, provide a mesh density adequate for resolving
stresses; areas where stresses or strains are of interest require a relatively fine mesh
compared to that needed for displacement or nonlinearity resolution. If you want to
include nonlinearities, the mesh should be able to capture the effects of the nonlinearities. For example, plasticity requires a reasonable integration point density (and therefore
a fine element mesh) in areas with high plastic deformation gradients.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For simple linear static analyses you typically do not need to change these settings. For
more complex analyses the basic controls are:
Large Deflection (p. 642) is typically needed for slender structures. A rule of thumb is
that you can use large deflection if the transverse displacements in a slender structure
are more than 10% of the thickness.
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Note
Time Stepping is available for any solver.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. In a nonlinear analysis it may be necessary to perform many
solutions at intermediate load values. However i) you may not be interested in all the
intermediate results and ii) writing all the results can make the results file size unwieldy.
This group can be modified on a per step basis except for Stress and Strain.
Nonlinear Controls (p. 655) allow you to modify convergence criteria and other specialized
solution controls. Typically you will not need to change the default values for this control.
This group can be modified on a per step basis. If you are performing a nonlinear Static
Structural analysis, the Newton-Raphson Type property becomes available. This property
only affects nonlinear analyses. Your selections execute the MAPDL NROPT command.
The default option, Program Controlled, allows the application to select the appropriate
NROPT option or you can make a manual selection and choose Full, Modified, or Unsymmetric.
See the Help section for the NROPT command in the Mechanical APDL Command Reference
for additional information about the operation of the Newton-Raphson Type property.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings enable you to save specific solution files
from the Static Structural analysis for use in other analyses. You can set the Future
Analysis field to Pre-Stressed Analysis if you intend to use the static structural results
in a subsequent Harmonic Response, Modal, or Linear Buckling (Linear Buckling is
applicable to Static Structural systems only) analysis. If you link a structural system to
another analysis type in advance, the Future Analysis field defaults to Pre-Stressed
Analysis. A typical example is the large tensile stress induced in a turbine blade under
centrifugal load. This causes significant stiffening of the blade resulting in much higher,
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Analysis Types
realistic natural frequencies in a modal analysis. More details are available in the section
Define Initial Conditions (p. 136).
Note
Scratch Solver Files, Save ANSYS db, Solver Units, and Solver Unit System
are applicable to Static Structural systems only.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Initial condition is not applicable for Static Structural analyses.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For a static structural analysis applicable loads are all inertial, structural, imported, and
interaction loads, and applicable supports are all structural supports.
For the Samcef solver, the following loads and supports are not available: Hydrostatic
Pressure, Bearing Load, Bolt Pretension, Joint Load, Fluid Solid Interface, Motion Loads,
Compression Only Support, Elastic Support.
Loads and supports vary as a function of time even in a static analysis as explained in
the Role of Time in Tracking (p. 667). In a static analysis, the loads magnitude could be
a constant value or could vary with time as defined in a table or via a function. Details
of how to apply a tabular or function load are described in Defining Boundary Condition
Magnitude (p. 848). In addition, see the Apply Loads and Supports section for more information about time stepping and ramped loads.
Note
A static analysis can be followed by a pre-stressed analysis such as modal
or linear (eigenvalue) buckling analysis. In this subsequent analysis the effect
of stress on stiffness of the structure (stress-stiffness effect) is taken into account. If the static analysis has a pressure or force load applied on faces (3D)
or edges (2D) this could result in an additional stiffness contribution called
pressure load stiffness effect. This effect plays a significant role in linear
(eigenvalue) buckling analyses. This additional effect is computed during the
eigen analysis using the pressure or force value calculated at the time in the
static analysis from which the perturbation occurs. See the Applying Pre-Stress
Effects section for more information on this topic.
When using the Samcef solver, Direct FE boundary conditions are not available.
Solve
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Analysis Types
state thermal analysis calculates the effects of steady thermal loads on a system or component. Engineers
often perform a steady-state analysis before performing a transient thermal analysis, to help establish
initial conditions. A steady-state analysis also can be the last step of a transient thermal analysis, performed after all transient effects have diminished. A steady-state thermal analysis can be performed
using the
Point to Remember
A steady-state thermal analysis may be either linear, with constant material properties; or nonlinear,
with material properties that depend on temperature. The thermal properties of most material do vary
with temperature, so the analysis usually is nonlinear. Including radiation effects or temperature dependent convection coefficient also makes the analysis nonlinear.
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Analysis Types
Nonlinear Controls are exposed for the ANSYS solver only.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings enable you to save specific solution files
from the steady-state thermal analysis for use in other analyses.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For a steady-state thermal analysis you can specify an initial temperature value. This
uniform temperature is used during the first iteration of a solution as follows:
To evaluate temperature-dependent material properties.
As the starting temperature value for constant temperature loads.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The following loads are supported in a steady-state thermal analysis:
Temperature (p. 747)
Convection (p. 749)
Radiation (p. 753)
Heat Flow (p. 757)
Perfectly Insulated (p. 757)
Heat Flux (p. 759)
Internal Heat Generation (p. 762)
Imported Temperature (p. 846)
Imported Convection Coefficient (p. 840)
Fluid Solid Interface (p. 782)
Loads and supports vary as a function of time even in a static analysis as explained in
the Role of Time in Role of Time in Tracking (p. 667). In a static analysis, the loads magnitude could be a constant value or could vary with time as defined in a table or via a
function. Details of how to apply a tabular or function load are described in Defining
Boundary Condition Magnitude (p. 848). In addition, see the Apply Loads and Supports
section for more information about time stepping and ramped loads.
Fluid Solid Interface (p. 782) is not available for the Samcef solver.
Solve
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Thermal-Electric Analysis
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The Solution Information object provides some tools to monitor solution progress.
Solution Output continuously updates any listing output from the solver and provides
valuable information on the behavior of the structure during the analysis. Any convergence data output in this printout can be graphically displayed as explained in the
Solution Information section.
You can also insert a Result Tracker object under Solution Information. This tool allows
you to monitor temperature at a vertex as the solution progresses. Result Tracker is
not available to the Samcef solver.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Applicable results are all thermal result types.
Once a solution is available you can contour the results or animate the results to review
the response of the structure.
As a result of a nonlinear analysis you may have a solution at several time points. You
can use probes to display the variation of a result item over the load history. Also of interest is the ability to plot one result quantity (for example, maximum temperature on
a face) against another results item (for example, applied heat generation rate). You can
use the Charts feature to develop such charts.
Note that Charts are also useful to compare results between two analyses of the same
model.
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Introduction
A Steady-State Thermal-Electric Conduction analysis allows for a simultaneous solution of thermal and
electric fields. This coupled-field capability models joule heating for resistive materials and contact
electric conductance as well as Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects for thermoelectricity, as described
below.
Joule heating - Heating occurs in a resistive conductor carrying an electric current. Joule heating is proportional to the square of the current, and is independent of the current direction. Joule heating is also
present and accounted for at the contact interface between bodies in inverse proportion to the contact
electric conductance properties. (Note however that the Joule Heat results object will not display contact
joule heating values. Only solid body joule heating is represented).
Seebeck effect - A voltage (Seebeck EMF) is produced in a thermoelectric material by a temperature difference. The induced voltage is proportional to the temperature difference. The proportionality coefficient
is know as the Seebeck Coefficient ().
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Peltier effect - Cooling or heating occurs at a junction of two dissimilar thermoelectric materials when
an electric current flows through that junction. Peltier heat is proportional to the current, and changes
sign if the current direction is reversed.
Thomson effect - Heat is absorbed or released in a non-uniformly heated thermoelectric material when
electric current flows through it. Thomson heat is proportional to the current, and changes sign if the
current direction is reversed.
Points to Remember
Electric loads may be applied to parts with electric properties and thermal loads may be applied to
bodies with thermal properties. Parts with both physics properties can support both thermal and electric
loads. See the Steady-State Thermal Analysis section and the Electric Analysis section of the help for
more information about applicable loads, boundary conditions, and results types.
In addition to calculating the effects of steady thermal and electric loads on a system or component, a
Steady-State Thermal-Electric analysis supports a multi-step solution.
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Thermal-Electric Analysis
There are no specific considerations for a thermal-electric analysis.
Define Connections
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Contact across parts during a thermal-electric analysis consider thermal and/or electric
effects based on the material properties of adjacent parts. That is, if both parts have
thermal properties, thermal contact is applied and if both parts have electric properties,
electric contact is applied.
Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There are no specific considerations regarding meshing for a thermal-electric analysis.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
For a thermal-electric analysis, the basic controls are:
Step Controls (p. 635): used to specify the end time of a step in a single or multiple step
analysis. Multiple steps are needed if you want to change load values, the solution settings, or the solution output frequency over specific steps. Typically you do not need to
change the default values.
Typical thermal-electric problems contain temperature dependent material properties
and are therefore nonlinear. Nonlinear Controls for both thermal and electrical effects
are available and include Heat and Temperature convergence for thermal effects and
Voltage and Current convergence for electric effects.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. A multi-step analysis involves calculating solutions at several time points in the load history. However you may not be interested in all of the
possible results items and writing all the results can make the result file size unwieldy.
You can restrict the amount of output by requesting results only at certain time points
or limit the results that go onto the results file at each time point.
Analysis Data Management (p. 664) settings.
The default Solver Controls setting for thermal-electric analysis is the Direct (Sparse)
solver. The Iterative (PCG) solver may be selected as an alternative solver. If Seebeck effects are included, the solver is automatically set to Direct.
Define Initial Conditions
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Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
There is no initial condition specification for a thermal-electric analysis.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The following loads are supported in a Thermal-Electric analysis:
Voltage
Current
Coupling Condition
Temperature
Convection
Radiation
Heat Flow
Perfectly Insulated
Heat Flux
Internal Heat Generation
Solve
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The Solution Information object provides some tools to monitor solution progress.
Solution Output continuously updates any listing output from the solver and provides
valuable information on the behavior of the model during the analysis. Any convergence
data output in this printout can be graphically displayed as explained in the Solution
Information section.
Review Results
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Applicable results include all thermal and electric results.
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Points to Remember
A transient structural analysis can be either linear or nonlinear. All types of nonlinearities are allowed
- large deformations, plasticity, contact, hyperelasticity, and so on. ANSYS Workbench offers an additional
solution method of Mode Superposition to perform linear transient structural analysis. In the Mode
Superposition method, the transient response to a given loading condition is obtained by calculating
the necessary linear combinations of the eigenvectors obtained in a modal analysis. For more details,
refer to Transient Structural Analysis Using Linked Modal Analysis System section. The Mode Superposition method is not available to the Samcef solver.
A transient dynamic analysis is more involved than a static analysis because it generally requires more
computer resources and more of your resources, in terms of the engineering time involved. You can
save a significant amount of these resources by doing some preliminary work to understand the physics
of the problem. For example, you can:
1. Try to understand how nonlinearities (if you are including them) affect the structure's response by doing
a static analysis first. In some cases, nonlinearities need not be included in the dynamic analysis. Including
nonlinear effects can be expensive in terms of solution time.
2. Understand the dynamics of the problem. By doing a modal analysis, which calculates the natural frequencies and mode shapes, you can learn how the structure responds when those modes are excited.
The natural frequencies are also useful for calculating the correct integration time step.
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3. Analyze a simpler model first. A model of beams, masses, springs, and dampers can provide good insight
into the problem at minimal cost. This simpler model may be all you need to determine the dynamic
response of the structure.
Note
Refer to the following sections of the Mechanical APDL application documentation for a
more thorough treatment of dynamic analysis capabilities:
The Transient Dynamic Analysis chapter of the Structural Analysis Guide - for a technical overview
of nonlinear transient dynamics.
The Multibody Analysis Guide - for a reference that is particular to multibody motion problems.
In this context, multibody refers to multiple rigid or flexible parts interacting in a dynamic
fashion.
Although not all dynamic analysis features discussed in these manuals are directly applicable
to Mechanical features, the manuals provide an excellent background on general theoretical
topics.
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... for this analysis type:
For transient structural analyses, the basic controls include:
Large Deflection (p. 642) is typically needed for slender structures. A rule of thumb is
that you can use large deflection if the transverse displacements in a slender structure
are more than 10% of the thickness.
Small deflection and small strain analyses assume that displacements are small enough
that the resulting stiffness changes are insignificant. Setting Large Deflection to On
will take into account stiffness changes resulting from change in element shape and
orientation due to large deflection, large rotation, and large strain. Therefore the results
will be more accurate. However this effect requires an iterative solution. In addition it
may also need the load to be applied in small increments. Therefore the solution may
take longer to solve.
You also need to turn on large deflection if you suspect instability (buckling) in the
system. Use of hyperelastic materials also requires large deflection to be turned on.
Step Controls (p. 635) allow you to control the time step size in a transient analysis. Refer
to the Guidelines for Integration Step Size (p. 669) section for further information. In addition this control also allows you create multiple steps. Multiple steps are useful if new
loads are introduced or removed at different times in the load history, or if you want to
change the analysis settings such as the time step size at some points in the time history.
When the applied load has high frequency content or if nonlinearities are present, it
may be necessary to use a small time step size (that is, small load increments) and perform
solutions at these intermediate time points to arrive at good quality results. This group
can be modified on a per step basis.
Output Controls (p. 658) allow you to specify the time points at which results should be
available for postprocessing. In a transient nonlinear analysis it may be necessary to
perform many solutions at intermediate time values. However, i) you may not be interested in all the intermediate results, and ii) writing all the results can make the results
file size unwieldy. This group can be modified on a per step basis except for Stress and
Strain.
Nonlinear Controls (p. 655) allow you to modify convergence criteria and other specialized
solution controls. Typically you will not need to change the default values for this control.
This group can be modified on a per step basis. If you are performing a nonlinear Full
Transient Structural analysis, the Newton-Raphson Type property becomes available.
This property only affects nonlinear analyses. Your selections execute the MAPDL NROPT
command. The default option, Program Controlled, allows the application to select the
appropriate NROPT option or you can make a manual selection and choose Full, Modified, or Unsymmetric.
See the Help section for the NROPT command in the Mechanical APDL Command Reference
for additional information about the operation of the Newton-Raphson Type property.
Damping Controls (p. 653) allow you to specify damping for the structure in the Transient
analysis. Controls include: Stiffness Coefficient (Beta Damping), Mass Coefficient (Alpha
Damping), and Numerical Damping. They can also be applied as Material Damping
using the Engineering Data tab. In addition, Numerical Damping is also available for
handling result accuracy. Damping controls are not available to the Samcef solver.
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Specify 2 steps in your analysis. The first step will be used to establish initial
velocity on one or more parts.
ii. Choose a small end time (compared to the total span of the transient analysis)
for the first step. The second step will cover the total time span.
iii. Specify displacement(s) on one or more faces of the part(s) that will give you
the required initial velocity. This requires that you do not have any other
boundary condition on the part that will interfere with rigid body motion of
that part. Make sure that these displacements are ramped from a value of 0.
iv. Deactivate or release the specified displacement load in the second step so
that the part is free to move with the specified initial velocity.
For example, if you want to specify an initial Y velocity of 5 inch/second
on a part, and your first step end time is 0.001 second, then specify the
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following loads. Make sure that the load is ramped from a value of 0 at
time = 0 so that you will get the required velocity.
In this case the end time of the actual transient analysis is 30 seconds.
Note that the Y displacement in the second step is deactivated.
v. In the Analysis Settings Details view, set the following for first step:
vi. You can choose appropriate time step sizes for the second step (the actual
transient). Make sure that time integration effects are turned on for the second
step.
In the first step, inertia effects will not be included but velocity will be
computed based on the displacement applied. In the second step, this displacement is released by deactivation and the time integration effects are
turned on.
b. Initial Displacement 0, Initial Velocity 0: This is similar to case a. above
except that the imposed displacements are the actual values instead of small
values. For example if the initial displacement is 1 inch and the initial velocity is
2.5 inch/sec then you would apply a displacement of 1 inch over 0.4 seconds.
i.
Specify 2 steps in your analysis. The first step will be used to establish initial
displacement and velocity on one or more parts.
ii. Choose a small end time (compared to the total span of the transient analysis)
for the first step. The second step will cover the total time span.
iii. Specify the initial displacement(s) on one or more faces of the part(s) as
needed. This requires that you do not have any other boundary condition on
the part that will interfere with rigid body motion of that part. Make sure that
these displacements are ramped from a value of 0.
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In this case the end time of the actual transient analysis is 5 seconds.
Note that the Z displacement in the second step is deactivated.
v. In the Analysis Settings Details view, set the following for first step:
vi. You can choose appropriate time step sizes for the second step (the actual
transient). Make sure that time integration effects are turned on for the second
step.
In the first step, inertia effects will not be included but velocity will be
computed based on the displacement applied. In the second step, this displacement is released by deactivation and the time integration effects are
turned on.
c. Initial Displacement 0, Initial Velocity = 0: This requires the use of two steps
also. The main difference between b. above and this scenario is that the displacement load in the first step is not ramped from zero. Instead it is step applied as
shown below with 2 or more substeps to ensure that the velocity is zero at the
end of step 1.
i.
Specify 2 steps in your analysis. The first step will be used to establish initial
displacement on one or more parts.
ii. Choose an end time for the first step that together with the initial displacement
values will create the necessary initial velocity.
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iii. Specify the initial displacement(s) on one or more faces of the part(s) as
needed. This requires that you do not have any other boundary condition on
the part that will interfere with rigid body motion of that part. Make sure that
this load is step applied, that is, apply the full value of displacements at time
= 0 itself and maintain it throughout the first step.
iv. Deactivate or release the specified displacement load in the second step so
that the part is free to move with the initial displacement values.
For example if you want to specify an initial Z displacement of 0.1 inch
and the end time for the first step is 0.001 seconds, then the load history
displays as shown below. Note the step application of the displacement.
In this case the end time of the actual transient analysis is 5 seconds.
Note that the Z displacement in the second step is deactivated.
v. In the Analysis Settings Details view, set the following for first step. Note
that the number of substeps must be at least 2 to set the initial velocity to
zero.
vi. You can choose appropriate time step sizes for the second step (the actual
transient). Make sure that time integration effects are turned on for the second
step.
In the first step, inertia effects will not be included but velocity will be
computed based on the displacement applied. But since the displacement
value is held constant, the velocity will evaluate to zero after the first substep.
In the second step, this displacement is released by deactivation and the
time integration effects are turned on.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
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Once a solution is available you can contour the results or animate the results to review
the response of the structure.
As a result of a nonlinear static analysis, you may have a solution at several time points.
You can use probes to display the variation of a result item as the load increases.
Note
Fixed body-to-body joints between two rigid bodies will not produce a joint
force or moment in a transient structural analysis.
Also of interest is the ability to plot one result quantity (for example, displacement at a
vertex) against another result item (for example, applied load). You can use the Charts
feature to develop such charts. Charts are also useful to compare results between two
analyses of the same model. For example, you can compare the displacement response
at a vertex from two transient structural analyses with different damping characteristics.
Note
The Mode Superposition Transient Structural analysis is allowed to be linked
to a pre-stressed Modal analysis.
From the Toolbox, drag a Modal template to the Project Schematic. Then, drag a
Transient Structural template directly onto the Solution cell of Modal template.
Establish Analysis Settings
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Step Controls - the analysis is only compatible with constant time stepping. So, auto
time stepping is turned off and will always be in read only mode. The user specified
substep or time step value is applicable to all the load steps. All of the Step Controls
settings applied to this analysis are not step aware. The time integration is turned on
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Note
For an MSUP Transient analysis, if you define the Solver Type as Reduced
Damped and the Store Complex Solution property is set to No, only Constant Damping Ratio is supported to define the damping ratio.
The Numerical Damping Value defaults to 0.005 and becomes read-only for this analysis. To edit this value, change the Numerical Damping field to Manual from Program
Controlled.
Note
Solver Controls, Restart Controls, Nonlinear Controls and Creep Controls are
not applicable to the current analysis.
Define Initial Conditions
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The Transient Structural analysis must point to a Modal analysis in the Modal (Initial
Conditions) object. This object also indicates whether the upstream Modal analysis is
pre-stressed. If it is a pre-stress analysis, the name of the pre-stress analysis system is
displayed in the Pre-Stress Environment field, otherwise the field indicates None. The
Modal Analysis must extract all modes that may contribute to the dynamic response.
Note
Command objects can be inserted into Initial Conditions object to execute
a restart of the solution process for the Modal Analysis.
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Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The following loads are allowed for the linked analysis:
Acceleration (p. 694)
Pressure (p. 705)
Pipe Pressure (p. 708)
Force (p. 716) (applied to a face, edge, or vertex)
Line Pressure (p. 737)
Moment (p. 731)
Remote Force (p. 719)
Standard Earth Gravity (p. 698)
Support Limitations
Note the following limitations:
If the Reference Temperature is set as By Body and that temperature does not match the environment
temperature, a thermally induced transient load will result (from the thermal strain assuming a nonzero
thermal expansion coefficient). This thermal transient loading is ignored for Transient Structural Analysis
using Linked Modal Analysis System.
Remote Force is not supported for vertex scoping.
During a linked MSUP Harmonic analysis, if a Remote Force or Moment is specified with the Behavior
property set to Deformable, the boundary conditions cannot be scoped to the edges of line bodies such
that all of their nodes in combination are collinear.
Remote Force and Moment applied to a rigid body is not supported.
Moment is not supported for vertex scoping on 3D solid bodies because a beam entity is created for the
load application. The beam entity changes the stiffness of the structural component shared and solved
by the preceding modal analysis.
Joint probes, Energy Probe, and Strain Energy results are not supported when expanded from a Modal
solution.
Cyclic symmetry models are not supported for a Transient Structural Analysis that is using a linked Modal
Analysis System.
Spring probe only supports Elastic force result when expanded from modal solution where as it supports
both Elastic force and Elongation results when expanded from transient solution. The Elastic force results
include the spring damping effect if the Reduced method is selected from Modal Solver controls, and
Store Complex Solution is set to No.
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Notes
Remote Force and Moment loading combined with the Rigid contact behavior is allowed when the loading
is scoped through a Remote Point.
To obtain the most accurate results, it is recommended that you specify Bonded as the contact Type and
set the contact Formulation to MPC in the Details for the Contact Region. See the Contact Definition
and Contact Advanced Category for more detailed information about these settings.
When the result is expanded from Modal Solution or when Reaction Object is scoped to a Contact Region,
the Reaction Object requires both Nodal Forces and Calculate Reactions Output Controls settings to be
turned On. If they are not set, the error message A result is invalid with current output control settings
displays. For other cases, the Reaction Object requires only the Calculate Reactions Output Controls
setting to be turned On.
The default value of Numerical Damping is different for full and mode superposition transient structural
analyses. So, the results comparison of a model must be done by matching the Numerical Damping value
settings in the Damping Controls section.
Point to Remember
A transient thermal analysis can be either linear or nonlinear. Temperature dependent material properties
(thermal conductivity, specific heat or density), or temperature dependent convection coefficients or
radiation effects can result in nonlinear analyses that require an iterative procedure to achieve accurate
solutions. The thermal properties of most materials do vary with temperature, so the analysis usually is
nonlinear.
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A transient thermal analysis involves loads that are functions of time. The first step in
applying transient thermal loads is to establish initial temperature distribution at Time
= 0.
The default initial condition for a transient thermal analysis is a uniform temperature of
22C or 71.6F. You can change this to an appropriate value for your analysis. An example
might be modeling the cooling of an object taken out of a furnace and plunged into
water.
You can also use the temperature results from a steady-state analysis of the same
model for the initial temperature distribution. A casting solidification study might start
with different initial temperatures for the mold and the metal. In this case a steady-state
analysis of the hot molten metal inside the mold can serve as the starting point for the
solidification analysis.
In the first iteration of a transient thermal analysis, this initial temperature is used as the
starting temperature value for the model except where temperatures are explicitly specified. In addition this temperature is also used to evaluate temperature-dependent
material property values for the first iteration.
If the Initial Temperature field is set to Non-Uniform Temperature, a Time field is
displayed where you can specify a time at which the temperature result of the steadystate thermal analysis (selected in Initial Condition Environment field) will be used as
the initial temperature in the transient analysis. A zero value will be translated as the
end time (of the steady-state thermal analysis) and this value can not be greater than
the end time.
Apply Loads and Supports
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The following loads are supported in a transient thermal analysis:
Temperature (p. 747)
Convection (p. 749)
Radiation (p. 753)
Heat Flow (p. 757)
Perfectly Insulated (p. 757)
Heat Flux (p. 759)
Internal Heat Generation (p. 762)
Imported Temperature (p. 846)
Imported Convection Coefficient (p. 840)
In this analysis, the loads magnitude could be a constant value or could vary with time
as defined in a table or via a function. Details of how to apply a tabular or function load
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Submodeling
System Coupling
Thermal-Stress Analysis
One-way Acoustic Coupling Analysis
Rotordynamics Analysis
Fracture Analysis
Composite Analysis
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Click on an Imported Load Group object in the tree, then click on the Imported Loads button in the
toolbar and select the desired load type from the allowed imported load types. In the Details view,
click on the Geometry field. Select the objects in the model to which you want to apply the load and
click the Apply button in the Geometry field.
Right-click on the Imported Loads Group object that was just added to the tree and select the desired
load type from the allowed imported load types. In the Details view, click on the Geometry field. Select
the objects in the model to which you want to apply the load and click the Apply button in the
Geometry field.
Note
Heat generation loads scoped to a surface body use the constant thickness value specified
in the details view of the surface body object when data is imported. Surface body
thickness defined using the thickness object is not accounted for when data is imported.
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Remote Points
Select the appropriate option to generate Internal or Globally Available remote points.
On Data Refresh
This option is available when the Remote Points options is set to Globally Available. The Regenerate
option deletes the remote points that were created during the previous import and adds new remote
points when data is imported. The Reuse Remote Points option reuses the previously added remote
points and only updates the scoping and location, if necessary.
Import Status
This read-only property displays the status of the import. One of the following status conditions will
exist:
Data Unavailable: no data is available to perform the import.
Obsolete: data is available to be imported, but no data has been imported or the data is obsolete
and should be re-imported.
Update: all data has been imported.
Import Failed: an error occurred during the import process and no data was imported
Suppressed
If you want to suppress all of the loads under this Imported Remote Loads object, set this property
to Yes.
3. Once you have defined the necessary import options, right-click the Imported Remote Loads object
and select Generate Remote Loads. This action imports the source data and associates it with the selected
target geometry. Once executed, Mechanical adds objects to the tree based on the source data.
The following items will be added into the tree based on the source data. For each location that
Maxwell reports the calculated forces, Mechanical:
Adds two Remote Force objects and two Moment objects with the imported data. For each of these
loading types, one object is inserted under the Imported Remote Loads group object for real components and another one is inserted for imaginary components (and the Phase Angle property is
automatically set to 90o). Each set of four loads are named with a Group ID number, as illustrated in
the following example.
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Creates a Remote Point at that location and associates it with the group of four loads. The Remote
Point is named with the same Group ID number as the set of load group.
Note
When using internal remote points, if you change the scoping or behavior of a load,
all loads of the group automatically update because they share the same remote point.
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For each scoped reference (face or edge), applied using the Scoping Method property on the
Imported Remote Load object, Mechanical finds the closest Remote Point and assigns the reference as scoping for that Remote Point.
4. Specify mesh controls, boundary conditions, and solution settings.
5. Solve the analysis.
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In the Details view you can also set the analysis time at which results are exported. The default is the
end time of the analysis, which you select by entering 0. You must enter a value between 0 and the
end time of the analysis.
If you want to export the results automatically at the end of the analysis, click on the Imported Load
(Ansoft) object in the tree before you start the analysis. In the Details panel, set the Export After Solve
field to Yes. The results will be written when the solution has finished.
If you want to export the results manually after the analysis, click on the Imported Load (Ansoft) object
in the tree before you start the analysis. In the Details panel, set the Export After Solve field to No. To
export the file after the solution, right-click on the Imported Load (Ansoft) object in the tree. Select
Export Results. The results will be written to the file.
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If necessary, you can modify the load transfer Mapper Settings for the export.
Note
Refer to the Ansoft application documentation for more details on settings required to support
the export from the Mechanical application to the Ansoft application.
Results can only be exported to setups that have contributed to the current solution.
In the Project Schematic, add any number of files to an External Data system and specify the necessary
details.
When multiple files are added to the same External Data system, each file is given a unique identifier
(that is, File1, File2, and so on). These identifiers are used in conjunction with the data identifiers
(Pressure1, Thickness1, and so on) to identify and apply the dataset(s) within Mechanical.
If your files contain data for the same nodal coordinates, or if only one of your files contains the
nodal information, you can choose the Master option in the External Data system to designate a
master file. This option notifies the mapping utility that the group of files, defined in the External
Data system, share the same nodal information. The nodal information is therefore processed and
stored only from the master file. This greatly reduces the memory usage by only allocating space for
the nodes once, not once per file. It can also result in much faster import times as only one mapping
operation will be required.
Mechanical APDL CDB files can be added as a master mesh in the External Data system; for details,
see Importing a CDB File as Input in the Workbench User's Guide.
2.
To transfer data to Mechanical, create a link between the Setup cell of the External Data system and
that of an applicable downstream system.
To transfer shell thickness data to Mechanical, right-click the Setup cell of the External Data system
and select Transfer Data to New, a link is created to the Model cell of a new Static Structural system.
If you select Transfer Data to New > <mechanical system>, this operation automatically creates
a link to the Model cell of the Mechanical system. Alternatively, you can drag the Setup cell of the
External Data and drop it onto the Model cell of a Mechanical system to create the link.
To transfer load data to Mechanical, drag the Setup cell of the External Data system and drop it
onto the Setup cell of an applicable Mechanical system.
When an External Data System is connected to a system using the Samcef solver, the following
quantities cannot be used: Body Force Density, Stress, Strain, Heat Flux, and the Emag Condition.
3.
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Attach geometry to the analysis system, and then double-click Setup to open the Mechanical window.
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Select appropriate geometry in the Details view, and then click Apply.
2.
Select appropriate options in the Details view. You can modify the mapping settings to achieve the
desired mapping accuracy.
3.
You can specify a thickness value for the unmapped target nodes using the Unmapped Data Value
property. By default, a zero thickness value is assigned to the unmapped nodes.
Important
For the ANSYS solver, the thickness value at each node must be greater than zero.
4.
Right-click the Imported Thickness, and then click Import Thickness to import the thickness. When
the thickness has been imported successfully, a contour plot will be displayed in the Geometry window
and any mesh display will be based upon the mapped thickness of the elements.
If your simulation has load data defined from an External data system, an Imported Load folder is added
under the Environment folder.
1.
To add an imported load, click the Imported Load folder to make the Environment toolbar available,
or right-click the Imported Load folder and select the appropriate load from the context menu.
2.
Select appropriate geometry in the Details view, and then click Apply.
3.
In a 3D structural analysis, if the Imported Body Temperature load is scoped to one or more surface
bodies, the Shell Face option in the details view enables you to apply the temperatures to Both faces,
to the Top face(s) only, or to the Bottom face(s) only. See Imported Body Temperature for additional
information.
4.
When mapping data to surface bodies, you can control the effective offset and thickness value at each
target node, and consequently the location used during mapping, by using the Shell Thickness Factor
property.
By default, the thickness value at each target node is ignored when data is mapped.
You can choose to enter a positive or negative value for the Shell Thickness Factor. This value is
multiplied by each target nodes physical thickness and is used along with the nodes offset to
determine the top and bottom location of each target node. A positive value for the Shell Thickness
Factor uses the top location of each node during mapping, while a negative value uses the bottom
location of each node. For example:
A value of 0.0 means that the physical thickness and offset of the surface body nodes will be ignored;
all target nodes are mapped at default surface body locations.
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A value of 1.0 means that the thickness used for a target node will be equal to the physical thickness
value specified for that node. The top location of the node will be used during the mapping process.
A value of -2.0 means that the thickness used for a target node will be equal to twice the physical
thickness value specified for that node. The bottom location of the node will used during the mapping
process.
The Viewer will look similar to the following for a value of 1.0. The colored dots represent the
location and corresponding values of the source nodes. In this case, each target node will be
projected using its physical thickness value to its bottom location and then mapped.
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5.
Select appropriate options in the Details view. You can modify the mapper settings to achieve the desired
mapping accuracy. Mapping can be validated by using Mapping Validation the objects.
For pressure loads, you can apply the load in the direction normal to the face or by specifying a direction. Setting Define By to Components enables you to define the direction by specifying the x, y,
and z magnitude components of the load. The z component is not applicable for 2-D analyses. For
pressure loads in Harmonic Response, you can apply both real and imaginary components of the
loads.
In a 3D analysis, if the Triangulation mapping algorithm is used, the Transfer Type mapping option
defaults to Surface when an Imported Temperature or Imported Body Temperature load scoping is
only on shell bodies. If the scoping is on shell bodies and other geometry types, the Transfer Type
mapping option will default to Volumetric. In such cases, to obtain a more accurate mapping, you
should create a separate imported load for geometry selections on shell bodies, and use the Surface
option for Transfer Type. See Transfer Type under Mapping Settings for additional information.
For Imported Pressure loads, you can apply the load onto centroids or corner nodes using the Applied
to property in the Details view. See Imported Pressure for additional information.
6.
For each load step, if an Imported Displacement and other support/displacement constraints are applied
on common geometry selections, you can choose to override the specified constraints by using the
Override Constraints option in the details of the Imported Displacement object. By default, the specified
constraints are respected and imported displacements are applied only to the free degrees of freedom
of a node.
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7.
For Vector2 (p. 317) and Tensor3 (p. 317) loads, the Coordinate System property can be used to associate
the component identifiers, defined in the worksheet, to a particular coordinate system. This option is
useful when the source data is defined, or needs to be defined, with respect to a coordinate system
that is not aligned with the Global coordinate system. If a cylindrical coordinate system is chosen, the
data is interpreted to be in the radial, tangential, and axial directions. By default, the Source coordinate
system is used.
Note
The Source Coordinate System drop-down option is an internal coordinate system used
by Mechanical and is not visible in the tree. It represents the coordinate system that
was used to define source points in the upstream External Data system. If there are no
Rigid Transformations (Theta XY/YZ/ZX) defined in the upstream External Data system,
the Source Coordinate System is the same as the Global Coordinate System.
8.
Under Data View, select the desired data Identifier, for the imported load. The data identifier (File
Identifier: Data Identifier) strings are specified in the upstream External Data system. You can also
change the Analysis Time/Frequency and specify Scale and Offset values for the imported loads.
For Vector2 (p. 317) and Tensor3 (p. 317) loads, if the Define By property is set to Components you
should select data identifiers that represent the x/radial, y/tangential, and z/axial magnitude components of the load. For Vector2 (p. 317) and Tensor3 (p. 317), the components are applied in the Coordinate System specified in the Details view. The z component is not applicable for 2-D analyses. For
Imported Displacement load, you can choose to keep a component free, or fixed (displacement =
0.0) by selecting the Free or Fixed option from the list of data identifiers. For all other loads, you can
choose to ignore a component if you do not have data for that direction by selecting the Ignore
identifier from the drop-down list.
For Imported Pressure/Imported Velocity in Harmonic response, you should select data identifiers
for both real and imaginary components. You can also specify Scale and Offset for both real and
imaginary components.
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9.
Right-click in the Data View and select Add row to specify additional data for a different analysis
time/frequency.
10. Change any of the columns in the Data View tab as needed:
Magnitude \ Film Coefficient \ Ambient Temperature
Select the appropriate data identifier that represents the load values to be applied from the
drop-down list.
X Component
Select the appropriate data identifier that represents the x component of the load values to be
applied from the drop down list.
Y Component
Select the appropriate data identifier that represents the y component of the load values to be
applied from the drop down list.
Z Component
Select the appropriate data identifier that represents the z component of the load values to be
applied from the drop down list.
Note
If you do not have data for a direction you can choose to ignore that component by
selecting Ignore from the appropriate drop-down box. Select the Fixed option from
the drop down list to make the component constant with a value of zero or the Free
option for the component to be without any constraints.
If multiple files have been used in the upstream External Data system, the data identifiers for component-based vector or convection loads must come from the same file
or from files that have a master file association. For example, you can select
File1:PressureX, File1:PressureY, and File1:PressureZ, but you cannot select File1:PressureX, File2:PressureY, File3.PressureZ (assuming that File1, File2, and File3 do not
have a master file association).
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Choose the analysis time at which the load will be applied.
Scale
The amount by which the imported load values are scaled before applying them.
Offset
An offset that is added to the imported load values before applying them.
11. In the project tree, right-click the Imported Load, and then click Import Load to import the load.
12. When the load has been imported successfully, a contour or vector plot will be displayed in the Geometry
window.
For Vector2 (p. 317) loads, contours plots of the magnitude (Total) or X/Y/Z component can be viewed
by changing the Data option in the details pane. Defaults to a vector plot (All).
For Tensor3 (p. 317) loads, contours plots of the Equivalent (von-Mises) or XX, YY, ZZ, XY, YZ and
ZX components can be viewed by changing the Data option in the details pane. Defaults to a Vector
Principal plot.
For Imported Convections loads, contours plots of film coefficient or ambient temperature can be
viewed by changing the Data option in the details pane.
For complex load types, e.g. Pressure/Velocity in Harmonic Response, the real/imaginary component
of the data can be viewed by changing the Complex Data Component option in the details pane.
Note
The range of data displayed in the graphics window can be controlled using the Legend
controls options. See Imported Boundary Conditions for additional information.
13. For Imported Force loads, additional result information is reported in the Transfer Summary. The reported
source and target force results may be used to validate the mapping and also to appropriately apply
a scaling factor.
14. If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, imported values at different time steps can be displayed
by changing the Active Row option in the details pane.
15. To activate or deactivate the load at a step, highlight the specific step in the Graph or Tabular Data
window, and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step! See Activation/Deactivation of Loads for additional
rules when multiple load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections.
Important
For Vector2 (p. 317) and Tensor3 (p. 317) loads, when the Define By property is set to Components, any rotation transformations (Theta XY/YZ/ZX) specified in the External Data system will
be appropriately applied to the mapped data if the Coordinate System is specified as Source
Coordinate System. If any other coordinate system is specified then the components are applied
in the specified Coordinate System. Rotations, resulting from using a cylindrical projection
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Typical applications of FSI include:
Biomedical: drug delivery pumps, intravenous catheters, elastic artery modeling for stent design.
Aerospace: airfoil flutter and turbine engines.
Automotive: under-the-hood cooling, HVAC heating/cooling, and heat exchangers.
Fluid handling: valves, fuel injection components, and pressure regulators.
Civil engineering: wind and fluid loading of structures.
Electronics: component cooling.
The Mechanical application supports two types of Fluid-Structure Interaction: one-way transfer and twoway transfer. In one-way FSI, CFD results are applied as loads in the mechanical analysis, but the results
of the mechanical analysis are not passed back to a fluids analysis. In two-way FSI, the results of the
mechanical analysis are passed back as loads to the fluids model. Two-way FSI is important when the
mechanical analysis could produce results that, when applied as loads in the fluids analysis, would significantly affect the fluids analysis.
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Note
In a System Coupling setup, if you apply an external force or external heat flow on the same
region as a Fluid-Structure Interaction load, this external variable will not be acknowledged
by the Mechanical APDL solver.
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b. For CFD Convection loads only: Select the appropriate Ambient Temperature Type.
Note
CFD Near-Wall Ambient (bulk) Temperature (default): This option uses the fluid
temperature in the near-wall region as the ambient temperature for the film coefficient
calculation. This value will vary along the face.
Constant Ambient Temperature: This constant value applies to the entire scoped
face(s). The film coefficient will be computed based on this constant ambient temperature value. Use of a constant ambient temperature value in rare cases may produce
a negative film coefficient if the ambient temperature is less than the local face temperature. If this is the case, you can define a Supplemental Film Coefficient. This value
will be used in place of the negative computed film coefficient and the ambient
temperature adjusted to maintain the proper heat flow.
8. Under Data View, select the Source Time, for the imported load. The Source Time Step value changes
based on the source time you select. If the selected source time corresponds to more than one source
time step, you will also need to select the desired time step value. You can also change the Analysis
Time and specify Scale and Offset values for the imported loads.
9. In the Project tree, right-click the imported load, and then click Import Load to import the load. When
the load has been imported successfully, a contour plot will be displayed in the Geometry window.
After the solution is complete, a CFD Load Transfer Summary is displayed as a Comment in the particular
CFD load branch. The summary contains the following information:
For a CFD Pressure load: the net force, due to shear stress and normal pressure, on the face computed in
CFD and the net force transferred to the Mechanical application faces.
For a CFD Temperature load: For surface transfers - the average computed temperature on the CFD
boundary and the corresponding average mapped temperature on the Mechanical application faces.
For volumetric transfers the average, maximum, and minimum temperature of the CFD domain and
the corresponding Mechanical Application body selection(s).
For a CFD Convection load: the total heat flow across the face, and the average film coefficient and ambient
temperature on the face.
The computed and mapped face data may be compared in order to get a qualitative assessment of the
accuracy of the mapped data. The following is an example of a CFD Load Transfer Summary for a CFD
Pressure load.
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Note
The force values shown in the CFD Load Transfer Summary should only be used as a qualitative measure of the load transferred from CFD to the Mechanical application mesh. In the
example above, the closer the CFD Computed forces are to the Mechanical application
Mapped Forces, the better the mapping. The actual force transferred to the Mechanical application is reflected in the reaction forces.
The following topics are covered in this section:
Face Forces at Fluid-Structure Interface
Face Temperatures and Convections at Fluid-Structure Interface
Volumetric Temperature Transfer
CFD Results Mapping
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Refer to the Imported Loads section for more information.
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Note
If the import is successful, you can see the temperature plot in the graphics display window.
If multiple time steps refer to the same time, an error will be displayed in the Mechanical
message window.
12. You can apply other boundary conditions and click Solve to solve the analysis.
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Analysis Types
tings (p. 134) for further information. Whenever a new row is added or deleted, the imported body temperature data view will be updated to match the number of rows in the Analysis Settings.
4. Click on the imported load object and the Data View tab with updated Analysis Times is displayed. If
the Analysis Time is different, the Source Time will display the original time, matching to the closest
available Source Time coming from Icepak. If the match is not satisfactory, you can select a Source
Time(s) from the drop-down list and Mechanical will calculate the source node and temperature values
at that particular time. This combo box will display the union of source time and analysis time values.
The values displayed in the combo box will always be between the upper and lower bound values of
the source time. If the user modifies the source time value, the selection will be preserved until the user
modifies the value even if the step's end time gets changed on the analysis settings object. If a new end
time value is added/deleted, Source Time will get the value closest to the newly added Analysis time
value.
5. Click on the imported load object, then right-click and select Import Load. This will interpolate the value
at all the selected time steps.
6. User can display interpolated temperature values at different time steps by changing the Active Row
option in the detail pane.
7. Apply required boundary conditions, continue with any further analysis and solve.
Note
The Named Selection can only be scoped to a vertex.
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Note
The Named Selection can only be scoped to a vertex.
5. At Solution level, add a Commands Object and import the macro ExportStateSpaceMatrices.mac
to export the reduced model. It is located at the installation folder under: ANSYS
Inc\v121\AISOL\DesignSpace\DSPages\macros
Note
The macro is based on the APDL command SPMWRITE.
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To transfer temperature data to Mechanical, drag the Solution cell of the Polyflow system and drop it
onto the Setup cell of an applicable Mechanical system.
To transfer thickness data to Mechanical, drag the Solution cell of the Polyflow system and drop it onto
the Model cell of an applicable Mechanical system.
If your simulation has thickness defined from a Polyflow system, an Imported Thickness folder is added
under the Geometry folder.
1.
Select appropriate geometry in the Details view, and then click Apply.
2.
Select appropriate options in the Details view. You can modify the mapping settings to achieve the
desired mapping accuracy.
3.
You can specify a thickness value for the unmapped target nodes using the Unmapped Data Value
property. By default, a zero thickness value is assigned to the unmapped nodes.
Important
For the ANSYS solver, the thickness value at each node must be greater than zero.
4.
Right-click the Imported Thickness object, and then click Import Thickness to import the thickness.
When the thickness has been imported successfully, a contour plot will be displayed in the Geometry
window and any mesh display will be based upon the mapped thickness of the elements.
If your simulation has temperature data defined from a Polyflow system, an Imported Load folder is
added under the Environment folder.
1.
To add an imported temperature load, click the Imported Load folder to make the Environment
toolbar available, or right-click the Imported Load folder and select the appropriate load from the
context menu.
2.
Select appropriate geometry in the Details view, and then click Apply.
3.
In a 3D structural analysis, if the Imported Body Temperature load is scoped to one or more surface
bodies, the Shell Face option in the details view enables you to apply the temperatures to Both faces,
to the Top face(s) only, or to the Bottom face(s) only. See Imported Body Temperature for additional
information.
4.
Select appropriate options in the Details view. You can modify the mapper settings to achieve the desired
mapping accuracy.
In a 3D analysis, if the Triangulation mapping algorithm is used, the Transfer Type mapping option
defaults to Surface when an Imported Temperature or Imported Body Temperature load scoping is
only on shell bodies. If the scoping is on shell bodies and other geometry types, the Transfer Type
mapping option will default to Volumetric. In such cases, to obtain a more accurate mapping, you
should create a separate imported load for geometry selections on shell bodies, and use the Surface
option for Transfer Type.
5.
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Under Data View, select the desired data Identifier, for the imported load. The data identifier (File
Identifier: Data Identifier) strings are specified by the upstream Polyflow system. You can also change
the Analysis Time and specify Scale and Offset values for the imported loads.
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Right-click in the Data View and select Add row to specify additional data for a different analysis time.
7.
In the project tree, right-click the Imported Load object, and then click Import Load to import the
load. When the load has been imported successfully, a contour plot will be displayed in the Geometry
window.
8.
If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, imported values at different time steps can be displayed
by changing the Active Row option in the details pane.
9.
10. To activate or deactivate the load at a step, highlight the specific step in the Graph or Tabular Data
window, and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step! See Activation/Deactivation of Loads for additional
rules when multiple load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections.
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Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Density is the only material property utilized in a rigid dynamics analysis. Models that
use zero or nearly zero density fail to solve using the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver.
Attach Geometry
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Only sheet and solid bodies are supported by the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver. Plane
bodies and line bodies cannot be used.
Define Part Behavior
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
You can define a Point Mass for this analysis type. Part stiffness behavior is not required
for the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver in ANSYS Workbench.
Define Joints and Springs
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
Applicable connections for this type of analysis are joints or springs.
When an assembly is imported from a CAD system, joints and constraints are not imported; however, joints can be created automatically or manually after the model has been
imported.
Each joint is defined by its coordinate system of reference. The orientation of this coordinate system is essential, as free and fixed degrees of freedom are defined in this
coordinate system.
Contact is not supported for this analysis type.
Define Input and Output Pins
Basic general information about this topic
... for this analysis type:
The quantities that are driven by Simplorer are defined as input pins. The quantities that
are monitored by Simplorer are defined as output pins.
Define Analysis Settings
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Simplorer Pins
Simplorer Pins are connection points that describe the interface between a rigid dynamics model and
a Simplorer model.
Pins have two distinct natures:
Input Pins are used by Simplorer to drive the rigid dynamics model.
Output Pins are sensors used by Simplorer to monitor the rigid dynamics model state.
Pins are defined by the degrees of freedom of joints. One pin can be attached to each degree of freedom
of a joint. The type of joint quantity attached to pin depends on the nature of the degrees of freedom.
Translational degrees of freedom can have Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, and Force pins.
Rotational degrees of freedom can have Rotation, Angular Velocity, Angular Acceleration, and Moment
pins.
Note
It is not recommended that you place additional joint conditions on degrees of freedom that
are associated with pins.
To create pins for a Rigid Dynamics analysis system:
1.
Open a Rigid Dynamics analysis system in Workbench, then double-click on the Model field to open
the model for editing in the Mechanical application.
2.
In the Mechanical application tool bar, click the New Simplorer Pin button as shown below to add a
new pin. If you click the New Simplorer Pin button while a joint is selected, the pin will automatically
have joint information associated with it. If no joint is selected, you will need to associate the pin with
a joint at a later time.
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Analysis Types
3.
With the new pin selected in the Outline view, edit the DOF, Type, and Pin Nature fields in the Details
view to complete the pin setup.
4.
5.
6.
When finished adding pins, refer to Set up the Mechanical Application for Export to Simplorer (p. 325)
for more information.
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Note
If you do not need to keep the original Rigid Dynamics analysis, you can replace it with
the Static Structural analysis system.
5. Edit the Static Structural analysis (using Model, Edit) by suppressing all parts except the desired part
for the Static Structural analysis.
6. Change the Stiffness Behavior of the part to be analyzed from Rigid to Flexible.
7. Change mesh solver preference to be ANSYS Mechanical instead of ANSYS Rigid Dynamics.
8. Delete or suppress all loads used in the Rigid Dynamics analysis.
9. Import the motion loads that were exported from the Rigid Dynamics analysis. Highlight the Static
Structural branch and then right mouse click, Insert> Motion Loads....
Note
Moments and forces created for the static structural analysis can be in an invalid state if
all three components of the force/moment are almost equal to zero.
Point to Remember
It is important that you create the Static Structural analysis after the Rigid Dynamics analysis is finished
and the export load is done.
Submodeling
Submodeling is a finite element technique that you can use to obtain more accurate results in a particular region of a model. A finite element mesh may be too coarse to produce satisfactory results in a
given region of interest. The results away from this region, however, may be satisfactory.
Reanalyzing the entire model using a greater mesh refinement in order to obtain more accurate results
in one particular region is time-consuming and costly. Instead, you can use submodeling to generate
an independent, more finely meshed model of only the region (submodel) of interest and then analyze
it.
The following submodeling topics are available:
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Understanding Submodeling
Structural Submodeling Workflow
Thermal Submodeling Workflow
Understanding Submodeling
In finite element analysis, the finite element mesh is sometimes too coarse to produce satisfactory results
in a specific region of interest, such as a stress concentration region in a stress analysis as shown in the
figure that follows. The figure illustrates how to deal with the problem by using submodeling to create
a finer mesh on the region (submodel) of interest.
Figure 14: Submodeling of a Pulley
Submodeling of a pulley hub and spokes: (a) coarsely meshed model, and (b) finely
meshed submodel (shown superimposed over coarse model)
Submodeling is also known as the cut-boundary displacement method or the specified boundary displacement method. The cut boundary is the boundary of the submodel which represents a cut through
the coarse model. Displacements calculated on the cut boundary of the coarse model are specified as
boundary conditions for the submodel.
Submodeling is based on St. Venant's principle, which states that if an actual distribution of forces is
replaced by a statically equivalent system, the distribution of stress and strain is altered only near the
regions of load application. The principle implies that stress concentration effects are localized around
the concentration; therefore, if the boundaries of the submodel are far enough away from the stress
concentration, reasonably accurate results can be calculated in the submodel.
The Mechanical application allows submodeling for structural (stress) and thermal analyses. In a thermal
analysis, the temperatures calculated on the cut boundary of the coarse model are specified as
boundary conditions for the submodel.
Aside from the obvious benefit of yielding more accurate results in a region of your model, the submodeling technique has other advantages:
It reduces, or even eliminates, the need for complicated transition regions in solid finite element
models.
It enables you to experiment with different designs for the region of interest (different fillet radii, for
example).
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Shell-to-Solid Submodels
In the shell-to-solid submodeling technique, the coarse model is a shell model, and the submodel is a
3D solid model, as shown in this example:
Figure 15: 3D Solid Submodel Superimposed on Coarse Shell Model
The procedure for shell-to-solid submodeling is essentially the same as that for solid-to-solid submodeling, with these exceptions:
Shell-to-solid submodeling submodeling is activated by setting the Transfer Key to Shell-Solid in the
Imported Load details view.
Cut boundaries on the submodel are the end planes that are normal to the shell plane (see Figure 16: Node
rotations (a) before mapping command, (b) after mapping command (p. 334)).
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Analysis Types
To determine the degree-of-freedom values at a cut-boundary node, the program first projects the node
onto the nearest element in the shell plane. The degree-of-freedom values of this projected point are
then calculated by interpolation and assigned to the corresponding node.
In a structural analysis, only translational displacements are calculated for the cut-boundary nodes, but
their values are based on both the translations and rotations of the projected point. Also, the node is rotated
such that the nodal UY direction is always perpendicular to the shell plane, as shown in Figure 16: Node
rotations (a) before mapping command, (b) after mapping command (p. 334). A UY constraint is calculated
only for nodes that are within 10 percent of the average shell element thickness from the shell plane,
preventing overconstraint of the submodel in the transverse direction.
Figure 16: Node rotations (a) before mapping command, (b) after mapping command
Nonlinear Submodeling
For load-history-dependent problems (for example, when plastic materials exist), you must cut boundary
conditions from the coarse model at multiple substeps to simulate the load history dependency in the
fine-mesh model analysis.
The more boundary cutting you do, the more accurate are the results of the fine-mesh model analysis.
From the toolbox, drag and drop a transient or static structural template onto the project schematic.
Perform all of the steps to set up and analyze the initial model. Specify mesh controls, boundary conditions, and solution settings as you normally would and solve the analysis. To easily identify this initial
model, it is referred to as the coarse model. This does not mean that the mesh refinement is coarse,
only that it is relatively coarse compared to the submodel.
2.
Drag-and-drop a Static Structural or Transient Structural template onto the project schematic. Share
the Engineering Data and Geometry cells if required and then drag the Solution cell of the upstream
onto the Setup cell of the downstream system.
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Note
You can add a template for the linked structural systems by creating your own template.
Data can be transferred from a 2D coarse model to a 3D submodel. The settings for 2D
projection of target mesh nodes can be specified in Appendix C.
3.
Double-click the downstream systems Setup cell. In the Mechanical application, a Submodeling folder
is automatically added into the system's tree.
4.
To add an imported load, click the Submodeling folder to make the Environment toolbar available,
or right-click the Submodeling folder and select the appropriate load from the context menu.
5.
Select appropriate cut-boundaries for transferring displacements or body selections for transferring
temperatures in the Details view of the Imported Load object using the Geometry or Named Selection
scoping option.
Note
Mixing of scoping on surface bodies with other geometry types is not allowed.
Nodal named selections are not valid for transferring temperatures in Shell-Shell submodeling.
6.
The Transfer Key is automatically selected in the details view based on scoping. For scoping on surface
bodies, Shell-Shell Transfer Key is selected. For scoping on solids, Solid-Solid Transfer Key is selected
by default. Change it to Shell-Solid for shell to solid submodeling.
7.
For Shell-Shell submodeling, the user has the option to import Displacements/Rotations/Both using
the Sub Type property in the Details view.
8.
For Shell-Solid submodeling, the user has the option to import temperatures on Top/Bottom face or
the Middle shell plane using the Shell Face option. The Top/Bottom option calculates and applies the
temperatures on the top and bottom face independently, whereas the Middle option calculates the
temperature at the middle shell plane and applies it across the thickness of the shell.
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9.
For Shell-Shell submodeling, the user has the option to import temperatures from the Top/Bottom face
or the Middle shell plane using the Shell Face option. The Top/Bottom option uses the temperature
on both the top and bottom shell face to calculate the temperature on a target node, whereas the
Middle option only uses the temperature at the middle shell plan.
10. When scoped on surface bodies, you can control the effective offset and thickness value at each target
node of the surface bodies, and consequently the location used during mapping, by using the Shell
Thickness Factor property.
By default, the thickness value at each target node is ignored when data is mapped.
You can choose to enter a positive or negative value for the Shell Thickness Factor. This value is
multiplied by each target nodes physical thickness and is used along with the nodes offset to
determine the top and bottom location of each target node. A positive value for the Shell Thickness
Factor uses the top location of each node during mapping, while a negative value uses the bottom
location of each node. For example:
A value of 0.0 means that the physical thickness and offset of the surface body nodes will be ignored;
all target nodes are mapped at default surface body locations.
A value of 1.0 means that the thickness used for a target node will be equal to the physical thickness
value specified for that node. The top location of the node will be used during the mapping process.
A value of 2.0 means that the thickness used for a target node will be equal to twice the physical
thickness value specified for that node. The bottom location of the node will be used during the
mapping process.
11. The Source Bodies option in the Details view allows you to select the bodies, from the upstream
analysis, that make up the source mesh when mapping the data. You can choose one of the following
options:
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The body 'coil' has material ID 1, body 'core' has material ID 2, and body 'bar' has material ID 3.
Note
For Shell-Shell and Shell-Solid Transfer Key, only shell bodies are selected from the
upstream analysis.
For Solid-Solid Transfer Key, the values on the middle shell plane of shell bodies are
used for mapping.
12. You can transform the source mesh used in the mapping process by using the Rigid Transformation
properties. This option is useful if the source geometry was defined with respect to a coordinate system
that is not aligned with the target geometry system.
13. For each load step, if an Imported Displacement and other support/displacement constraints are applied
on common geometry selections, you can choose to override the specified constraints by using the
Override Constraints option in the details of the Imported Displacement object. By default, the specified
constraints are respected and imported displacements/rotations are applied only to the free degrees
of freedom of a node.
14. Change any of the columns in the Data View tab as needed:
Source Time: The time at which the data will be imported from the coarse analysis.
Analysis Time: Choose the analysis time at which the load will be applied.
Note
The Data View can automatically be populated with the source and analysis times
using Source Time property in the Details View. Use All to import data at all times
in the source analysis, or Range to import data for a range specified by a Minimum
and a Maximum.
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15. You can define multiple rows in the Data View tab to import source data at multiple times and apply
them at different analysis times. If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, it is possible to preview
imported load vectors/contour applied to a given row or analysis time in the Data View. Choose Active
Row or Analysis Time using the By property under Graphics Controls in the details of the imported
load and then specify the Active Row/Analysis Time to preview the data.
Note
If the Analysis Time specified by the user does not match the list of analysis times in
the Data View, the data is displayed at the analysis time closest to the specified time.
16. You can modify the Mapper Settings to achieve the desired mapping accuracy. Mapping can be validated
by using Mapping Validation objects.
Note
Mapping Validation is not supported for Shell-Solid Transfer Key.
17. Right-click the Imported Load object and click Import Load to import the load. When the load has
been imported successfully, a plot of the mapped values will be displayed in the Geometry window.
For displacement loads, the following data is available for viewing.
Displacement
Rotations (For Shell-Shell Transfer Key only)
When multiple data types are available for viewing, the appropriate data type can be chosen in
the Data field under Graphics Controls.
Contours plots of the magnitude (Total) or X/Y/Z component can be viewed by changing the
Vector Component option in the details pane. Defaults to a vector plot (All).
Note
The range of data displayed in the graphics window can be controlled using the Legend
controls options. See Imported Boundary Conditions for additional information.
For temperature loads on bodies, a Shell Face option is available under Graphics Controls for
Shell-Shell Transfer Key. It allows you to view the data on top, middle or the bottom face of the
shell.
The data displayed on the middle face is calculated by averaging the interpolated data on the top
and bottom face.
18. To activate or deactivate the load at a step, highlight the specific step in the Graph or Tabular Data
window, and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step!
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From the toolbox, drag and drop a transient or steady-state thermal template onto the project schematic. Perform all of the steps to set up and analyze the initial model. Specify mesh controls, boundary
conditions, and solution settings as you normally would and solve the analysis. To easily identify this
initial model, it is referred to as the coarse model. This does not mean that the mesh refinement is
coarse, only that it is relatively coarse compared to the submodel.
2.
Drag-and-drop a Steady-State Thermal or Transient Thermal template onto the project schematic. Share
the Engineering Data and Geometry cells if required and then drag the Solution cell of the upstream
onto the Setup cell of the downstream system.
Note
You can add a template for the linked thermal systems by creating your own template.
Data can be transferred from a 2D coarse model to a 3D submodel. The settings for 2D
projection of target mesh nodes can be specified in Appendix C.
3.
Double-click the downstream systems Setup cell. In the Mechanical application, a Submodeling folder
is automatically added into the system's tree.
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4.
An imported temperature object is automatically inserted under the Submodeling folder to represent
the transfer. To add additional Imported Temperature objects, click the Submodeling folder to make
the Environment toolbar available, or right-click the Submodeling folder and select the appropriate
load from the context menu.
5.
Select appropriate cut-boundaries for transferring temperatures or body selections for transferring
temperatures in the Details view of the Imported Load object using the Geometry or Named Selection
scoping option.
Note
Mixing of scoping on surface bodies with other geometry types is not allowed.
6.
The Transfer Key is automatically selected in the details view based on scoping. For scoping on surface
bodies, Shell-Shell Transfer Key is selected. For scoping on solids, Solid-Solid Transfer Key is selected
by default. Change it to Shell-Solid for shell to solid submodeling.
7.
The Source Bodies option in the Details view allows you to select the bodies, from the upstream
analysis, that make up the source mesh when mapping the data. You can choose one of the following
options:
All: The source mesh in this case will comprise of all the bodies that were used in upstream analysis.
For cases where the source values are significantly different at the boundaries across two or more
bodies, the interpolation may need to be performed separately on each geometry to ensure that the
mapped values match the source.
Manual: This option enables you to select one or more source bodies to make up the source mesh.
The source body selections are made in the Material IDs field by entering the material IDs that correspond to the source bodies that you would like to use. Type material IDs and/or material ID ranges
separated by commas to specify your selection. For example, type 1, 2, 5-10. The material IDs for the
source bodies can be seen in the Solution Information Object of the source analysis. In the example
below, text is taken from a solver output:
***********Elements for Body 1 "coil" ***********
***********Elements for Body 2 "core" ***********
***********Elements for Body 3 "bar" ************
The body 'coil' has material ID 1, body 'core' has material ID 2, and body 'bar' has material ID 3.
Note
For Shell-Shell and Shell-Solid Transfer Key, only shell bodies are selected from the
upstream analysis.
For Solid-Solid Transfer Key, the values on the middle shell plane of shell bodies are
used for mapping.
8.
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You can transform the source mesh used in the mapping process by using the Rigid Transformation
properties. This option is useful if the source geometry was defined with respect to a coordinate system
that is not aligned with the target geometry system.
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When scoped on surface bodies, you can control the effective offset and thickness value at each target
node of the surface bodies, and consequently the location used during mapping, by using the Shell
Thickness Factor property. See Structural Submodeling Workflow for more details.
10. Change any of the columns in the Data View tab as needed:
Source Time: The time at which the data will be imported from the coarse analysis.
Analysis Time: Choose the analysis time at which the load will be applied.
Note
The Data View can automatically be populated with the source and analysis times
using Source Time property in the Details View. Use All to import data at all times
in the source analysis, or Range to import data for a range specified by a Minimum
and a Maximum.
11. You can define multiple rows in the Data View tab to import source data at multiple times and apply
them at different analysis times. If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, it is possible to preview
imported load vectors/contour applied to a given row or analysis time in the Data View. Choose Active
Row or Analysis Time using the By property under Graphics Controls in the details of the imported
load and then specify the Active Row/Analysis Time to preview the data.
Note
If the Analysis Time specified by the user does not match the list of analysis times in
the Data View, the data is displayed at the analysis time closest to the specified time.
12. You can modify the Mapper Settings to achieve the desired mapping accuracy. Mapping can be validated
by using Mapping Validation objects.
Note
Mapping Validation is not supported for Shell-Solid Transfer Key.
13. Right-click the Imported Load object and click Import Load to import the load. When the load has
been imported successfully, a plot of the mapped values will be displayed in the Geometry window.
Note
The range of data displayed in the graphics window can be controlled using the Legend
controls options. See Imported Boundary Conditions for additional information.
14. To activate or deactivate the load at a step, highlight the specific step in the Graph or Tabular Data
window, and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step!
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See Activation/Deactivation of Loads for additional rules when multiple load objects of the same
type exist on common geometry selections.
15. Define any other loads and boundary conditions, specify load step options, and obtain the submodel
solution.
16. The final step is to verify that the cut boundaries of the submodel are far enough away from the concentration. You can do this by comparing results (stresses and so on) along the cut boundaries with
those along the corresponding locations of the coarse model. If the results are in good agreement, it
indicates that proper cut boundaries have been chosen; otherwise, you will need to recreate and
reanalyze the submodel with different cut boundaries further away from the region of interest.
For more information, see Imported Temperature.
System Coupling
System Coupling is an all-purpose infrastructure for tying two otherwise independent analyses together.
In ANSYS Mechanical, you can use System Coupling to perform a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis.
For more information on FSI analyses, including methods other than System Coupling for performing
them, see Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) (p. 317).
You can perform a one-way or two-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis by connecting a Mechanical system and another participant system (such as Fluent) to a System Coupling component system.
The Mechanical system (Static Structural, Transient Structural, Steady-State Thermal, or Transient Thermal)
and other participant system are both dragged onto the Project Schematic from the Analysis Systems
toolbox. The System Coupling component system is dragged onto the Project Schematic from the
Component System toolbox. The participating systems are connected to the System Coupling component
system (via the Setup cells).
The following is the list of supported coupling participants:
Fluent
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Steady-State Thermal
Transient Thermal
External Data
Thermal data can be transferred from another participant system to ANSYS Mechanical directly through
System Coupling for one-way and two-way transfers. The coupling of the External Data system with
System Coupling is a second method to set up a one-way, steady-state thermal transfer. When using
the External Data system for one-way steady-state thermal coupling (for example, Fluent to Mechanical),
an External Data and a Mechanical system are connected via the System Coupling system. The External
Data system is used to gain access to the static ANSYS External Data (.axdt files) generated by Fluent
or another solver, and the Mechanical system consumes these data. See Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI)
- One-Way Transfer Using System Coupling for more information.
Once the participant systems are connected to the System Coupling component system, the System
Coupling component system requests information from each. The information exchange includes system
information (system type, units, file names, etc.), the number of coupling interface regions, and the
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Data transfer regions are the regions upon which the Fluid Solid Interface condition is applied. In a coupled
analysis, at each data transfer region, only one type of variable can be sent, and one type of variable received.
In a coupled structural analysis, force and displacement can be transferred at data transfer regions.
In a coupled thermal analysis, heat transfer coefficients and near wall temperatures, temperatures, and
heat flows can be transferred at data transfer regions.
See Variables Available for System Coupling (p. 344) for more information about the variables transferred.
Note the following limitations when using Mechanical in a System Coupling analysis:
System Coupling requires participants to use 3D meshes, with data transfer regions consisting of element
faces within the 3D mesh. Data transfer regions cannot exist in 2D meshes (where the data transfer would
be a line/curve). Line elements such as BEAM elements in Mechanical cannot form Data Transfer regions,
but may be included elsewhere in the Mechanical model.
Using System Coupling with the Remote Solver Manager (RSM) is only supported in Mechanical for executions on a single local host. Note that System Coupling cannot participate in the update of design points
through RSM. If Mechanical is set to run with RSM, you will get the following message:
The solve process setting will use RSM. Coupled updates are only supported via RSM when
the compute server is localhost. Coupled updates may fail if the compute server is a
remote machine.
In a System Coupling setup, if you apply an external force or external heat flow on the same region as a
Fluid-Structure Interaction interface, this external variable will not be acknowledged by the Mechanical
APDL solver.
When Mechanical participates in a System Coupling analysis only one load step can be defined in Mechanical. Loads can still vary as a function of time within this load step. Other operations that would normally
require multiple load steps will require a System Coupling restart to be performed. For example, a prestressed analysis can be performed by executing a System Coupling simulation using the pre-stressing
load conditions in Mechanical, then continuing the analysis by restarting System Coupling after making
the necessary changes in Mechanical.
The Save Project Before Solution and Save Project After Solution properties of the Project object are
not supported if you are using the Workbench System Coupling component system in combination with
your Mechanical analysis.
Transfer
Direction
Data Type
Physical
Type
force / FORC
Input
VectorXYZ*
Force
displacement / INCD
Output
VectorXYZ*
Length
temperature / TEMP
Input and
Output
Scalar
Temperature
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Transfer
Direction
Data Type
Physical
Type
Input and
Output
Scalar
Heat Rate
Input
Scalar
Input
Scalar
Temperature
) respectively.
displacement
In a general coupled analysis, when the solver receiving the motion (such as Fluent) solves before or
simultaneously to the solver sending the motion (such as Mechanical), then the incremental displacement
transferred during the first coupling iteration of each coupling step is identically zero. This behavior can
be changed by using the expert setting GeneralAnalysis_IncrDisp_InitIterationValue_Zero, which is described in Expert Settings in the System Coupling User's Guide.
heat transfer coefficient
Heat transfer coefficient is also known as convection coefficient.
near wall temperature
Near wall temperature is also known as bulk temperature, or ambient temperature.
Note
The data plotted in the System Coupling Services chart monitors is provided by the coupling
participants. For non-linear analyses, the structural convergence quantities from Mechanical
are plotted in terms of the activated degrees of freedom in the structural solver. For the linear
analyses, the structural convergence quantities from Mechanical are only plotted for thermal
analysis with the temperature degrees of freedom.
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set between Mechanical as well as System Coupling. Both Mechanical ramping behaviors are controlled
by the Solution Command Object KBC, which can be set to 1 or 0. In a steady-state analysis, the default
setting is KBC = 0 (ramping on). In a transient analysis, the default setting is KBC = 1 (ramping off ).
In System Coupling, substeps are unique to Mechanical, and are steps within a coupling iteration. Loads
can be ramped over these substeps. The ramping factor applied to these loads is based on the number
of substeps, . At the substep, the ramping factor of is applied. This ramping is based on
the initial value of the load at the end of the last step. When KBC = 0 and > , ramping over substeps
occurs. If KBC = 1 or = , ramping over substeps does not occur.
In System Coupling, Mechanical has a second ramping option which ramps loads over the coupling
steps. Regardless of what other ramping settings are on, System Coupling always transfers the full load
at the end of the coupling step, and then Mechanical applies a ramping factor to this full value at each
coupling step. The ramping factor applied to the full load at the coupling step is based on the number
of coupling steps, . At the coupling step, the ramping factor of is applied. When KBC =
0 and and > , ramping over coupling steps occurs. If KBC = 1 or = , ramping over coupling
steps does not occur. Note that if you set ramping over coupling steps to occur in a transient analysis,
loads received from System Coupling will be ramped over all coupling steps, and so the full load will
only be applied at the last coupling step. This situation is not physical, but may still be useful when
using a Transient Structural system to get steady-state results, for example when pre-stressing the
structure for a further transient analysis.
Output Controls
When the Mechanical application is connected to System Coupling, behavior of the Output Controls is
changed. For a normal Mechanical run, the "Store Results At" settings are applied per step and "Specified
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Analysis Types
coupling participant, (such as the Fluent, Steady-State Thermal, or Transient Thermal system), to a System
Coupling system. In the System Coupling system, define the desired data transfers from the Mechanical
system to the other co-simulation coupling.
To transfer static data, the External Data system using ANSYS External Data files (with an .axdt extension)
can also be used. These files are automatically output in the Mechanical solver files directory when you
set the Export Results property of the Fluid Solid Interface to Yes. Transferring data using the External
Data system is useful when people with different licenses are working on the same project.
In a thermal coupled analysis, if you are running Mechanical through the command line, you need to
add the macro dumpFSIHeats.mac to your MAPDL running directory in order to export static data
into an axdt file. This macro is available from C:\Program Files\ANSYS
Inc\v150\aisol\DesignSpace\DSPages\macros, and should be added to your MAPDL directory
before running Mechanical through the command line.
To transfer static Mechanical data (in the .axdt file) into an External Data system, introduce an External
Data system into your schematic, edit the External Data Setup, and select one or more of the ANSYS
External Data files. For more detail, see the Export Results in the Detail View Properties of the Fluid
Solid Interface (p. 782) section of the Setting Up Boundary Conditions chapter. One of these .axdt files
is created for each Fluid Solid Interface boundary condition, and each file may contain temperatures
and heat flows. Only corner node values for temperatures and heat flows are recorded in the .axdt file
(mid-side noded heat flow values, if present, are summed to the corresponding corner nodes). The heat
flow data includes the sum of heat flows through surfaces with applied temperatures, convections and
radiation. Finally, link the External Data systems Setup cell to the System Coupling systems Setup cell,
and define the desired data transfer in the System Coupling setup.
The Tutorial: Heat Transfer from a Heating Coil in the System Coupling User's Guide provides a detailed
overview of a coupled analysis using Mechanical, System Coupling, and the External Data system.
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3. In Mechanicals Outline tree, below Geometry, right-click the solid body and insert a Command. Add
the appropriate ET commands under each solid body, replacing SOLID186 with SOLID226, and SOLID187
with SOLID227.
For the case shown in Figure 18: Example of element types in multiple solid bodies (p. 349), the
commands that you would use for each body are:
For Body 1 Pipe, the command is: et,matid,226,11
For Body 2 Clamp, the command is: et,matid,227,11 and et,matid+1,226,11
For Body 4 Support, the command is: et,matid,226,11
Note that matid and matid+1 are used to refer to the element type number.
Figure 18: Example of element types in multiple solid bodies
4. In the Outline tree, below Static or Transient analysis, insert a Commands object to define the thermal
boundary conditions.
5. Create Named Selections for regions that require thermal boundary conditions, then refer to these
named selections in the Commands object that you created in step 4. Within your Commands, the IC
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Analysis Types
command sets the initial temperature. The SF command is used to define convection, heat flux, and radiation loads. The D command is used to set a temperature constraint on the named selection.
In your thermal-fluid-structural analysis using coupled field elements:
be careful if you change units, as the commands may need to be changed too.
use a zero displacement constraint rather than any fixed supports. A fixed support sets all of the degrees of freedom (DOF) to zero, including the thermal DOF for coupled field elements.
make sure the initial temperature is set correctly. In Mechanicals Outline tree, under Details of
Transient, the value set in Options>Environment Temperature defines the temperature at which
there is zero thermal stress. The initial temperature defaults to this Environment Temperature. To
define a different initial temperature, use the IC command within your command object created in
step 4 above.
Note
When using restarts with System Coupling, turn off the Pre-load the Mechanical editor
option. Turning off this option will ensure that the state of the Mechanical system is correctly updated.
No restarting is supported for coupled analyses which include Mechanicals Steady-State
Thermal or Transient Thermal systems.
2.
In Details of "Analysis Settings", ensure that Restart Controls > Retain Files After Full Solve setting
is set to Yes.
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2.
3.
In the Details of Analysis Settings, under Restart Analysis, set Restart Type to Manual and select
the correct restart point from the drop-down menu of Current Restart Point.
4.
5.
In the Project Schematic, right-click Mechanical systems Setup cell and select Update.
If the Mechanical interface is not already open, in the Project Schematic, double-click Mechanicals
Solution cell.
2.
3.
Save the project and close the Mechanical application. All of the setup changes will be applied for the
subsequent coupled analyses.
Note
The modification of some settings in Mechanical may invalidate and cause the deletion of
all restart points. This deletion of restart points can cause the runtime error which warns of
incompatible restart points.
Save your project before modifying any settings in Mechanical so that if needed, you are
able to restore the saved project and any deleted restart points.
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Analysis Types
The _ProjectScratch directory is a temporary directory used by the MAPDL solver. This directory
contains the latest structural results and restart points written during the System Coupling run before
Workbench crashed. Mechanical will need to read these file to recover the project using the steps below.
Note that the .backup directory contains the original version of any files which have been modified
since the last save. These files are useful to recover the last saved state, but they are not useful for restarting your analysis.
To recover Mechanicals restart point after a workbench crash:
1.
In the Project Schematic, double-click Mechanicals Setup cell. In the Mechanical interface, select the
Solution entry from the tree.
2.
From the main menu, select Tools > Read Result Files.
3.
Browse into the _ProjectScratch directory and select file.rst. Mechanical will now patch itself
into a state consistent with the results files, with restarts points (if they were written) available for selection in Mechanical.
4.
Select the restart point in Mechanical as in Specifying a Restart Point in Mechanical (p. 351) above.
5.
Once you have selected Mechanicals restart point, in the Project Schematic, right-click Mechanicals
Setup cell and select Update.
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Provide all of these files when submitting a request for service to ANSYS personnel.
Static Structural or
Transient
Structural
ANSYS Structural,
ANSYS Mechanical,
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System
ANSYS Mechanical,
ANSYS Multiphysics,
ANSYS Structural Solver,
Thermal-Stress Analysis
The Mechanical application allows you to apply temperatures from a thermal analysis as loads in a
structural analysis for thermal stress evaluations. The load transfer is applicable for cases when the
thermal and structural analyses share the mesh as well as for cases when the two analyses are solved
using different meshes. For cases when the meshes are different, the temperature values are mapped
and interpolated between the source and target meshes.
Workflow for performing a thermal stress analysis with:
Shared Model
1. From the toolbox, drag and drop a transient or steady-state thermal template onto the project
schematic. Perform all steps to set up a Steady-State Thermal or Transient Thermal. Specify mesh
controls, boundary conditions, and solution settings as you normally would and solve the analysis.
2. Drag and drop a Static Structural or Transient Structural template on top of the thermal systems
solution cell to enable the data transfer.
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Note
The Data View can automatically be populated with the source and analysis times
using Source Time property in the Details view. Use All to import data at all times
in the source analysis, or Range to import data for a range specified by a Minimum
and a Maximum.
6. Right-click the Imported Body Temperature object and click Import Load to import the load. When
the load has been imported successfully, a contour plot of the temperatures will be displayed in the
Geometry window.
Note
The range of data displayed in the graphics window can be controlled using the Legend
controls options. See Imported Boundary Conditions for additional information.
7. You can define multiple rows in the Data View tab to import source data at multiple times and apply
them at different analysis. If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, it is possible to preview imported load vectors/contour applied to a given row or analysis time in the Data View. Choose Active
Row or Analysis Time using the By property under Graphics Controls in the details of the imported
load and then specify the Active Row/Analysis Time to preview the data.
Note
If the Analysis Time specified by the user does not match the list of analysis times in
the Data View, the data is displayed at the analysis time closest to the specified time.
Unshared Model
1. From the toolbox, drag and drop a steady-state or transient thermal template onto the project
schematic. Perform all steps to set up a Steady-State Thermal or Transient Thermal. Specify mesh
controls, boundary conditions, and solution settings as you normally would and solve the analysis.
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Analysis Types
2. Drag and drop a Static Structural or Transient Structural template onto the project schematic. Share
the Engineering Data and Geometry cells if required and then drag the Solution cell of the thermal
system onto the Setup cell of the structural system.
3. Double-click the structural systems Setup cell. In the Mechanical application, an Imported Body Temperature load is automatically added into the structural system's tree under an Imported Load folder.
4. Select appropriate geometry in the Details view of the Imported Body Temperature object using the
Geometry or Named Selection scoping option. If the load is scoped to one or more surface bodies,
the Shell Face option in the details view allows you to apply the temperatures to Both faces, to the
Top face(s) only, or to the Bottom face(s) only. See Imported Body Temperature for additional information.
Note
In a 3D analysis, if the Triangulation mapping algorithm is used, the Transfer Type
mapping option defaults to Surface when the load is scoped to shell bodies.
5. The Source Bodies option in the Details view allows you to select the bodies, from the thermal analysis, that make up the source mesh for mapping the data. You can choose one of the following options:
Automatic- Heuristics based on the geometry are used to automatically match source and target
bodies and map temperature values. A source body is matched with a target body if it satisfies the
below criteria.
a. The percent volume difference is within the user defined tolerance.
b. The distance between the centroid locations divided by the diagonal of the bounding box is
within the user defined tolerance.
The percent tolerance values can be specified in the Tolerance field. The default is set at 1%.
The matching process is done in increments of 0.1 of the tolerance value, up to the defined
tolerance. The process fails if multiple source bodies are found to match a target body or if no
match is found for a target body. After the import is completed, a Load Transfer Summary is
displayed as a comment object in the particular load branch. The summary shows the matched
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Important
This option requires the element volume results to be present in the thermal results
file. Make sure that the Calculate Thermal Flux or the General Miscellaneous Details
view property under the Analysis Settings object in the thermal analysis is set to
Yes, so that this result is available.
Note
This option is not allowed when scoped to a node-based Named Selection as the
heuristic is geometry based.
All- The source mesh in this case will comprise of all the bodies that were used in thermal analysis.
For cases where the temperature values are significantly different at the boundaries across two or
more bodies, this option could result in mapped target values that are generated by taking a
weighted average of the source values across multiple bodies. Target regions can exists where the
mapped temperatures differ significantly from the source.
Manual- This option allows you to select one or more source bodies to make up the source mesh.
The source body selections are made in the Material IDs field by entering the material IDs that
correspond to the source bodies that you would like to use. Type material IDs and/or material ID
ranges separated by commas to specify your selection. For example, type 1, 2, 5-10. The material
IDs for the source bodies can be seen in Solution Information Object of the source analysis. In the
example below, text is taken from a solver output,
***********Elements for Body 1 "coil" ***********
***********Elements for Body 2 "core" ***********
***********Elements for Body 3 "bar" ************
body 'coil' has material ID 1, body 'core' has material ID 2 and body 'bar' has material ID 3.
6. Change any of the columns in the Data View tab as needed:
Source Time - The time at which the data will be imported from the coarse analysis.
Analysis time - Choose the analysis time at which the load will be applied.
Note
The Data View can automatically be populated with the source and analysis times
using Source Time property in the Details view. Use All to import data at all times
in the source analysis, or Range to import data for a range specified by a Minimum
and a Maximum.
7. You can transform the source mesh used in the mapping process by using the Rigid Transformation
properties. This option is useful if the source geometry was defined with respect to a coordinate system
that is not aligned with the target geometry system.
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8. You can modify the Mapper Settings to achieve the desired mapping accuracy. Mapping can be validated
by using Mapping Validation objects.
9. Right-click the Imported Body Temperature object and click Import Load to import the load. When
the load has been imported successfully, a contour plot of the temperatures will be displayed in the
Geometry window.
10. You can define multiple rows in the Data View tab to import source data at multiple times and apply
them at different analysis. If multiple rows are defined in the Data View, it is possible to preview imported load vectors/contour applied to a given row or analysis time in the Data View. Choose Active
Row or Analysis Time using the By property under Graphics Controls in the details of the imported
load and then specify the Active Row/Analysis Time to preview the data.
Note
If the Analysis Time specified by the user does not match the list of analysis times in
the Data View, the data is displayed at the analysis time closest to the specified time.
Note
a. You can add a template for the linked thermal and structural systems by creating your
own template.
b. The transfer of temperatures is not allowed between a 2D analysis and 3D analysis or
vice-versa.
Note
When there is a shared model that includes a thermal-stress analysis and the structural system
is duplicated using the Engineering Data, Geometry or Model cell context menu, the result
is the Setup cell of the Thermal system linked to the Solution cell of the duplicated structural
system. Temperature transfer to the duplicated structural system will require the data to be
mapped and interpolated between the source and target meshes.
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3. Double-click the acoustic systems system Setup cell. In the Mechanical application, insert an Imported
Velocity load into the acoustic systems tree under an Imported Load folder.
4. Select appropriate geometry in the Details view of the imported velocity object using the Geometry or
Named Selection scoping option.
5. The Source Bodies option in the Details view allows you to select the bodies, from the thermal analysis,
that makeup the source mesh for mapping the data. You can choose one of the following options:
All- The source mesh in this case will comprise of all the bodies that were used in structural analysis.
Manual- This option allows you to select one or more source bodies to make up the source mesh.
The source body selections are made in the Material IDs field by entering the material IDs that correspond to the source bodies that you would like to use. Type material IDs and/or material ID ranges
separated by commas to specify your selection. For example, type 1, 2, 510. The material IDs for the
source bodies can be seen in Solution Information Object of the source analysis. In the example below,
text is taken from a solver output,
***********Elements for Body 1 "coil" ***********
***********Elements for Body 2 "core" ***********
***********Elements for Body 3 "bar" ************
body coil has material ID 1, body core has material ID 2 and body bar has material ID 3.
6. Change any of the columns in the Data View tab as needed:
Source Frequency- Frequency at which the velocities will be imported from the structural analysis.
Analysis Frequency- Choose the analysis frequency at which the load will be applied.
Note
The Data view can automatically be populated with the source and analysis frequencies
using the Source Frequency property in the Details View. Use All to import data at
all frequencies in the source analysis, or Range to import data for a range specified by
a Minimum and Maximum. The default worksheet option requires users to manually
input the Source Frequency and Analysis Frequency.
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7. You can transform the source mesh used in the mapping process by using the Rigid Transformation
properties. This option is useful if the source geometry was defined with respect to a coordinate system
that is not aligned with the target geometry system.
8. You can modify the Mapper Settings to achieve the desired mapping accuracy. Mapping can be validated
by using Mapping Validation objects.
9. Right-click the Imported Velocity object and click Import Load to import the load. When the load has
been imported successfully, vectors plot (All), or contour plot (Total/X/Y/Z) of the real/imaginary
components of velocities can be displayed in the Geometry window using the Component property in
the details of imported load.
Note
The range of data displayed in the graphics window can be controlled using the Legend
controls options. See Imported Boundary Conditions for additional information.
10. If multiple rows are defined in the Data view, it is possible to preview imported load vectors/contour
applied to a given row or analysis frequency in the Data view. Choose Active Row or Analysis Frequency
using the By property under Graphics Controls in the details of the imported load and then specify the
Active Row/Analysis Frequency to preview the data.
Note
If the Analysis Frequency specified by the user does not match the list of analysis frequencies in the Data View, the data is displayed at the analysis frequency closest to the
specified frequency.
Rotordynamics Analysis
Rotordynamics is a specialized branch of applied mechanics that studies the behaviors of rotating
structures. This rotating structure, or rotor system , is typically comprised of rotors, stators, and bearings.
For a simple rotor system, the rotor component rotates about an axis that is stabilized by a bearing
that is supported by a stator. This structure can be as simple as computer disk or as complicated as a
jet engine.
The Mechanical Rotordynamics Analysis helps to direct you when selecting properties such as rotor
stiffness and geometry, bearing stiffness, damping, and stator properties for a rotor system based on
a given rotating speed. For example, to effectively study a systems vibratory characteristics, you can
use a Campbell diagram. A Campbell diagram allows you to determine critical speeds (for different rotating modes), such as the rate at which the rotating structure experiences resonance (peak response)
to avoid possible catastrophic failure. Or, a Rotordynamic Analysis can be used to determine safe operational ranges for a rotor system.
In the Mechanical documentation, see the Rotordynamics Controls section for more information, and
in the Mechanical APDL documentation, the Rotordynamic Analysis Guide.
Refer to the following areas of the documentation for additional and associated information for Rotordynamics:
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Fracture Analysis
Fracture analysis deals with the computation of fracture parameters that help you design within the
limits of catastrophic failure of a structure. Fracture analysis assumes the presence of a crack in the
structure. The fracture parameters computed are Stress Intensity Factors (SIFS), J-Integral (JINT) and
Energy Release Rates. For more information about fracture parameters, modes, and calculation techniques,
see Fracture Mechanics in the Structural Analysis Guide.
Fracture analysis requires that you define a crack. Since fracture parameter calculation requires knowledge
of the mesh characteristics around the crack, the mesh must be generated before solving for fracture
parameters. Fracture parameter computation is only applicable to static structural analyses.
For more information on Fracture Analysis, see the following topics:
Cracks
Solving a Fracture Analysis
Fracture Results
Limitations of Fracture Analysis
Interface Delamination and Contact Debonding
Additional topics include:
Fracture Analysis Workflows
Multi-Point Constraint (MPC) Contact for Fracture
Note
For all workflows, the static structural analysis supports imported thermal loads from both
steady-state thermal or transient thermal analysis by linking the set up cell of the static
structural analysis to the upstream steady-state thermal or transient thermal analysis.
2.
Input geometry.
3.
Locate a coordinate system with a graphic pick point, coordinates, or topology. The coordinate system
must be located on the surface.
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4.
Align the axes of the coordinate system of the crack. The specified coordinate system's y-axis must be
pointing in the direction normal to the crack surface. For cracks lying on curved surfaces, ensure that
the coordinate system's x-axis is pointing normal to the surface of the body at the coordinate system
location. See Creating a Coordinate System Based on a Surface Normal (p. 487) for details on how to
orient such a coordinate system on a curved surface..
5.
6.
7.
8.
Generate the mesh by right-clicking the Fracture folder and selecting Generate All Crack Meshes.
9.
2.
Input the mesh through FE Modeler. The imported mesh contains the crack mesh and its definition.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Associate the Pre-Meshed Crack object with the created coordinate system.
8.
9.
Ensure the Fracture setting under Solver Controls in the Analysis Settings is turned on.
10. Solve.
11. Add the Fracture tool and Fracture Result.
12. Post process the Fracture Result.
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Note
In 2D, you can draw the crack in the same model using DesignModeler and generate the
crack mesh using the mesh connection feature. For a tutorial addressing this issue, see
Fracture Analysis of a 2D Cracked Specimen using Pre-Meshed Crack (p. 1528).
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zone. For more information on the fracture affected zone, see the Fracture Meshing section in the
Meshing User's Guide.
When a solution is performed on an analysis which contains an internally generated crack mesh, a
contact region using Multi-Point Constraint (MPC) formulation is automatically created between the
crack mesh and the base mesh at the boundaries of the fracture-affected zone. This contact is applicable
to static structural analysis, steady-state thermal analysis, and transient thermal analysis. For more information about the MPC contact formulation, see Contact Formulation Theory. This contact is only
created for a Crack object and is not applicable to the Pre-Meshed Crack object.
The characteristics/settings of the MPC contact are shown below. For more information about the different contact settings, see Advanced Settings.
Bonded surface-to-surface contact is defined between the crack mesh and the base mesh at the
boundary of the fracture-affected zone. The contact element CONTA174 is created on the faces of
the crack mesh, and the target element TARGE170 is created on the faces of the base mesh.
The contact is asymmetric in nature. The contact can be made auto asymmetric by setting the use
auto symmetric variable to 1 in the Variable Manager.
Nodal contact detection, normal from the contact surface, will be defined.
The initial gap and penetration are ignored.
For steady-state thermal and transient thermal analysis, the temperature degree of freedom is selected.
For more information about contact settings, refer to the CONTA174 documentation in the Element
Reference. For more information about the MPC constraint, see Multipoint Constraints and Assemblies
in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
Composite Analysis
Composite analysis can be performed inside Mechanical by importing the layered section information
defined on a Mechanical model in an ACP system. The following information discusses the workflow
for shell and solid modeling.
Shell Modeling Workflow (p. 364)
Solid Modeling Workflow (p. 366)
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Note
A Section Data cell is inserted in the Mechanical system, which represents the imported
section data.
An Imported Layered Section object is inserted in the Mechanical application when a
transfer connection is created from the Setup of an ACP (Pre) system to a Section Data cell.
3. Perform all the steps to fully define the Mechanical system and perform analysis.
4. Review the results. Layered results can be viewed in Mechanical, see Surface Body Results for details. To
utilize additional post processing capabilities within ACP, drag an ACP (Post) system onto the ACP (Pre)
Model cell, then connect the Solution cell of the supported* Mechanical system onto the ACP (Post)
Results cell.
Note
Multiple Mechanical systems can be linked to perform complex workflows exactly like
standard analyses. Since only one layered section(s) definition can exist per Mechanical
Model, for all the systems sharing the Model cell, Section Data cell is also shared.
The following information is transferred from ACP Setup to Section Data cell:
Sections
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Elements assigned to each section
Layers definition for each section
Material assignment for each layer
Since the material assignment is transferred from ACP Setup to the Mechanical system,
the engineering data cells of the ACP and Mechanical system(s) must be shared. The
refresh of the ACP system fails if unshared Engineering Data cells are detected.
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Note
Since the geometry and engineering data is provided by the upstream ACP system, they
are removed from the downstream Mechanical system.
Meshes can be imported into Mechanical from multiple ACP systems. Mechanical does not
allow overlap of node/element number from multiple ACP systems; therefore, the import
fails if the meshes from different ACP systems have overlap in node/element numbers.
3. Double click/edit the downstream Model cell. In the Mechanical application, an Imported Layered Section
object is already inserted.
4. Perform all the steps to fully define the Mechanical system and perform analysis.
Note
Since the mesh is imported from an upstream Mechanical system, any operations that affect
the mesh state are blocked inside of Mechanical.
It is recommended that you do not affect the mesh inside Mechanical; however, the Clear
Generated Data option is available on the mesh folder inside Mechanical and cleans the
imported mesh. The Generate Mesh/Update operation resumes the imported mesh previously cleaned/modified.
Since the material is assigned to elements/bodies through upstream ACP system, the Material Assignment field is read only and says, Composite Material.
If the Setup cell of the upstream ACP system(s) is modified, then the refresh of the downstream Model cell re-imports the meshes and re-synthesizes the geometry. This has the
following effects:
Any properties set on the bodies imported from ACP system are reset to the defaults.
Any scoping to geometry (bodies/faces/edges/vertices) is lost and any loads/boundary
conditions scoping to geometry have to be re-scoped.
Any criterion based named selections defined in the downstream Mechanical system are
updated on refresh after any modification in upstream ACP system.
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Since criterion based named selections are automatically updated, where as any direct
scoping is lost, user should create criterion based named selections and then scope any
loads/boundary conditions to these named selections. This will result in persistence of
scoping during modify/refresh operations.
5. Review the results. Layered results can be viewed in Mechanical, see Surface Body Results for details. To
utilize additional postprocessing capabilities within ACP, drag an ACP (Post) system onto the ACP (Pre)
Model cell, then connect the Solution cell of the supported* Mechanical system onto the ACP (Post)
Results cell.
Note
Meshes from upstream to downstream Mechanical Model are renumbered automatically to
avoid any overlap with the meshes imported from ACP system(s).
4. Double-click/edit the downstream Model cell. In the Mechanical application, an Imported Layered Section
is already inserted.
5. Perform all the steps to fully define the Mechanical system and perform analysis.
Note
The following information is transferred from upstream to downstream Mechanical Model:
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6. Review the results. Layered results can be viewed in Mechanical, see Surface Body Results for details. To
utilize additional postprocessing capabilities within ACP, drag an ACP (Post) system onto the ACP (Pre)
Model cell, then connect the Solution cell of the supported* Mechanical system onto the ACP (Post)
Results cell.
*Supported Mechanical system(s)
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Steady-State Thermal
Transient Thermal
Modal
Harmonic Response
Random Vibration
Response Spectrum
Linear Buckling
Note
Although both Structural and Thermal layer modeling is available, the particular degrees of
freedom results on correspondent layers could behave differently in structural and thermal
environments, see the Mechanical APDL Element Reference for correspondent elements, including: SOLID185 Layered Structural Solid Assumptions and Restrictions and SOLID278
Layered Thermal Solid Assumptions and Restrictions.
Limitations
If the Engineering Data Cell of the intended downstream Mechanical System is modified (by creating/modifying an existing material in Engineering Data cell of the Mechanical System), a Data Transfer
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connection from Upstream ACP (Pre) Setup/Mechanical Model to downstream Mechanical system cannot
be created.
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Geometry Basics
While there is no limit to the number of parts in an assembly that can be treated, large assemblies may
require unusually high computer time and resources to compute a solution. Contact boundaries can
be automatically formed where parts meet. The application has the ability to transfer structural loads
and heat flows across the contact boundaries and to "connect" the various parts.
Parts are a grouping or a collection of bodies. Parts can include multiple bodies and are referred to as
multibody parts. The mesh for multibody parts created in DesignModeler will share nodes where the
bodies touch one another, that is, they will have common nodes at the interfaces. This is the primary
reason for using multibody parts.
Parts may consist of:
One or more solid bodies.
One or more surface bodies.
One or more line bodies.
Combinations of line and surface bodies.
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All other combinations are not practically supported.
Note
Body objects in the tree that represent a multibody part do not report centroids or moments
of inertia in their respective Details view.
The following topics are addressed in this section:
Multibody Behavior
Working with Parts
Associativity
Integration Schemes
Color Coding of Parts
Working with Bodies
Hide or Suppress Bodies
Hide or Show Faces
Assumptions and Restrictions for Assemblies, Parts, and Bodies
Multibody Behavior
Associativity that you apply to geometry attached from DesignModeler is maintained in the Mechanical
and Meshing applications when updating the geometry despite any part groupings that you may subsequently change in DesignModeler. See Associativity (p. 372) for further information.
When transferring multibody parts from DesignModeler to the Meshing application, the multibody part
has the body group (part) and the prototypes (bodies) beneath it. When the part consists of just a single
body the body group is hidden. If the part has ever been imported as a multibody part you will always
see the body group for that component, regardless of the number of bodies present in any subsequent
update.
Associativity
Associativity that you apply to geometry originating from DesignModeler is maintained in the Mechanical and Meshing applications when the geometry is updated despite any part groupings that you may
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Geometry Basics
subsequently change in DesignModeler. Types of associativity that you can apply include contact regions,
mesh connections, loads, and supports. For example, consider the following scenario:
1. A model is created in DesignModeler and is comprised of six independent parts with one body per part.
2. The model is attached to Mechanical where loads and supports are applied to selected geometry.
3. In DesignModeler, the model is re-grouped into two multibody parts with each part including three
bodies.
4. The geometry is updated in Mechanical. The loads and supports remain applied to the same selected
geometry.
Note
This feature does not hold true for instanced parts in DesignModeler.
The associativity is maintained only with geometry attached from DesignModeler and Mechanical systems
created in release 13.0 or later. To ensure that the data necessary for retaining associativity is present
in legacy dsdb/wbpj databases, you should perform the following:
1. Open the Mechanical session and open the DesignModeler session. This will ensure that both the
Mechanical and DesignModeler files are migrated to the current version of the software.
2. Update the geometry model without making any changes to the model. This will ensure that the new
data necessary for associativity is transferred from the migrated DesignModeler file into the migrated
Mechanical file.
3. You can now modify and update the geometry as necessary.
Integration Schemes
Parts can be assigned Full or Reduced integration schemes. The full method is used mainly for purely
linear analyses, or when the model has only one layer of elements in each direction. This method does
not cause hourglass mode, but can cause volumetric locking in nearly incompressible cases. The reduced
method helps to prevent volumetric mesh locking in nearly incompressible cases. However, hourglass
mode might propagate in the model if there are not at least two layers of elements in each direction.
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Body Color (default): Assigns different colors to the bodies within a part.
Part Color: Assigns different colors to different parts.
Material: The part colors are based on the material assignment. For example in a model with five
parts where three parts use structural steel and two parts use aluminum, you will see the three
structural steel parts in one color and the two aluminum parts in another color. The legend will indicate
the color used along with the name of the material.
Nonlinear Material Effects: Indicates if a part includes nonlinear material effects during analysis. If
you chose to exclude nonlinear material effects for some parts of a model, then the legend will indicate
Linear for these parts and the parts will be colored accordingly.
Stiffness Behavior: Identifies a part as Flexible, Rigid, or Gasket during analysis.
Note
A maximum of 15 distinct materials can be shown in the legend. If a model has more
then 15 materials, coloring by material will not have any effect unless enough parts are
hidden or suppressed.
You can reset the colors back to the default color scheme by right clicking on the Geometry object in
the tree and selecting Reset Body Colors.
Example 2: Color by Parts
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Geometry Basics
Bodies in a part group can be individually suppressed, which effectively eliminates these bodies from
treatment. A suppressed body is not included in the statistics of the owning part or in the overall
statistics of the model.
Bodies can be assigned Full or Reduced integration schemes, as described above for parts.
When bodies in part groups touch they will share nodes where they touch. This will connect the
bodies. If a body in a part group does not touch another body in that part group, it will not share
any nodes. It will be free standing. Automatic contact detection is not performed between bodies in
a part group. Automatic contact detection is performed only between part groups.
Bodies that are not in a part group can be declared as rigid bodies.
When a model contains a Coordinate Systems object, by default, bodies use the Global Coordinate
System. If desired, you can apply a local coordinate system.
Note
If another model level object, such as a Remote Point, Joint, or Contact Region, is scoped to a
Body that becomes Suppressed, that object also becomes suppressed until it is re-scoped or
the body is Unsuppressed.
Results from hidden bodies are used in the formulation of the maximum and minimum values
in the contour legend and in the Details View.
Results from suppressed bodies are suppressed and are not used in the formulation of maximum
and minimum values.
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Specifying Geometry
Choose Show Hidden Face(s) from the context menu to restore the visibility of faces previously hidden
using Hide Face(s). The Show Hidden Face(s) menu choice is only available if there are hidden faces
from choosing Hide Face(s). It cannot be used to restore the visibility of faces previously hidden by
setting Visible to No in the Details view of a Named Selection object.
Note
The selected faces will appear hidden only when you view the geometry. The feature is not
applicable to mesh displays or result displays.
Solid Bodies
You can process and solve solid models, including individual parts and assemblies. An arbitrary level
of complexity is supported, given sufficient computer time and resources.
Surface Bodies
You can import surface bodies from an array of sources (see Geometry Preferences). Surface bodies are
often generated by applying mid-surface extraction to a pre-existing solid. The operation abstracts away
the thickness from the solid and converts it into a separate modeling input of the generated surface.
Surface body models may be arranged into parts. Within a part there may be one or more surface
bodies; these may even share the part with line bodies.
Parts that feature surface bodies may be connected with the help of spot welds and contacts.
The following topics are addressed in this section.
Assemblies of Surface Bodies
Thickness Mode
Importing Surface Body Models
Importing Surface Body Thickness
Surface Body Shell Offsets
Specifying Surface Body Thickness
Specifying Surface Body Layered Sections
Faces With Multiple Thicknesses and Layers Specified
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Surface Bodies
Confirm whether two surface bodies are topologically connected. This may be especially useful for surface
bodies obtained from a mid-surface operation on solids and created artificial gaps in their proximity.
Confirm the connectivity of individual elements in the mesh of the surface bodies.
Mend missing connections between surface bodies by joining their meshes with shared nodes.
To confirm the connectivity of surface bodies it is useful to review the connectivity of their edges using
a number of features in both Mechanical and DesignModeler. Edges can be classified depending on
the number of faces they topologically connect. For example, the boundary edge of a surface body
connects to a single face and is classified as a "single edge, whereas an interior edge connecting two
faces of the surface body will be classified as a "double edge". Single and double edges can be distinguished visually using the Edge Graphics Options (p. 71). As an alternative, you can create a Named
Selection that groups all edges of a given topological connectivity by using the Face Connections criterion.
The Edge Graphics Options toolbar can also be used to review the connectivity of not only the geometry,
but also the mesh elements. The same principles applied to the connectivity of a surface body edge
apply to element edges.
Mechanical provides Mesh Connections to mend surface body assemblies at locations that are disjointed.
With this feature, the meshes of surface bodies that may reside in different parts can be connected by
joining their underlying elements via shared nodes. The Mesh Connection does not alter the geometry
although the effect can be conveniently previewed and toggled using the Edge Graphics Options
toolbar.
Thickness Mode
You can determine the source that controls the thickness of a surface body using the Thickness Mode
indication combined with the Thickness field, both located in the Details view of a surface Body object.
Upon attaching a surface body, the Thickness Mode reads either Auto or Manual.
In Auto Mode the value of thickness for a given surface body is controlled by the CAD source. Future CAD
updates will synchronize its thickness value with the value in the CAD system.
In Manual mode the thickness for the surface body is controlled by the Mechanical application, so future
updates from the CAD system will leave this value undisturbed.
A Thickness Mode will be Automatic until the Thickness is changed to some non-zero value. Once in
Manual mode, it can be made Automatic once again by changing the Thickness value back to zero. A
subsequent CAD update will conveniently synchronize the thickness with the value in the CAD system.
Thicknesses for all surface bodies are represented in a dedicated column on the Worksheet that is
displayed when you highlight the Geometry object.
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of the Geometry cell in the Project Schematic. Once in the Mechanical application, you can adjust the
Geometry preferences in the Details view, where they take effect upon updating.
Note
If you want to retain a preference selection in the Workbench Properties, you must first save
before exiting the ANSYS Workbench.
By default, the shell section midsurface is aligned with the surface body, but you can use the Offset
Type drop down menu located in the Details view of a Surface Body object or an object scoped to a
surface body to offset the shell section midsurface from the surface body:
Top - the top of the shell section is aligned with the surface body.
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Surface Bodies
Middle (Membrane) (default) - the middle of the shell section is aligned with the surface body.
Bottom - the bottom of the shell section is aligned with the surface body.
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Specifying Geometry
User Defined - the user defines the amount of offset (Membrane Offset), measured in the positive normal
direction from the middle of the shell section to the surface body (may be positive or negative value).
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Surface Bodies
To specify the thickness of an entire surface body:
Highlight the Surface Body object and, in the Details view, enter a value in the Thickness field. A value
greater than 0 must be present in this field.
To specify the thickness of selected faces on a surface body:
1. Highlight the Geometry folder in the tree and insert a Thickness object from the Geometry toolbar or
choose Insert> Thickness (right-click and choose from context menu).
Note
The Thickness object overwrites any element that is scoped to the selected surfaces that
has thickness greater than 0 defined in the Details view of the Surface Body object (See
above).
Click the Thickness field in the Details view, then click Tabular from the flyout menu.
Click the Thickness field in the Details view, then click Function from the flyout menu.
Note
Surface body thicknesses must be greater than zero. Failures will be detected by the solver.
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Specifying Geometry
When importing surfaces bodies from DesignModeler, the associated thickness is automatically
included with the import. See Importing Surface Body Thickness (p. 378) for details.
Face based thickness specification is not used for the following items. Instead the body based
thickness will be used:
Assembly properties: volume, mass, centroid, and moments of inertia. This is for display in
the Details view only. The correct properties based on any variable thickness are correctly
calculated in the solver and can be verified through miscellaneous record results for Mechanical APDL based solutions.
Note
Assembly properties are displayed as N/A (Not Applicable) if Thickness objects
(Thickness, Layered Thickness, Imported Layered Thickness) are present
under the Geometry object. Also, that if any Parameters are present they are
set to zero. This applies to parameter value you Workbench as well - they
will have values of zero.
Meshing: auto-detection based on surface body thickness, automatic pinch controls, surface
body thickness used as mesh merging tolerance.
Solution: Heuristics used in beam properties for spot welds.
Face based thickness is not supported for rigid bodies.
Variable thickness is displayed only for mesh and result displays. Location probes, Path scoped
results and Surface scoped results do not display nor account for variable thickness. They assume
constant thickness.
If multiple Thickness objects are applied to the same face, only those properties related to the
last defined object will be sent to the solver, regardless of whether the object was defined in
DesignModeler or in Mechanical. See Faces With Multiple Thicknesses and Layers Specified (p. 386)
for details.
You can import thicknesses from an upstream system. Basic setup steps are given below. You can find
more information on mapping data in the Mechanical application in the appendix (Appendix C (p. 1595)).
Note
Thickness import is supported for 3D shell bodies or planar 2D bodies using Plane Stress.
The MAPDL Solver for 3D shell bodies will use the nodal thicknesses directly via the SECFUNCTION command. For the Explicit Solver or MAPDL solver for 2D bodies, the element's
nodal thicknesses are converted to an average element thickness.
To import thicknesses from an upstream system:
1. In the project schematic, create a link between the Solution cell of a system and the Model cell of an
upstream system.
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Surface Bodies
2. Attach geometry to the analysis system, and then double-click Model to open the Mechanical window.
An Imported Thickness folder is added under the Geometry folder and an imported thickness is added
to the Imported Thickness folder, by default.
3. Select the appropriate options in the Details view.
4. Select Imported Thickness and select Import Thickness from the context menu.
Note
Layered Section objects can only be used in the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Linear Buckling
Modal
Random Vibration
Response Spectrum
Static Structural
Transient Structural
The following sections describe the use of the Layered Section object.
Defining and Applying a Layered Section
Viewing Individual Layers
Layered Section Properties
Notes on Layered Section Behavior
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Specifying Geometry
3. Choose a Coordinate System. You may choose any user-defined Cartesian or Cylindrical coordinate
system. The Body Coordinate System option specifies that the coordinate system selected for each body
will be used. There is no default.
4. Set the desired Offset Type. Offset Type is not supported in Explicit Dynamics analyses.
5. Click on the arrow to the right of Worksheet in the Layers field then select Worksheet to enter the layer
information for this Layered Section. The Layered Section worksheet can also be activated by the Worksheet
toolbar button.
The worksheet displays a header row, and two inactive rows labeled +Z and -Z to indicate the order
in which the materials are layered. Layer one will always be the layer at the bottom of the stack
(closest to -Z). When you insert a layer, all of the layers above it will renumber.
To add the first layer, right click anywhere in the Layered Section Worksheet and select Add Layer.
Once the layer is added:
Click in the Material column of the row and select the material for that layer from the drop-down list.
Click in the Thickness column and define the thickness of that layer. Individual layers may have zero
thickness, but the total layered-section thickness must be nonzero.
Click in the Angle column and define the angle of the material properties. The angle is measured in
the element X-Y plane with respect to the element X axis. This value can be entered as degrees or
radians, depending on how units are specified.
To add another layer, do one of the following:
With no layers selected, you can right click the header row, +Z row, or -Z row to display a context
menu. Select Add Layer to Top to add a layer row at the top (+Z) of the worksheet. Select Add
Layer to Bottom to add a layer row to the bottom of the worksheet (-Z).
With one or more layers selected, you can right click any selected layer to display a context menu.
Select Insert Layer Above (which inserts a layer row above the selected row in the +Z direction)
or Insert Layer Below (which inserts a layer row below the selected row in the -Z direction).
To delete a layer, select one or more rows, right click on any selected row, and select Delete Layer.
6. Select the Nonlinear Effects and Thermal Strain Effects settings in the Material category of the Details
view. The reference temperature specified for the body on which a layered section is defined is used as
the reference temperature for the layers.
Nonlinear Effects and Thermal Strain Effects are not supported in Explicit Dynamics analyses.
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Surface Bodies
Individual layers will be visible only when Show Mesh is enabled (if the model has been meshed previously), and only on Layered Section objects. If Show Mesh is not enabled, just the geometry and the
scoping will be shown on the model.
When a layer is selected to display, the layer with its defined thickness, offset, and sequence will be
displayed in the graphics window. Due to the limitations described for the Show Mesh option, it is recommended that the user switch back and forth if needed to Wireframe/Shaded Exterior View mode
to properly see annotations.
Note
When viewing Imported Layered Sections, the thickness that you see is not relative to the
geometry like it is with a Layered Section object.
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Specifying Geometry
Layered Sections are not valid with cyclic symmetry.
The following material properties are supported by Layered Sections in an Explicit Dynamics
analysis:
Isotropic Elasticity, Orthotropic Elasticity
Johnson Cook Strength, Zerilli Armstrong Strength, Steinberg Guinan Strength, Cowper Symonds Strength
Orthotropic Stress Limits, Orthotropic Strain Limits, Tsai-Wu Constants
Plastic Strain, Principal Stress, Stochastic Failure,
For orthotropic materials in Explicit Dynamics, the Z material direction is always defined in the
shell normal direction. The X material direction in the plane of each element is determined by
the x-axis of the coordinate system associated with the Layered Section. If the x-axis of this
coordinate system does not lie in the element plane, then the x-axis is projected onto the shell
in the coordinate system z-axis direction. If the z-axis is normal to the element plane, then the
projection is done in the coordinate system y-axis. For cylindrical systems, it is the y-axis that
is projected onto the element plane to find the Y material direction.
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Line Bodies
To find the face and its corresponding thickness objects for a particular message, highlight that message
in the message pane, right-click on the message and choose Go To Face With Multiple Thicknesses
from the context menu. The face associated with this message is highlighted in the Geometry window
and the corresponding thickness objects are highlighted in the tree.
If there is no face with multiple definitions, the following information will be displayed in the message
box.
No faces with multiple thicknesses have been found.
A related Go To option is also available. If you highlight one or more faces with thickness definition of
a surface body, then right-click in the Geometry window and choose Go To> Thicknesses for Selected
Faces, the corresponding thickness objects will be highlighted in the tree.
Note
You cannot search for Imported Layered Sections that overlap with other thickness objects.
However a warning will be generated during the solution if this situation might exist.
Line Bodies
A line body consists entirely of edges and does not have a surface area or volume. Although multiple
CAD sources can provide line bodies to ANSYS Workbench, only DesignModeler and ANSYS SpaceClaim
Direct Modeler provide the additional cross section data needed to use line bodies in an analysis. For
those CAD sources that cannot provide the cross section data, you need to import them into DesignModeler or ANSYS SpaceClaim Direct Modeler, define the cross sections, and then send the geometry
to the Mechanical application in ANSYS Workbench.
Once imported, a line body is represented by a Line Body object in the tree, where the Details view
includes the associated cross section information of the line body that was defined in DesignModeler
or supported CAD system. Depending on your application, you can further define the line body as either
a beam or a pipe. Here are some guidelines:
Beam is usually a suitable option when analyzing thin to moderately thick beam structures. A variety of
cross-sections can be associated with beams.
Pipes are more suitable for analyzing initially circular cross-sections and thin to moderately thick pipe
walls. Users can apply special loads on pipes such as Pipe Pressure and Pipe Temperature. Curved pipe
zones or high deformation zones in pipes can be further modeled using the Pipe Idealization object.
To define your line body, highlight the Line Body object and set the following in the Details view:
1. Offset Mode: to Refresh on Update (default) to enable the values in the Details view to update when
the CAD system updates, or to Manual, to enable the Details view values to override the CAD system
updates.
2. Model Type: to Beam or Pipe.
3. Offset Type: to Centroid, Shear Center, Origin, or User Defined, where Offset X and Offset Y are
available.
The following read-only information is used in the definition of both beam and pipe:
Cross Section
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Specifying Geometry
Cross Section Area
Cross Section IYY
Cross Section IZZ
Note
Beams can also be used as connections within a model. See Beam Connections (p. 614) for further
information on this application.
Pipes are only realized in structural analyses. All line bodies defined in other analysis types are
always realized as beams. This extends to linked analyses as well. For example, in a thermalstructural linked analysis where line bodies are defined as pipes, the thermal component of
the analysis will only realize the line bodies as beams.
Mesh-Based Geometry
For solid and shell finite element mesh files generated in the Mechanical APDL common database
(.cdb) format, you can import these files directly into Mechanical using the Workbench External
Model system. This feature automatically synthesizes geometry from the specified mesh for use in
Mechanical. The resulting geometry is the culmination of the use of the implicit (based angle tolerance)
and explicit (based on node-based components in the .cdb file) methods that work in combination
to synthesize geometry and create surfaces that enclose the mesh volume.
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Mesh-Based Geometry
This feature supports all Mechanical analysis types. For the specific instructions to import a finite element
mesh file using this tool, see the Creating and Configuring an External Model System section of the
Workbench Help.
Geometry Specifications
This feature supports data import of shells or of solids or a mix of shells and solids. See the next section,
CDB Import Element Types, for a list of the available element type.
For shell bodies that have a constant thickness, Mechanical applies this thickness as a Geometry
property. For shell bodies that do not have a constant thickness, Mechanical does not include a thickness
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Specifying Geometry
value in the Geometry of the body and the body becomes underdefined; requiring you to enter a
Thickness value.
In addition, shell offsets are not imported. As a result, shells attach with the Offset Type property set
to Middle.
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Mesh-Based Geometry
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Specifying Geometry
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Mesh-Based Geometry
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Specifying Geometry
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Mesh-Based Geometry
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Specifying Geometry
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Mesh-Based Geometry
2-D Linear
Quadrilateral
3-D Linear
Quadrilateral
2-D Quadratic
Triangle
PLANE35
2-D Quadratic
Quadrilateral
3-D Quadratic
Quadrilateral
Quadratic Tetrahedral
SOLID87, SOLID98, SOLID123, SOLID168, SOLID187, CPT217, SOLID227, SOLID232, SOLID237, SOLID285
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Specifying Geometry
Shape Category
Linear Hexahedral
SOLID51, FLUID301, SOLID651, SOLID701, SOLID961, SOLID971, INFIN1111, SOLID1641,SOLID1851, SOLSH1901, INTER195, CPT2151
Quadratic
Hexahedral
Meshing Facet
MESH200
[1] This element supports multiple shapes. This list displays the elements in their most basic and fundamental form
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Specifying Geometry
Be aware that when you assemble models and change the associated unit of measure, you are limited
by a scale factor limit of 1e-3 to 1e3. This scale factor limit is the limit for any combination of
models. Factor values are totaled and anything outside of this range is ignored. As a result, due to
these tolerances, scaled models, especially larger and/or combined models, sometimes have problems
importing geometry/mesh.
You need to perform material assignment in the upstream systems. The Material category property, Assignment, in the downstream system is read-only.
Model systems do not support the following features. If present, updates to the project fail for the system
transferring data to a downstream system. You need to suppress or delete these features before transferring
data.
Line Bodies (need to be deleted from geometry)
Rigid Bodies
Gaskets
Crack Objects
Interface layers Imported from ACP
Cyclic Symmetry
Mesh Connections
Virtual Topology
You may wish to refer to the Mechanical Model section of the Workbench Help for additional information about this Workbench component system.
Associativity of Properties
During model assembly, the properties assigned to bodies in upstream systems are automatically
transferred to the downstream systems. For multi-body parts, although the properties assigned to each
body are transferred, the properties assigned to the parts themselves are not transferred. During refresh
operations, when upstream data is modified and the downstream system is refreshed, the properties
assigned to bodies in the downstream system are automatically updated, with the following exceptions:
Name
Suppression state
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Rigid Bodies
Shell Thickness
Shell Offset
These properties do not update if you modify them in the downstream system.
Note
It is recommended that you define all mesh controls and settings in your upstream systems.
Mesh settings on upstream systems take priority over any downstream mesh settings. That
is, any changes to an upstream system will overwrite your mesh setting changes on your
downstream system once updated. As a result, you could see differences between the assembled mesh and the settings of the downstream meshed model. Therefore, to have your
downstream mesh to be updated per the mesh setting changes, you need to re-mesh your
downstream model once it has been refreshed.
Mesh transfer will fail on assembled models if mesh controls are present in the downstream
system. As needed, you can define mesh controls on the downstream system once you have
assembled the model.
Rigid Bodies
You can declare the stiffness behavior of a single solid body (a body that is not a component of a
multibody part), a body group, surface bodies, and 2D models to be rigid or flexible. A rigid body will not
deform during the solution. This feature is useful if a mechanism has only rigid body motion or, if in
an assembly, only some of the parts experience most of the strains. It is also useful if you are not concerned about the stress/strain of that component and wish to reduce CPU requirements during meshing
or solve operations.
To set the stiffness behavior in the Mechanical application
1.
2.
To define a rigid body, set the field of the Details view to Rigid when the body object is selected in
the tree. If rigid, the body will not be meshed and will internally be represented by a single mass element
during the solution. (The mass elements mass and inertial properties will be maintained.) The mass,
centroid, and moments of inertia for each body can be found in the Details view of the body object.
The following restrictions apply to rigid bodies:
Rigid bodies are only valid in static structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, and modal analyses
for the objects listed below. Animated results are available for all analysis types except modal.
Point mass
Joint
Spring
Remote Displacement
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Specifying Geometry
Remote Force
Moment
Contact
Rigid bodies are valid when scoped to solid bodies, surface bodies, or line bodies in Explicit Dynamics
Analysis (p. 155) for the following objects:
Fixed Support
Displacement
Velocity
The following outputs are available for rigid bodies, and are reported at the centroid of the rigid body:
Results: Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration
Probes: Deformation, Position, Rotation, Velocity, Acceleration, Angular Velocity, and Angular Acceleration
Note
If you highlight Deformation results in the tree that are scoped to rigid bodies, the corresponding rigid bodies in the Geometry window are not highlighted.
You cannot define a line body, 2D plane strain body, or 2D axisymmetric body as rigid, except
that in an Explicit Dynamics analysis, 2D plane strain and 2D axisymmetric bodies may be
defined as rigid.
All bodies in a body group (of a multibody part) must have the same Stiffness Behavior. When
Stiffness Behavior is Rigid, the body group acts as one rigid mass regardless of whether or
not the underlying bodies are topologically connected (via shared topology).
2D Analyses
The Mechanical application has a provision that allows you to run structural and thermal problems that
are strictly two-dimensional (2D). For models and environments that involve negligible effects from a
third dimension, running a 2D simulation can save processing time and conserve machine resources.
You can specify a 2D analysis only when you attach a model. Once attached, you cannot change from
a 2D analysis to a 3D analysis or vice versa.
You can configure Workbench for a 2D analysis by:
1.
Creating or opening a surface body model in DesignModeler or opening a surface body model in any
supported CAD system that has provisions for surface bodies. The model must be in the x-y plane. 2D
planar bodies are supported; 2D wire bodies are not.
2.
Then, with the Geometry cell selected in the Project Schematic, expose the properties details of the
geometry using the toolbar View drop-down menu, and choose 2D in the Analysis Type drop-down
menu (located under Advanced Geometry Options).
3.
Attach the model into the Mechanical application by double-clicking on the Model cell.
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2D Analyses
A 2D analysis has the following characteristics:
For Geometry items in the tree, you have the following choices located in the 2D Behavior field within
the Details view:
Plane Stress (default): Assumes zero stress and non-zero strain in the z direction. Use this option for
structures where the z dimension is smaller than the x and y dimensions. Example uses are flat plates
subjected to in-plane loading, or thin disks under pressure or centrifugal loading. A Thickness field is
also available if you want to enter the thickness of the model.
Axisymmetric: Assumes that a 3D model and its loading can be generated by revolving a 2D section
360o about the y-axis. The axis of symmetry must coincide with the global y-axis. The geometry has to
lie on the positive x-axis of the x-y plane. The y direction is axial, the x direction is radial, and the z
direction is in the circumferential (hoop) direction. The hoop displacement is zero. Hoop strains and
stresses are usually very significant. Example uses are pressure vessels, straight pipes, and shafts.
Plane Strain: Assumes zero strain in the z direction. Use this option for structures where the z dimension
is much larger than the x and y dimensions. The stress in the z direction is non-zero. Example uses are
long, constant, cross-sectional structures such as structural line bodies. Plane Strain behavior cannot
be used in a thermal analysis (steady-state or a transient).
Note
Since thickness is infinite in plane strain calculations, different results (displacements/stresses) will be calculated for extensive loads (that is, forces/heats) if the solution
is performed in different unit systems (MKS vs. NMM). Intensive loads (pressure, heat
flux) will not give different results. In either case, equilibrium is maintained and thus
reactions will not change. This is an expected consequence of applying extensive loads
in a plane strain analysis. In such a condition, if you change the Mechanical application
unit system after a solve, you should clear the result and solve again.
Generalized Plane Strain: Assumes a finite deformation domain length in the z direction, as opposed
to the infinite value assumed for the standard Plane Strain option. Generalized Plane Strain provides
more practical results for deformation problems where a z direction dimension exists, but is not considerable. See Using Generalized Plane Strain (p. 404) for more information.
Generalized Plane Strain needs the following three types of data:
Fiber Length: Sets the length of the extrusion.
End Plane Rotation About X: Sets the rotation of the extrusion end plane about the x-axis.
End Plane Rotation About Y: Sets the rotation of the extrusion end plane about the y-axis.
By Body: Allows you to set the Plane Stress (with Thickness option), Plane Strain, or Axisymmetric
options for individual bodies that appear under Geometry in the tree. If you choose By Body, then
click on an individual body, these 2D options are displayed for the individual body.
For a 2D analysis, use the same procedure for applying loads and supports as you would use in a 3D
analysis. The loads and results are in the x-y plane and there is no z component.
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Specifying Geometry
You can apply all loads and supports in a 2D analysis except for the following: Line Pressure, Simply
Supported, and Fixed Rotation.
A Pressure load can only be applied to an edge.
A Bearing Load and a Cylindrical Support can only be applied to a circular edge.
For analyses involving axisymmetric behavior, a Rotational Velocity load can only be applied about the
y-axis.
For loads applied to a circular edge, the direction flipping in the z axis will be ignored.
Only Plain Strain and Axisymmetric are supported for Explicit Dynamics analyses.
Mechanical does not support Cyclic results for a 2D Analysis.
trt
trt t
r rt
The extruding begins at the starting (or reference) plane and stops at the ending plane. The curve direction along the extrusion path is called the fiber direction. The starting and ending planes must be
perpendicular to this fiber direction at the beginning and ending intersections. If the boundary conditions
and loads in the fiber direction do not change over the course of the curve, and if the starting plane
and ending plane remain perpendicular to the fiber direction during deformation, then the amount of
deformation of all cross sections will be identical throughout the curve, and will not vary at any curve
position in the fiber direction. Therefore, any deformation can be represented by the deformation on
the starting plane, and the 3D deformation can be simulated by solving the deformation problem on
the starting plane. The Plane Strain and Axisymmetric options are particular cases of the Generalized
Plane Strain option.
All inputs and outputs are in the global Cartesian coordinate system. The starting plane must be the xy plane, and must be meshed. The applied nodal force on the starting plane is the total force along the
fiber length. The geometry in the fiber direction is specified by the rotation about the x-axis and y-axis
of the ending plane, and the fiber length passing through a user-specified point on the starting plane
called the starting or reference point. The starting point creates an ending point on the ending plane
through the extrusion process. The boundary conditions and loads in the fiber direction are specified
by applying displacements or forces at the ending point.
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Symmetry
The fiber length change is positive when the fiber length increases. The sign of the rotation angle or
angle change is determined by how the fiber length changes when the coordinates of the ending point
change. If the fiber length decreases when the x coordinate of the ending point increases, the rotation
angle about y is positive. If the fiber length increases when the y coordinate of the ending point increases,
the rotation angle about x is positive.
For linear buckling and modal analyses, the Generalized Plane Strain option usually reports fewer Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors than you would obtain in a 3D analysis. Because it reports only homogeneous
deformation in the fiber direction, generalized plane strain employs only three DOFs to account for
these deformations. The same 3D analysis would incorporate many more DOFs in the fiber direction.
Because the mass matrix terms relating to DOFs in the fiber direction are approximated for modal and
transient analyses, you cannot use the lumped mass matrix for these types of simulations, and the
solution may be slightly different from regular 3D simulations when any of the three designated DOFs
is not restrained.
Overall steps to using Generalized Plane Strain
1.
2.
3.
4.
Define extrusion geometry by providing input values for Fiber Length, End Plane Rotation About X,
and End Plane Rotation About Y.
5.
Add a Generalized Plane Strain load under the analysis type object in the tree.
Note
The Generalized Plane Strain load is applied to all bodies. There can be only one
Generalized Plane Strain load per analysis type so this load will not be available in any
of the load drop-down menu lists if it has already been applied.
6.
In the Details view, input the x and y coordinates of the reference point , and set the boundary conditions
along the fiber direction and rotation about the x and y-axis.
7.
Add any other loads or boundary conditions that are applicable to a 2D model.
8.
Solve. Reactions are reported in the Details view of the Generalized Plane Strain load.
9.
Review results.
Symmetry
You can use the inherent geometric symmetry of a body to model only a portion of the body for simulation. Using symmetry provides the benefits of faster simulation times and less use of system resources.
For example, the model below can be simplified by modeling only of the geometry by taking advantage
of two symmetry planes.
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Specifying Geometry
Introduction
Making use of the Symmetry feature requires an understanding of the geometry symmetry and the
symmetry of loading and boundary conditions. If geometric symmetry exists, and the loading and
boundary conditions are suitable, then the model can be simplified to just the symmetry sector of the
model.
DesignModeler can be used to simplify a full model into a symmetric model. This is done by identifying
symmetry planes in the body. DesignModeler will then slice the full model and retain only the symmetry
portion of the model. (See Symmetry in the DesignModeler help).
To further understand the use of Symmetry in the Mechanical application, examine the following topics:
Types of Regions
Symmetry Defined in DesignModeler
Symmetry in the Mechanical Application
Types of Regions
When the Mechanical application attaches to a symmetry model from DesignModeler, a Symmetry
folder is placed in the tree and each Symmetry Plane from DesignModeler is given a Symmetry Region
object in the tree. In addition, Named Selection objects are created for each symmetry edge or face.
(See Symmetry Defined in DesignModeler (p. 425).)
The Symmetry folder supports the following objects:
Symmetry Region supported for structural analyses.
Periodic Region supported for magnetostatic analyses.
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Symmetry
Cyclic Region supported for structural and thermal analyses.
Note
Periodic and Cyclic regions:
Support 3D analyses only
Ensure that a mesh is cyclic and suitable for fluids analyses (the mesh is then matched, however,
users must re-assign periodic regions in the solver).
For models generated originally as symmetry models, you may create a Symmetry folder and manually
identify Symmetry Region objects or Periodic/Cyclic Region objects. (See Symmetry in the Mechanical
Application (p. 426).)
Symmetry Region
A symmetry region refers to dimensionally reducing the model based on a mirror plane. Symmetry regions
are supported for:
Structural Symmetry
Structural Anti-Symmetry
Structural Linear Periodic Symmetry
Electromagnetic Symmetry
Electromagnetic Anti-Symmetry
Explicit Dynamics Symmetry
Structural Symmetry
A symmetric structural boundary condition means that out-of-plane displacements and in-plane rotations
are set to zero. The following figure illustrates a symmetric boundary condition. Structural symmetry is
applicable to solid and surface bodies.
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Specifying Geometry
Structural Anti-Symmetry
An anti-symmetric boundary condition means that the rotation normal to the anti-symmetric face is
constrained. The following figure illustrates an anti-symmetric boundary condition. Structural antisymmetry is applicable to solid and surface bodies.
Note
The Anti-Symmetric option does not prevent motion normal to the symmetry face. This is
appropriate if all loads on the structure are in-plane with the symmetry plane. If applied
loads, or loads resulting from large deflection introduce force components normal to the
face, an additional load constraint on the normal displacement may be required.
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Electromagnetic Symmetry
Symmetry conditions exist for electromagnetic current sources and permanent magnets when the
sources on both sides of the symmetry plane are of the same magnitude and in the same direction as
shown in the following example.
Electromagnetic symmetric conditions imply Flux Normal boundary conditions, which are naturally
satisfied.
Electromagnetic Anti-Symmetry
Anti-Symmetry conditions exist for electromagnetic current sources and permanent magnets when the
sources on both sides of the symmetry plane are of the same magnitude but in the opposite direction
as shown in the following example.
Electromagnetic anti-symmetric conditions imply Flux Parallel boundary conditions, which you must
apply to selected faces.
Note
Anti-symmetry, periodicity and anti-periodicity symmetry regions are not supported in Explicit
Dynamics systems.
Symmetry cannot be applied to rigid bodies.
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Specifying Geometry
Only the General Symmetry interpretation is used by the solver in 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses.
General Symmetry
In general, a symmetry condition will result in degree of freedom constraints being applied to the nodes
on the symmetry plane. For volume elements, the translational degree of freedom normal to the symmetry plane will be constrained. For shell and beam elements, the rotational degrees of freedom in the
plane of symmetry will be additionally constrained.
For nodes which have multiple symmetry regions assigned to them (for example, along the edge
between two adjacent faces), the combined constraints associated with the two symmetry planes will
be enforced.
Note
Symmetry regions defined with different local coordinate systems may not be combined, unless
they are orthogonal with the global coordinate system.
General symmetry does not constrain eroded nodes. Thus, if after a group of elements erodes,
a free eroded node remains, the eroded node will not be constrained by the symmetry condition. This can be resolved in certain situations via the special case of Global symmetry, described in the next section.
Note
Global symmetry planes are only applicable to 3D Explicit Dynamics analyses.
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Symmetry
Periodic Region
The Periodic Region object is used to define for Electromagnetic analysis Periodical or AntiPeriodical
behavior in a particular model (see Electromagnetic Periodic Symmetry section).
Electromagnetic Periodicity
A model exhibits angular periodicity when its geometry and sources occur in a periodic pattern around
some point in the geometry, and the repeating portion that you are modeling represents all of the
sources, as shown below (see the Periodicity Example (p. 412)).
Electromagnetic Anti-Periodicity
A model exhibits angular anti-periodicity when its geometry and sources occur in a periodic pattern
around some point in the geometry and the repeating portion that you are modeling represents a
subset of all of the sources, as shown below.
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Specifying Geometry
1. Insert a Periodic Region symmetry object in the tree. This step is necessary to enable ANSYS Workbench
to perform a periodic symmetry analysis.
2. Define the low and high boundaries of the Periodic Region by selecting the appropriate faces in the
Low Boundary and High Boundary fields.
3. Define type of symmetry as Periodic or Anti-Periodic (see Periodicity Example (p. 412)).
4. The solver will automatically take into account defined periodicity, and reported results will correspond
to the full symmetry model (except volumetric type results as Force Summation, Energy probe, and so
on).
Note
For a magnetic field simulation with periodic regions, you must be careful when applying
flux parallel boundary conditions to adjoining faces. If the adjoining faces of the periodic
faces build up a ring and all are subject to flux parallel conditions, that implies a total flux
of zero through the periodic face. In some applications that is not a physically correct requirement. One solution is to extend the periodic sector to include the symmetry axis.
See the Periodicity Example (p. 412) section for further details.
Periodicity Example
Periodicity is illustrated in the following example. A coil arrangement consists of 4 coils emulated by
stranded conductors. A symmetry model of surrounding air is created. The model is conveniently
broken into 16 sectors for easy subdivision into periodic sectors and for comparison of results.
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Symmetry
Below is a display of the Magnetic Field Intensity for the symmetry model at the mid-plane. The arrows
clearly indicate an opportunity to model the domain for both Periodic or Anti-periodic sectors. Periodic
planes are shown to exist at 180 degree intervals. Anti-periodic planes are shown to exist at 90 degree
intervals.
The model can be cut in half to model Periodic planes. Applying periodic symmetry planes at 90 degrees
and 270 degrees leads to the following results.
The model can be cut in half again to model Anti-Periodic planes. Applying anti-periodic symmetry
planes at 0 degrees and 90 degrees leads to the following results.
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Specifying Geometry
Cyclic Region
Fan wheels, spur gears, and turbine blades are all examples of models that can benefit from cyclic
symmetry.
An automated cyclic symmetry analysis conserves time and CPU resources and allows you to view
analysis results on the entire structure (for a structural analysis). ANSYS Workbench automates cyclic
symmetry analysis by:
Solving for the behavior of a single symmetric sector (part of a circular component or assembly). See The
Basic Sector in the Advanced Analysis Guide for more information.
Using the single-sector solution to construct the response behavior of the full circular component or assembly (as a postprocessing step).
For example, by analyzing a single 10 sector of a 36-blade turbine wheel assembly, you can obtain the
complete 360 model solution via simple postprocessing calculations. Using twice the usual number of
degrees of freedom (DOFs) in this case, the single sector represents a 1/36th part of the model.
Note
Layered Sections cannot be applied to a model that uses cyclic symmetry.
Mechanical 2D Analyses do not support cyclic results.
The overall procedure in ANSYS Workbench for simulating models that are cyclically symmetric is to
run a static structural, modal, or thermal analysis and perform the following specialized steps:
1. Insert a Cyclic Region symmetry object in the tree. This step is necessary to enable ANSYS Workbench
to perform a cyclic symmetry analysis. Multiple Cyclic Region objects are permitted but they must refer
to the same Coordinate System to specify the symmetry axis.
2. Define the low and high boundaries of the Cyclic Region by selecting the appropriate faces in the Low
Boundary and High Boundary fields. Each selection can consist of one or more faces over one or more
parts, but they must be paired properly. To be valid, each face in Low Boundary must be accompanied
by its twin in High Boundary. Also, ensure that each face and its twin belong to the same multibody
part (although it is not necessary that they belong to the same body), using DesignModeler to adjust
your multibody parts as needed. Your selections will be used to match the mesh of these two boundaries.
The example shown below illustrates two equally valid Low Boundary and High Boundary twin
faces. One twin set of faces, located in the corner body, includes faces that are both included in
that same body. Another twin set includes faces that are not on the same body, but are included
in the same multibody part, as shown in the second figure.
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Symmetry
Note
High Boundary and Low Boundary should be exactly same in shape and size, otherwise
Mechanical will not be able to map nodes from Low Boundary to High Boundary to
create full model from a single sector.
3. Continue with the remainder of the analysis. Consult the sections below as applicable to the analysis
type.
Refer to the following sections for further details on cyclic symmetry:
Cyclic Symmetry in a Static Structural Analysis
Cyclic Symmetry in a Modal Analysis
Cyclic Symmetry in a Thermal Analysis
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Specifying Geometry
Applying Loads and Supports for Cyclic Symmetry in a Static Structural Analysis
The following support limitations and specifications must be observed:
The following boundary conditions are not supported:
Bearing Load
Hydrostatic Pressure
Fluid Solid Interface
The following remote boundary conditions are not supported:
Joints
Bearing
Inertial boundary conditions and the Moment boundary condition are restricted to the axial direction. To
comply, Acceleration, Standard Earth Gravity, Rotational Velocity, and Moment must be defined by components: only the Z component can be non-zero and the Coordinate System specified must match that
used in the Cyclic Region.
Additional restrictions apply while specifying supports for a static structural analysis. For example,
Elastic Supports and Compression Only Supports are not available. Also, the loads and supports should
not include any face selections (for example, on 3D solids) that already belong to either the low or high
boundaries of the cyclic symmetry sector. Loads and supports may include edges (for example, on 3D
solids) on those boundaries, however.
Note
If you scope a Remote Force or Moment boundary condition to a Remote Point that is located
on the cyclic axis of symmetry, it is necessary that the Remote Point be constrained by a
Remote Displacement in order to obtain accurate results. Furthermore, non-physical results
might be exposed if the remote boundary conditions specify the Behavior option as Deformable.
Loads and supports are assumed to have the same spatial relation for the cyclic axis in all sectors.
In preparation for solution, the boundary conditions on the geometry are converted into node constraints
in the mesh (see Converting Boundary Conditions to Nodal DOF Constraints (Mechanical APDL Solver) (p. 1135) for more information). When these boundary conditions involve nodes along the sector
boundaries (low, high, and axial boundaries), their constraints are integrated to properly reflect the
symmetry. As an example, the low and high edges may feature more node constraints than are applied
to each individually, in order to remain consistent with an equivalent full model.
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Symmetry
Note
Extremum values (e.g., Minimum, Maximum) correspond only to the portion of the model
selected in the Cyclic Solution Display.
Unexpanded One Sector Model Display:
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Specifying Geometry
Expanded Full Symmetry Model Display:
Note
The results for the Energy Probe, Force Reaction probe, and Moment Reaction probe are
calculated for the full symmetry model.
Unaveraged contact results do not expand to all expanded sectors in a cyclic analysis.
Expanded result visualization is not available to the Samcef solver.
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Supports should not include any face selections (for example, on 3D solids) that already belong to either
the low or high boundaries of the cyclic symmetry sector. Supports may include edges (for example, on
3D solids) on those boundaries, however.
Only the following remote boundary conditions are supported:
Remote Displacement
Point Mass
Spring
In preparation for solution, the boundary conditions on the geometry are converted into node constraints
in the mesh (see Converting Boundary Conditions to Nodal DOF Constraints (Mechanical APDL Solver) (p. 1135) for more information). When these boundary conditions involve nodes along the sector
boundaries (low, high and axial boundaries), their constraints are integrated to properly reflect the
symmetry. As an example, the low and high edges may feature more node constraints than are applied
to each individually, in order to remain consistent with an equivalent full model.
If the modal analysis is activated as pre-stressed, no other modal loads/supports are allowed. On the
other hand you can apply all pertinent structural loads/supports in the previous cyclic static analysis.
When using the Samcef solver, compatibility of supports with cyclic symmetry is checked internally. If
an incompatibility is detected a warning or error message will be displayed, and the solve will be interrupted.
Note
Currently for Modal Analysis with Cyclic Symmetry:
The Unsymmetric Solver Type (UNSYM) is not supported.
Damping is not supported (Fully Damped, DAMPED, or Reduced Damped, QRDAMP).
Expansion is only available for harmonic indices > 0 with the Samcef solver.
For more information about the associated MAPDL command, see the MODOPT section of
the Mechanical APDL Command Reference.
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When simulating cyclic symmetry in a modal analysis, the same results are available as for a modal
analysis with full symmetry, with the exception of Linearized Stresses. Although only one cyclic sector
is analyzed, results are valid for the full symmetry model. You can control the post-processing and display
of cyclic results using the Cyclic Solution Display options on the Solution folder:
Number of Sectors: This option controls the extent the model is expanded from the raw solution.
The value indicates how many sectors should be processed, displayed and animated. Results generate
more quickly and consume less memory and file storage when fewer sectors are requested. To set
the value as Program Controlled, enter zero; this value reveals the full expansion.
Starting at Sector: Selects the specific sectors to include within the expansion. For example, if
Number of Sectors is set to 1, sectors 1 through N are revealed one at a time. To set the value as
Program Controlled, enter zero; this value reveals the specified number of sectors from sector 1 onwards.
Note
Extremum values (e.g., Minimum, Maximum) correspond only to the portion of the model
selected in the Cyclic Solution Display.
Because these features involve reviewing the mode shapes and contours at individual points within a
range, they leverage the charting facilities of the Graph and Tabular Data windows together with the
3D contour plotting of the Graphics view.
Reviewing the Complete Range of Modes
You may request the modes to be sorted in the Graph window by their set number in the results file
or by their frequency value in the spectrum. You may then interact with the plot to generate specific
mode shapes and contours of interest.
To control how modes are sorted, use the X-Axis setting under Graph Controls in the Details view of
the result and set to either Mode or Frequency:
Mode: This choice will designate the x-axis in the Graph window to indicate the set numbers for each
mode (within a harmonic index) in the results file. Each mode will have a vertical bar whose height represents its frequency of vibration. The columns in the Tabular Data window are displayed in the order
of: Mode, Harmonic Index, and Frequency.
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When X-Axis is set to Mode, the Definition category includes settings for Cyclic Mode and Harmonic
Index.
Frequency: This choice will designate the x-axis in the Graph window to indicate the mode Frequency.
Modes are thus sorted by their frequencies of vibration. Each mode will have a vertical bar whose height,
for cross-reference, corresponds to the mode number (within its harmonic index). The columns in the
Tabular Data window are displayed in the order of: Frequency, Mode, and Harmonic Index.
When X-Axis is set to Frequency, the Definition category includes a setting for Cyclic Phase. Readonly displays of the Minimum Value Over Phase and the Maximum Value Over Phase are also
available.
Phase: For degenerate modes or couplets, a third option for the X-Axis setting under Graph Controls is
available. This choice will designate the x-axis in the Graph window to indicate the phase angle. The
graph will show the variation of minimum and maximum value of the result with change in phase angle
for the concerned couplet. This setting allows you to analyze the result for a particular mode (for couplets
only). The columns in the Tabular Data window are displayed in the order of: Phase, Minimum and
Maximum. For details on couplets, read the section below.
Reviewing results for frequency couplets as a function of cyclic phase angles
An inspection of the results for harmonic indices between 0 and N/2 (that is, 0 < Harmonic Index < N/2)
reveals that natural frequencies are reported in pairs by the solver. These pairs of equal value are often
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termed couplets. The corresponding mode shapes in each couplet represent two standing waves, one
based on a sine and another on a cosine solution of the same spatial frequency, thus having a phase
difference of 90. To appreciate the full range of vibrations possible at a given frequency couplet, it is
necessary to review not only the individual mode shapes for sine and cosine (e.g., at 0 and 90) but
also their linear combinations which sweep a full cycle of relative phases from 0 to 360. This sweep
is displayed by Mechanical as an animation called a "traveling wave". The following is an example:
Note
The following demos are presented in animated GIF format. Please view online if you are
reading the PDF version of the help.
Animations for mode shapes in other harmonic indices, that is, 0 or, for N even, N/2, will yield standing
waves. The following animation is an example of a standing wave.
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There are options to review the dependence of a result on cyclic phase angle quantitatively. For applicable
harmonic indices, results can be defined by:
Cyclic Phase: Use in combination with the Cyclic Phase setting to report the contour at a specific phase.
Under this setting, the result will also report the Minimum Value Over Cyclic Phase and the Maximum
Value Over Cyclic Phase.
Maximum over Cyclic Phase: this contour reveals the peak value of the result as a function of cyclic phase
for every node/element.
Cyclic Phase of Maximum: this contour reveals the cyclic phase at which the peak value of the result is
obtained for every node/element.
When the result is defined by Cyclic Phase, it may be convenient to use the interaction options to pick
the value of phase from the Tabular Data window as an alternative to direct input in the Details view.
To access this feature, set the X-Axis to Phase under Graph Controls.
To control the density of the cyclic phase sweep, choose Tools> Options from the main menu, then
under Mechanical choose Frequency and Cyclic Phase Number of Steps.
The phase sweep can be disabled individually on a result by setting Allow Phase Sweep to No in the
Details view.
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Specifying Geometry
Interaction Options
The Graph, Tabular Data and the Graphics view can be used in concert while reviewing modal cyclic
results. For example, if you click in the Tabular Data window, a black vertical cursor moves to the corresponding position in the chart. Conversely, if you click on a bar (for Mode or Frequency display) or
a node in the chart (for a Phase display), the corresponding row is highlighted in the Tabular Data
window. Multi-selection is also available by dragging the mouse over a range of bars or nodes (in the
chart) or rows in the Tabular Data window. These are useful in identifying the mode number and harmonic index with specific values of the frequency spectrum.
Also, the Graph or Tabular Data windows can be used to request a specific mode shape at a phase
value of interest (if applicable) using context sensitive options. To access these, select an item in the
Graph or Tabular Data windows and click the right mouse button. The following are the most useful
options:
Retrieve This Result: Auto-fills the Mode and Harmonic Index ( for a Mode or Frequency display) or
the Phase angle (for a Phase display) into the Details view of the result and will force the evaluation of
the result with the parameters that were recently changed.
Create Mode Shape Results: processes the selected pairs (Mode, Harmonic Index defined by dragging
in the Graph window to produce a light blue rectangle) and inserts results under the Solution folder.
You must then evaluate these results, since they are not evaluated automatically. This option is not
available for Phase display.
The following two options are available only if you click the right mouse button in the Graph window:
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Zoom to Range: Zooms in on a subset of the data in the Graph window. Click and hold the left mouse
at a step location and drag to another step location. The dragged region will highlight in blue. Next, select
Zoom to Range. The chart will update with the selected step data filling the entire axis range. This also
controls the time range over which animation takes place.
Zoom to Fit: If you have chosen Zoom to Range and are working in a zoomed region, choosing Zoom
to Fit will return the axis to full range covering all steps.
Note
Radiation Probe results are calculated for the full symmetry model.
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Symmetry Region objects displayed under the Symmetry folder. The number of Symmetry Region
objects corresponds to the number of symmetry planes you defined in DesignModeler.
A Named Selections folder object. Each child object displayed under this folder replicates the enclosure
named selections that were automatically created when you started the Mechanical application.
3. In the Details view of each Symmetry Region object, under Definition, specify the type of symmetry
by first clicking on the Type field, then choosing the type from the drop down list. Boundary conditions
will be applied to the symmetry planes based on both the simulation type and what you specify in the
symmetry Type field. The Scope Mode read-only indication is Automatic when you follow this procedure
of defining symmetry in DesignModeler. The Coordinate System and Symmetry Normal fields include
data that was inherited from DesignModeler. You can change this data if you wish. The Symmetry
Normal entry must correspond to the Coordinate System entry.
Note
A Symmetry Region object can only be scoped to a flexible body.
Choose Named Selection if you want to define a symmetry plane using geometry that was predefined in a named selection. Click on the entry field for Named Selection and, from the drop
down list, choose the particular named selection to represent the symmetry plane. For a Periodic/Cyclic Region object, you perform the same procedure, where Low Selection corresponds to
the Low Boundary component and High Selection corresponds to the High Boundary component.
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Symmetry
b. The Scope Mode read-only indication is Manual when you follow this procedure of defining symmetry
directly in the Mechanical application.
c. Type - For a Symmetry Region or Periodic Region only, click on the entry field, and, from the drop
down list, choose the symmetry type. Boundary conditions will be applied to the symmetry planes
based on both the simulation type and the value you specify in the symmetry Type field.
d. Coordinate System - Select an appropriate coordinate system from the drop down list. You must
use a Cartesian coordinate system for a Symmetry Region. The Periodic/Cyclic Region require a
cylindrical coordinate system. See the Coordinate Systems section, Initial Creation and Definition, for
the steps to create a local coordinate system.
e. Symmetry Normal - For a Symmetry Region object only, specify the normal axis from the drop
down list that corresponds to the coordinate system that you chose.
f.
Periodicity Direction - For a Linear Periodic Symmetry Region object only. This axis should point
into the direction (in user selected Coordinate System) the model should be translated. It might be
different from Symmetry Normal property used for other Symmetry Region types.
g. Linear Shift - For a Linear Periodic Symmetry Region object only. This property value (positive or
negative) represents the nodes location increments in chosen Periodicity Direction.
h. Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
The following example shows a body whose Symmetry Region was defined in the Mechanical application.
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Specifying Geometry
Note
You can select multiple faces to work with a symmetry region. For Symmetric/Anti-Symmetric
Symmetry Regions, all faces selected (or chosen through Named Selection folder) must have
only one normal. For periodic/cyclic types, you should additionally choose the proper cylindrical coordinate system with the z-axis showing the rotation direction, similar to the
Matched Face Mesh meshing option. For Symmetry Region with Linear Periodic type, you
should in turn choose the proper Cartesian coordinate system with the Periodicity Direction
and Linear Shift properties showing pertinent values to facilitate conditions similar to the
Arbitrary Match Control meshing option.
The following example shows a body whose Periodic Region was defined in the Mechanical application.
The following example shows a body whose Cyclic Region was defined in the Mechanical application.
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Named Selections
Note
When using a Periodic/Cyclic Region or for a Symmetry object whose Type is specified as
Linear Periodic, the mesher automatically sets up match face meshing on the opposite Low
Boundary and High Boundary faces.
A useful feature available is the ability to swap Low Boundary and High Boundary settings under
Scope in the Details view. You accomplish this by clicking the right mouse button on the specific
symmetry regions (Ctrl key or Shift key for multiple selections) and choosing Flip High/Low.
Note
Except for cyclic symmetry models, symmetry models will not deform for unaveraged results.
For example, for an unaveraged stress display, you will see the undeformed shape of the
model.
Named Selections
The Named Selection feature allows you to create groupings of similar geometry or meshing entities.
The section describes the steps to create Named Selections objects and prepare them for data definition.
Subsequent sections further define and build upon these techniques, and include:
Defining Named Selections
Promoting Scoped Objects to a Named Selection
Displaying Named Selections
Using Named Selections
Displaying Interior Mesh Faces
Converting Named Selection Groups to Mechanical APDL Application Components
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Specifying Geometry
Select desired geometry entities from the Geometry object, right-click the mouse, and then select Create
Named Selection. A Selection Name window appears so that you can enter a specific name for the
Named Selection.
Select desired geometry entities in the graphical interface (bodies, faces, etc. - bodies are show below),
right-click the mouse, and then select Create Named Selection. A Selection Name window appears so
that you can enter a specific name for the Named Selection as well as specify criteria based on the selected
geometry.
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Named Selections
As illustrated below, these methods, by default, place a Named Selections folder object into the tree
that includes a child object titled Selection or titled with a user-defined name. This new object, and
any subsequent named selection objects that are inserted into the parent folder, require geometry or
mesh entity scoping. If a direct selection method (via Geometry object or graphical selection) was used,
the Geometry entities may already be defined.
The Selection objects are the operable named selections of your analysis. You may find it beneficial
to rename these objects based on the entities to which they are scoped or the purpose that they will
serve in the analysis. For example, you may wish to rename a Named Selection containing edges to
"Edges for Contact Region".
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Named Selections
Tip
To allow the Named Selection criteria to be automatically generated after a geometry update,
highlight the Named Selections folder object and set Generate on Refresh to Yes (default).
This setting is located under the Worksheet Based Named Selections category in the Details
view.
Note
If you change the Scoping Method from Geometry Selection to Worksheet, the original
geometry scoping remains until you select Generate.
For geometric entity Named Selections, the status of a Named Selection object can be fully
defined (check mark) only when a valid geometry is applied, or suppressed (x) if either no
geometry is applied or if all geometry applied to the Named Selection is suppressed.
For a Named Selection created using the Graphics Viewer, the selections must be manually
updated after you change the geometry.
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Specifying Geometry
Note
If you change the Scoping Method from Geometry Selection to Worksheet, the original
geometry scoping will remain until you select Generate.
When you select Generate and the generation fails to produce a valid selection, any prior
scoping is removed and the Named Selection.
If there is no indication that the worksheet has been changed and the Named Selection should
be regenerated, you still may want to select Generate to ensure that the item is valid.
If a row inside the worksheet has no effect on the selection, there are no indications related
to this.
Named Selections require valid scoping. If the application detects a criterion that is not properly
scoped, it becomes highlighted in yellow to alert users of a possible problem. A highlighted
criterion does not effect on the overall state of the object.
Once a row has been placed in the Worksheet, the right-click context menu activates options to Insert
additional rows, Modify rows, and/or Delete rows.
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Named Selections
Criteria of the Worksheet is defined by making selections in the drop-down menus of the columns for
each row. Certain values are read-only or they are only available as the result of other criterion being
specified.
The content of each Worksheet column is described below.
Action column:
Add: Adds the information defined in the current row to information in the previous row, provided the
item defined in the Entity Type column is the same for both rows.
Remove: Removes the information defined in the current row from information in the previous row,
provided the geometry defined in the Entity Type column is the same for both rows.
Filter: Establishes a subset of the information defined in the previous row.
Invert: Selects all items of the same Entity Type that are not currently in the named selection.
Convert To: Changes the geometric Entity Type selected in the previous row. The change is in either
direction with respect to the topology (for example, vertices can be converted up to edges, or bodies
can be converted down to faces). When going up in dimensionality, the higher level topology is selected
if you select any of the lower level topology (for example, a face will be selected if any of its edges are
selected). You can also convert from a geometry selection (bodies, edges, faces, vertices) to mesh nodes.
The nodes that exist on the geometry (that is, the nodes on a face/edge/vertex or nodes on and within
a body) will be selected. In addition, node-based Named Selections can be converted to elements and
element-based Named Selections can be converted to nodes using this action.
Note
The conversion from geometry selection to mesh nodes is analogous to using Mechanical
APDL commands NSLK, NSLL, NSLA, and NSLV. The conversion from elements to mesh
nodes uses NSLE and conversion from mesh nodes to elements uses ESLN.
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Specifying Geometry
Location Y
Location Z
Face Connections - available when Entity Type = Edge.
Radius - available when Entity Type = Face or Edge. Applies to faces that are cylindrical and edges that
are circular.
Distance
Note
For the Distance Criterion, the calculation of the centroid is not supported for Line Bodies.
Named Selection
Material - available when Entity Type = Body.
Node ID - Available when Entity Type is Mesh Node.
For Entity Type = Mesh Element.
Element ID
Volume
Area
Element Quality
Aspect Ratio
Jacobian Ratio
Warping Factor
Parallel Deviation
Skewness
Orthogonal Quality
You may wish to refer to the Mesh Metric section of the Meshing User's Guide for more information
about these Criterion options.
Operator column:
Equal
Not Equal
Less Than
Less Than or Equal
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Named Selections
Greater Than
Greater Than or Equal
Range includes Lower Bound and Upper Bound numerical values that you enter.
Smallest
Largest
Units column: read-only display of the current units for Criterion = Size or Location X, Y, or Z.
Value column:
For Criterion = Size, enter positive numerical value.
For Criterion = Location X, Y, or Z, enter numerical value.
Note
Selection location is at the centroids of edges, faces, bodies, and elements.
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Specifying Geometry
For Entity Type = Mesh Node and Criterion = Type:
Corner
Midside
For Entity Type = Mesh Element and Criterion = Type:
Tet10
Tet4
Hex20
Hex8
Wed15
Wed6
Pyr13
Pyr5
Tri6
Tri3
Quad8
Quad4
High Order Beam
Low Order Beam
For Entity Type = Edge and Criterion = Face Connections, enter the number of shared edge connections.
For example, enter Value = 0 for edges not shared by any faces, enter Value = 1 for edges shared by one
face, and so on.
For Criterion = Named Selection, you can include a previously-defined named selection from the Value
field. Only the named selections that appear in the tree before the current named selection are listed in
Value. For example, if you have defined two named selections prior to the current named selection and
two named selections after, only the two prior to the current named selection are shown under Value.
When you define a named selection to include an existing named selection, you should use the
Generate Named Selections RMB option from the Named Selections folder object in the tree to
make sure that all of the latest changes to all named selections are captured. Named selections are
generated in the order that they are listed in the tree and as a result, when you click the Generate
button in the Worksheet, only the associated named selection is updated. Any other Named Selection
that may have been changed is not updated. The Generate Named Selections feature better ensures
that all child objects of the Named Selection folder are updated.
For Criterion = Material, select the desired material from the drop-down list. See the Material Assignment topic for more information.
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Named Selections
For Criterion = Distance, enter a positive numerical value from the origin of the selected coordinate
system.
Lower Bound column: enter numerical value.
Upper Bound column: enter numerical value.
Coordinate System column:
Global Coordinate System
Any defined local coordinate systems
2.
Specify either a Zero Tolerance or a Relative Tolerance. Tolerance values are dimensionless. Relative
tolerance is a multiplying factor applied to the specified worksheet value. For example, if you want a
tolerance of 1%, enter .01 in the Relative Tolerance field.
All comparisons are done in the CAD unit system.
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Specifying Geometry
a. To define the Named Selection based only on the selected geometry without defining any criteria,
choose Apply selected geometry and click OK.
b. To define the Named Selection based on criteria related to the selected geometry:
i.
Choose Apply geometry items of same, then check one or more applicable criteria items and
click OK. These items are sensitive to the selected geometry (for example, if a vertex is selected,
there are no Size or Type entries).
ii. Choosing the above option activates the Apply to Corresponding Mesh Nodes field. Checking
this field automatically adds a Covert To (see Help above) row to the Worksheet that coverts the
geometry to mesh nodes.
Note
This option requires that you generate the mesh.
Once the above steps are completed, the Named Selection is automatically generated and listed as a
Selection object (default name) under the Named Selections folder. If you specified criteria and highlight
the Selection object, the associated Worksheet is populated automatically with the information you
entered in the Selection Name dialog box.
To illustrate the steps presented above:
1. Select a face.
2. Choose Create Named Selection.
3. Choose Apply geometry items of same.
4. Check Size and Location X, then choose OK.
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Named Selections
The Worksheet associated with the new Named Selection would be populated automatically with the
following information:
First Row
Action = Add
Entity Type = Face
Criterion = Size
Operator = Equal
Second Row
Action = Filter
Entity Type = Face
Criterion = Location X
Operator = Equal
Note
This action changes the scoping of the corresponding object and may, as a result, cause upto-date states to become obsolete. For example, promoting a Fixed Support from a completed
solution would cause the solution to become obsolete and require it to be re-solved.
In order to promote objects scoped to the mesh, you need to make sure that the Show Mesh
feature (on the Graphics Options Toolbar) is active.
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Specifying Geometry
By highlighting one of the above objects and right-clicking, such as the Contact Region example illustrated below, the context menu provides the option Promote to Named Selection. Once selected, the
feature automatically adds a Named Selections folder to the tree that includes two new Named Selections based on the existing name of the contact object as well as its geometry scoping, Contact and
Target. You can promote an object to a Named Selection only once. Deleting the corresponding Named
Selection makes the option available again. However, deleting the Named Selection also invalidates the
corresponding source object, such as the Contact Region shown in the example below. As a result, you
must re-scope the source object to geometry or mesh for the feature to be available. A Contact Region
example is slightly different in that it has Contact and Target scoping and that this feature creates two
Named Selections. Springs and Joints also create two Named Selections if they are defined as BodyBody. The other object types create one Named Selection. Also note that result objects can be promoted
before or after the solution process.
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Named Selections
this option shows the full elements, while for face or body Named Selections, this option shows just
the element faces.
Note
This option does not affect Line Bodies, and you must have the Show Mesh button
toggled off to view the elements in the Named Selection.
An example is shown below of a node-based Named Selection.
Showing Annotations
As illustrated below, selecting the Named Selection folder displays all of the user-defined Named Selection
annotations in the Graphics pane. This display characteristic can be turned On or Off using the Show
Annotation category in the Named Selections Details view.
Selecting an individual Named Selection displays the annotation specific to that Named Selection in
the Graphics pane.
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Specifying Geometry
You can also toggle the visibility of mesh node annotations and numbers in the annotation preferences.
For more information, see Specifying Annotation Preferences (p. 119).
Setting Visibility
By setting the Visible object property in the Details view of an individual Named Selection object to
No, the Named Selection can be made invisible, meaning it will not be drawn and, more importantly,
not taken into consideration for picking or selection. This should allow easier inspection inside complicated models having many layers of faces where the inside faces are hardly accessible from the outside.
You can define Named Selections and make them invisible as you progress from outside to inside,
similar to removing multiple shells around a core. The example shown below displays the Named Selection 3 Faces with the Visible property set to No.
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Named Selections
View>Annotation Preferences. Check the Plot Elements Attached to Named Selections option. This
feature displays the meshed entities of your Named Selection only, as illustrated below.
Notes
The Visible object property is the same as the Hide Face(s) option in the right mouse button context
menu. These options will hide only the specified Named Selection. This behavior differs from that of the
Hide Bodies in Group and Suppress Bodies in Group options, which hide or suppress the full body
containing a given Named Selection.
When a Named Selection's Visible setting is set to No:
Only the faces from that Named Selection are not drawn; the edges are always drawn.
The Named Selection will not appear in any drawing of the geometry (regardless of which object is
selected in the tree).
Unless...
The Named Selection is displayed as meshed, it displays the mesh, but only if you have the Named
Selection object or the Named Selections folder object is selected in the tree. This behavior is the same
as the behavior of the red annotation in the Geometry window for Named Selections (that is, the annotation appears only when the current selected object is the specific Named Selection object or the
Named Selections folder object).
After at least one Named Selection is hidden, normally you can see the inside of a body, so displaying
both sides of each face is enabled (otherwise displaying just the exterior side of each face is enough). But
if a selection is made, the selected face is always displayed according to the option in Tools> Options>
Mechanical> Graphics> Single Side (can be one side or both sides).
If the Wireframe display option is used and Show Mesh is Yes, any face selected is displayed according
to the option in Tools> Options> Mechanical> Graphics> Single Side (can be one side or both sides).
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Specifying Geometry
Description
Selection
drop-down
menu
Controls selection options on items that are part of the group whose
name appears in the Named Selection display. Available options are:
Select Items in Group: selects only those items in the named group.
Add to Current Selection: Picks the scoped items defined by the
Named Selection that you have highlighted and adds those items to
the item or items that you have selected in the geometry window.
This option is grayed out if the selections do not correspond, such as
selecting trying to add a faces to vertices.
Remove from Current Selection: Removes the selection of items in
the named group from other items that are already selected. Selected
items that are not part of the group remain selected. This option is
grayed out if the entity in the Named Selection does not match the
entity of the other selected items.
Create Nodal Named Selection: Automatically converts the geometry
specified by the Named Selection to mesh nodes. A corresponding
Covert To row is added to the Worksheet
Note
Choosing any of these options affects only the current
selections in the Geometry view, These options have no
effect on what is included in the Named Selection itself.
Visibility dropdown menu
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Controls display options on bodies that are part of the group whose
name appears in the Named Selection display. Available options
are:
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Named Selections
Control
Description
Hide Bodies in Group: Turns off display of bodies in the named group
(toggles with next item). Other bodies that are not part of the group
are unaffected.
Show Bodies in Group: Turns on display of bodies in the named
group (toggles with previous item). Other bodies that are not part of
the group are unaffected.
Show Only Bodies in Group: Displays only items in the named group.
Other items that are not part of the group are not displayed.
You can also hide or show bodies associated with a Named Selection
by right-clicking the Named Selections object and choosing Hide
Bodies in Group or Show Bodies in Group from the context menu.
You can hide only the Named Selection by right-clicking on the
Named Selections object and choosing Hide Face(s).
Suppression
drop-down menu
The status bar shows the selected group area only when the areas are selected. The group listed in the
toolbar and in the Details View (p. 11) provides statistics that can be altered.
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Specifying Geometry
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Named Selections
1. In the Geometry preferences, located in the Workbench Properties of the Geometry cell in the
Project Schematic, check Named Selections and complete the Named Selection Key; or, in the
Geometry Details view under Preferences, set Named Selection Processing to Yes and complete
the Named Selection Prefixes field (refer to these entries under Geometry Preferences for more
details).
2. A Named Selections branch object is added to the Mechanical application tree. In the Named Selection Toolbar, the name of the selection appears as a selectable item in the Named Selection
display (located to the right of the Create Selection Group button), and as an annotation on the
graphic items that make up the group.
2.
3.
Under Export, click the Include Node Location drop-down list, and then select Yes.
Note
The Named Selection Export feature is available only for node-based and element-based Named
Selection objects.
Node Numbers are always shown in the exported text or Microsoft Excel file irrespective of
setting for Include Node Numbers in Tools > Options > Export.
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Specifying Geometry
Auto Face Draw (default) - turning back-face culling on or off is program controlled. Using Section
Planes is an example of when the application would turn this feature off.
Draw Front Faces - face culling is forced to stay on. Back-facing faces will not be drawn in any case,
even if using Section Planes.
Draw Both Faces - back-face culling is turned off. Both front-facing and back-facing faces are drawn.
Incorrect Display
Note
Named selections starting with ALL, STAT, or DEFA will not be sent to the Mechanical APDL
application.
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Mesh Numbering
Mesh Numbering
The Mesh Numbering feature allows you to renumber the node and element numbers of a generated
meshed model consisting of flexible parts. The feature is useful when exchanging or assembling models
and could isolate the impact of using special elements such as superelements.
The Mesh Numbering feature is available for all analysis systems except Rigid Dynamics analyses.
Because this feature changes the numbering of the models nodes, all node-based scoping is lost when
mesh numbering is performed, either in a suppressed or unsuppressed state. If this situation is encountered, a warning message allows you to stop the numbering operation before the node-based
scoping is removed.
You can prevent the loss of any node-based scoping by using criteria-based Named Selections, or by
scoping an object to nodes after mesh renumbering has taken place. Criteria-based Named Selections
scoped to nodes are supported in combination with the Mesh Numbering object as long as you have
the Generate on Remesh property set to Yes.
To activate Node Number Compression:
By default node numbers will not be compressed to eliminate gaps in the numbering that can occur
from events such as remeshing or suppression of meshed parts. This allows maximum reuse of mesh
based Named Selections but can result in node numbers that are higher than required. Node number
compression can be turned on by setting Compress Numbers to Yes. If compression is turned on, the
compression will occur before any other numbering controls are applied.
To activate Mesh Numbering:
1. Insert a Mesh Numbering folder by highlighting the Model folder, then:
a. Selecting the Mesh Numbering toolbar button.
Or...
b. Right-clicking on the Model folder and choosing Insert> Mesh Numbering.
Or...
c. Right-clicking in the Geometry window and choosing Insert> Mesh Numbering.
2. In the Details view, set Node Offset or Element Offset values for the entire assembly, as needed. For
example, specifying a Node Offset of 2 means that the node numbering for the assembly will start at
2.
Note
The Node Offset value cannot exceed a value that results in a node number having a
magnitude greater than one (1) billion. Mesh numbering of this magnitude requires
considerable processing power.
3. Insert a Numbering Control object by highlighting the Mesh Numbering folder (or other Numbering
Control object), then:
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Specifying Geometry
a. Selecting the Numbering Control toolbar button.
Or...
b. Right-clicking on the Mesh Numbering folder (or other Numbering Control object) and choosing
Insert> Numbering Control.
Or...
c. Right-clicking in the Geometry window and choosing Insert> Numbering Control.
4. Specify a part, a vertex, or a Remote Point in the model whose node or element numbers in the corresponding mesh are to be renumbered.
a. To specify a part:
i.
ii. In the Details view, set Scoping Method to Geometry Selection, click the Geometry field and
click Apply.
iii. Enter numbers in the Begin Node Number and/or Begin Element Number fields. Also, if needed,
change the End Node Number and End Element Number from their default values.
b. To specify a vertex:
i.
ii. In the Details view, set Scoping Method to Geometry Selection, click the Geometry field and
click Apply.
iii. Enter the Node Number.
c. To specify a Remote Point that has already been defined:
i.
In the Details view, set Scoping Method to Remote Point, click the Remote Points field and
choose the specific Remote Point in the drop down menu.
Note
During the mesh numbering process, the user interface enters a waiting state, meaning
you cannot perform any actions such as clicking objects in the tree. In addition, you
cannot cancel the process once it is started and must wait for its completion. However,
a progress dialog box appears to report status during the operation.
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Note
Be cautious when deleting the Mesh Numbering folder. Deleting this folder leaves the mesh
in the numbered state that you specified. There is no way to know that the existing mesh
has been renumbered.
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Specifying Geometry
the discretization by specifying the number of sampling points, and these will be evenly distributed
along the path up to a limit of 200.
Note
Paths defined in this manner will only be mapped onto solid or surface bodies. If you wish
to apply a path to a line body you must define the path by an edge (as described below).
By an edge.
The discretization will include all nodes in the mesh underlying the edge. Multiple edges may be
used but they must be continuous.
For each result scoped to a Path, the Graph Controls category provides an option to display the result
in the Graph on X-axis, as a function of Time or with S, the length of the path. Note that Path results
have the following restrictions: They are calculated on solids and surfaces but not on lines. They can
be collected into charts as long as all of the other objects selected for the chart have the same X-axis
(Time or S). You can define a path in the geometry by specifying two points, an edge, or an axis. Before
you define a path, you must first add the Path object from the Construction Geometry context toolbar.
You can then define the path using any of the three methods presented below.
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In the Details view, select Two Points in the Path Type list.
2.
Under Start, enter the X, Y, and Z coordinates for the starting point of the path.
3.
Under End, enter the X, Y, and Z coordinates for the ending point of the path.
4.
In the Details view, select Two Points in the Path Type list.
2.
Select one or more vertices or nodes, a single edge, or a face where you want to start the path, and
then click Apply under Start, Location. An average location is calculated for multiple vertex or node
selections.
3.
Select the vertices, nodes, face, or the edge where you want to end the path, and then click Apply
under End, Location.
4.
Note
The start and end points need not both be specified using the same procedure of the three
presented above. For example, if you specify the start point using the Coordinate toolbar
button, you can specify the end point by entering coordinates or by using a vertex, edge,
or face. Any combination of the three procedures can be used to specify the points.
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Specifying Geometry
The Snap to mesh nodes feature avoids the error and allows the solve to continue provided the path
you define does not traverse through any discontinuities in the model, such as a hole. For these cases,
even though the Snap to mesh nodes feature alters the path endpoints to coincide with the nearest
nodes in the mesh, the linearized stress result still fails because the path is defined through the discontinuity.
The following pictures illustrate this feature.
Attempt to solve for linearized stress. Path defined within geometric model:
Corresponding mesh used for geometric model, obtained by setting Show Mesh to Yes:
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Path contained within mesh after choosing Snap to mesh nodes. Solution completes:
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Specifying Geometry
Note
If the model is re-meshed after choosing Snap to mesh nodes, the feature is not automatically
applied to the newly meshed model. You must choose Snap to mesh nodes again to alter
the path start and end points to the new mesh.
2.
2.
Display the context menu by right-clicking the mouse, and the select Convert To Path Result.
A Path is automatically created and a corresponding Path object is displayed in the tree with a Path
Type of Edge.
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In the Details view, select X Axis Intersection in the Path Type list.
2.
Select the coordinate system you want to use to define the x-axis.
3.
Create two probe annotations by choosing the Probe button from the Result Context Toolbar (p. 59).
2.
Choose the Label button from the Graphics Toolbar (p. 50) and select the two probe annotations. (Hold
the Ctrl key to select both probe annotations.)
3.
Right-click in the Geometry window and choose Create Path From Probe Labels from the context
menu.
4.
A path is automatically created between the probe annotations. A corresponding Path object is displayed
in the tree with a Path Type of Two Points.
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Specifying Geometry
b. Define the origin of the local coordinate system.
Note
With respect to the facets of the surface:
For a Cartesian coordinate system, the surface is the intersection of the model with the
X-Y plane of the coordinate system.
For a cylindrical coordinate system, the surface is the intersection of the model with the
cylinder whose axis is the Z axis of the coordinate system. In this case, you must specify
the radius in the Details view of the Surface object.
Tip
For an existing coordinate system, you can define a Surface Construction Geometry object
by selecting the desired coordinate system object, right-clicking, and selecting Create Construction Surface. This feature allows you to define the coordinate system first.
Remote Point
You use a Remote Point as a scoping mechanism for remote boundary conditions. Remote points are
a way of abstracting a connection to a solid model, be it a vertex, edge, face, body, or node, to a point
in space (specified by Location). The solver uses multipoint constraint (MPC) equations to make these
connections.
Remote Points are akin to the various remote loads available in the Mechanical application. Remote
boundary conditions create remote points in space behind the scenes, or, internally, whereas the Remote
Point objects define a specific point in space only. As a result, the external Remote Point can be associated
to a portion of geometry that can have multiple boundary conditions scoped to it. This single remote
association avoids overconstraint conditions that can occur when multiple remote loads are scoped to
the same geometry. The overconstraint occurs because multiple underlying contact elements are used
for the individual remote loads when applied as usual to the geometry. When the multiple remote loads
are applied to a single remote point, scoped to the geometry, the possibility of overconstraint is greatly
reduced.
Remote Points are a powerful tool for working with and controlling the Degrees of Freedom (DOF) of
a body. Remote Points provide a property, DOF Selection, which gives you a finer control over the
active DOF's used to connect the Remote Point location to the body.
Furthermore, Remote Points can be can be used independently, without being scoped to a boundary
condition. Remote Point create MPC equations and therefore can be used to model phenomena, such
as coupling a set of nodes so that they have the same DOF solution.
Another capability of Remote Points is that they are also a scoping mechanism for the Constraint
Equation object. The equation relates the degrees of freedom (DOF) of one or more remote points
A Remote Point or multiple remote points work in tandem with the boundary conditions listed below.
Point Mass
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Remote Point
Thermal Point Mass
Joints
Spring
Bearing
Beam Connection
Remote Displacement
Remote Force
Moment
These objects acquire data from remote points and eliminate the need to define the objects individually.
You can scope one or more of the above objects to a defined Remote Point. This provides a central
object to which you can make updates that will affect the scoping of multiple objects.
Note
Following are important points to keep in mind when using Remote Points:
A Remote Point can reference only one Remote Force and one Moment. If you scope a
Remote Point to multiple remote forces or moments, duplicate specifications are ignored
and a warning message is generated.
A Remote Point with Deformable behavior should not be used on surfaces that are
modeled with symmetry boundary conditions. The internally generated weight factors
only account for the modeled geometry. Therefore, remote points with deformable behavior should only be used on the full geometry.
For additional MAPDL specific information, see the Multipoint Constraints and Assemblies section as
well as KEYOPT(2) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
The following sections describe how to create and define a Remote Point as well as the characteristics
and limitations associated with this scoping tool.
Specify a Remote Point
Geometry Behaviors and Support Specifications
Remote Point Features
Note
To select a node or nodes, you first need to generate the mesh.
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Specifying Geometry
MAPDL Reference
When you scope your Remote Point to a single node or multiple nodes, a point-to-surface contact algorithm is used (using contact element CONTA175). This process can produce slightly different result
at the area of application compared to face scoping of the same topology. Geometry scoping to 3D
faces and 2D edges uses a constant traction contact application (contact elements CONTA171 through
CONTA174).
Note
Be very careful when you scope remote points to nodes if the nodes are collinear. A rigid
Formulation avoids issues when you scope to Surface or Line bodies. However for solids, you
should not scope collinear nodes for any Formulation.
Remote Point definable properties are illustrated and described below:
Scoping Method: Geometry (default) or Named Selection.
Geometry or Named Selection (geometry or node-based) selection.
Coordinate System: the Coordinate System based on the original location of the remote point. This
property does not change if you modify the remote points position with the Location property.
X Coordinate: the distance from the coordinate system origin on the x axis.
Y Coordinate: the distance from the coordinate system origin on the y axis.
Z Coordinate: the distance from the coordinate system origin on the z axis.
Location: the location in space of the remote point. This property allows you to manually modify the remote
points original position. Changing the Location does not establish a new coordinate system (that is not
reflected by the above Coordinate System property) and replots the x, y, and z coordinate locations.
Behavior. This property defines the contact formulations. Options include Deformable, Rigid, or Coupled.
Pinball Region: value entry.
DOF Selection: Program Controlled (default) or set as Manual. This offers an opportunity for better
control of which DOFs will activate for corresponding constraint equations.
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Remote Point
The Details view of each of the above objects contains a Scoping Method setting that can be set to
Remote Point, once a Remote Point is defined, as illustrated below for the details of a Remote Force.
Once you scope the object with a Remote Point and define which remote point (Remote Point Front
Edge or Remote Point Rear Face) if more than one exists, all of the inputs from that remote point
become read-only for the object and use the remote point's data.
Scope to Remote Point
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Specifying Geometry
As illustrated in the above example, after you have scoped the Remote Force to a Remote Point, additional data may be required, such as Magnitude.
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Remote Point
Deformable Behavior
Coupled Behavior
Support Specifications
Note the following when using the Remote Point feature.
MAPDL solver logic is based on MPC-based contact. See the Surface-Based Constraints section of the
Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide for more information. A Remote Point scoped to a vertex or
vertices in a 2D or 3D solid does not use the contact MPC, it creates embedded beams to connect the
vertex to the Remote Point.
The MPC equations are generated from the definition of a Remote Point are based on the underlying
element shape functions. In a large deflection analysis, element shapes are reformed each substep. As a
result, MPC equations are superior to the RBE3, CERIG, and CP commands.
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Specifying Geometry
You must determine which Behavior best represents the actual loading. Note that this option has no effect
if the boundary condition is scoped to a rigid body in which case a Rigid behavior is always used.
Presented below are examples of the Total Deformation resulting from the same Remote Displacement
(illustrated above), first using a Rigid formulation, then using a Deformable formulation, and finally the
Coupled formulation.
For Remote Boundary Conditions applied to an edge or edges of a line body that are colinear, the deformable behavior is invalid. As such, the scoped entities exhibit rigid behavior even if a deformable formulation
is specified, and a warning is issued in the Message Window.
All remote boundary conditions are associative, meaning they remember their connection to the geometry.
Their location however does not change. If you want the location to be associative, create a coordinate
system on the particular face and set the location to 0,0,0 in that local coordinate system.
If the geometry to which a Remote Point is scoped becomes suppressed, the Remote Point also becomes
suppressed. Once the geometry is Unsuppressed, the Remote Point becomes valid again.
Remote boundary conditions scoped to a large number of elements can cause the solver to consume
excessive amounts of memory. Point masses in an analysis where a mass matrix is required and analyses
that contain remote displacements are the most sensitive to this phenomenon. If this situation occurs,
consider modifying the Pinball setting to reduce the number of elements included in the solver. Forcing
the use of an iterative solver may help as well. Refer to the troubleshooting section for further details.
If a remote boundary condition is scoped to rigid body, the underlying topology on which the load is
applied is irrelevant. Since the body is rigid, the loading path through the body will be of no consequence;
only the location at which the load acts.
For additional MAPDL specific information, see the Multipoint Constraints and Assemblies section as
well as KEYOPT(2) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
Note
To apply a remote boundary condition scoped to a surface more than once (for example,
two springs), you must do one of the following:
Set scoped surface Behavior to Deformable.
Change scoping to remove any overlap.
Leverage the Pinball Region option.
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Remote Point
See the Viewing and Exporting Finite Element Connections topic in the Solution Information Object
section of the Help for additional information about the ability to view and work with connection lines.
2.
Right-click the remote boundary condition object, and then select Promote Remote Point. A remote
point with the boundary condition name and data is added to the Project tree.
3.
In the Project tree, select the new remote point object and modify its data as necessary.
Note
This option is not available for objects scoped as a Direct Attachment, such as Springs, Joints,
Beams, or a Point Mass.
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Specifying Geometry
Point Mass
You can idealize the inertial effects from a body using a Point Mass. Applications include applying a
force with an acceleration or any other inertial load; or adding inertial mass to a structure, which affects
modal and harmonic solutions.
To define a Point Mass:
1. Select the Geometry object (or a child object).
2. You can then add a Point Mass object by:
Selecting Point Mass from the Geometry toolbar.
or...
Right-clicking the mouse button and selecting Insert>Point Mass from the context menu.
or...
Select the desired geometry in the graphics window, right-click the mouse, and then select Insert>Point
Mass from the context menu.
3. Specify the Scoping Method property as either Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point. Based on the selection made in this step, select a:
geometry (faces, edges, or vertices) and click Apply in the Details view for the Geometry property.
or...
single node and click Apply in the Details view for the Geometry property. In order to select an individual node, you need to first generate a mesh on the model, and then choose the Show Mesh button
on the Graphics Options Toolbar, and then specify Select Mesh as the Select Type from the Graphics
Toolbar.
or...
user-defined node-based named selection from the drop-down list of the Named Selection property.
or...
user-defined remote point from the drop-down list of the Remote Point property.
or...
4. Specify the Point Mass as a Remote Attachment (default) or a Direct Attachment using the Applied
By property. The Remote Attachment option uses either a user-defined or a system-generated Remote
Point as a scoping mechanism. Remote Attachment is the required Applied By property setting if the
geometry scoping is to a single face or multiple faces, a single edge or multiple edges, or multiple vertices.
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Support Limitations
A Point Mass cannot:
be applied on any shared topology surface.
span multiple bodies if the Stiffness Behavior of the bodies is declared as Rigid (see Rigid Bodies section
for additional information).
be applied to a vertex scoped to an end release.
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Specifying Geometry
Right-clicking the mouse button and selecting Insert>Thermal Point Mass from the context menu.
or...
Select the desired geometry in the graphics window, right-click the mouse, and then select Insert>Thermal Point Mass from the context menu.
3. Specify the Scoping Method property as either Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point. Based on the selection made in this step, select a:
face, edge, or vertex of a solid or surface model or on an edge or vertex of a surface model and click
Apply in the Details view for the Geometry property.
or...
single node and click Apply in the Details view for the Geometry property. In order to select an individual node, you need to first generate a mesh on the model, and then choose the Show Mesh button
on the Graphics Options Toolbar, and then specify Select Mesh as the Select Type from the Graphics
Toolbar.
or...
user-defined node-based named selection from the drop-down list of the Named Selection property.
or...
user-defined remote point from the drop-down list of the Remote Point property.
4. Specify the Thermal Point Mass as a Remote Attachment (default) or a Direct Attachment using the
Applied By property. The Remote Attachment option uses either a user-defined or a system-generated
Remote Point as a scoping mechanism. Remote Attachment is the required Applied By property setting
if the geometry scoping is to a single face or multiple faces, a single edge or multiple edges, or multiple
vertices. The Direct Attachment option allows you to scope directly to a single vertex (Geometry) or a
node (using an individually selected node or a node-based Named Selection) of the model.
5. Modify coordinate system properties as needed.
6. Enter a Thermal Capacitance value. Thermal Capacitance refers to ability of the material to store heat.
The higher the thermal capacitance, the more heat can be stored for each degree rise in temperature of
the Thermal Point Mass.
7. When the Thermal Point Mass is defined as a Remote Attachment, the Behavior property displays:
define as Isothermal, Coupled, or Heat-Flux Distributed. See the Behavior Property Specifications topic
below for additional information about how to make the appropriate selection.
8. Modify additional Thermal Point Mass object Details view properties as needed.
The location of the Thermal Point Mass can be anywhere in space. The default location is at the centroid
of the geometry.
If you specify a Thermal Point Mass (which resembles a Point Mass) as a Remote Attachment, it will
act like a remote boundary condition because the Thermal Point Mass is not applied directly to a node
of the model. Refer to the Remote Boundary Conditions section of the Help for a listing of all remote
boundary conditions and their characteristics.
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Cracks
For Heat-Flux Distributed behavior, however, the temperature of the geometry selection and the point
mass are not constrained to be the same. The temperature of the Thermal Point Mass becomes a weighted
average of those on the geometry selection. For comparison, the previous example has been modified to
use the Heat-Flux Distributed behavior. The FACE, no longer constrained to be isothermal to the point
mass, displays a gradient.
For Coupled behavior, the geometry has the same DOF solution on its underlying nodes as the remote
point location. This formulation is similar to the MAPDL constraint defined by the CP command.
Support Limitations
A Thermal Point Mass cannot be applied:
on any shared topology surface.
to a vertex scoped to an end release.
Cracks
A crack is characterized by its shape, crack front/tip, crack discontinuity plane, crack normal, and crack
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471
Specifying Geometry
ous crack surface. The same is represented by a crack tip in two dimensional analyses. A crack inside
ANSYS Mechanical is defined using a Crack object or Pre-Meshed Crack object. These objects can be
inserted under the Fracture folder.
Crack objects, for which you define geometry parameters that define the generated crack mesh, is used
to analyze crack front. Internally, the crack mesh generation is performed after the creation of the base
mesh. The geometric parameters define the semi-elliptical shape of the crack in three dimensional
analyses. The crack definition is complete only after the successful generation of the crack mesh. By
default, the crack mesh generation automatically creates a node-based named selection for the crack
front under the crack object. For information about the Crack object that uses an internally generated
mesh, see Fracture Meshing in the Meshing User's Guide.
A Pre-Meshed Crack definition assumes that the crack meshes, representing the discontinuity or flaw
in the structure, have already been generated. In other words, the pre-meshed crack does not internally
generate the crack mesh using Fracture Meshing, as the Crack object does, but instead assumes that
the crack mesh has been generated beforehand. A Pre-Meshed Crack object uses a node-based named
selection to analyze crack front; this nodal named selection is required for the computation of fracture
parameters. If a geometric edge represents a crack front, you must first convert it to a node-based
named selection using the Worksheet criteria before it can be used by the Pre-Meshed crack object.
See the next section, Defining a Pre-Meshed Crack (p. 473), for more information on the Pre-Meshed
Crack.
The orientation of the crack plays a vital role in the fracture parameter calculations. The coordinate
system assigned to a Crack or Pre-Meshed Crack object must be defined such that the y-axis is normal
to the crack surface while the x-axis is pointing along the crack extension direction. For the Crack object,
the x-axis of coordinate system must be aligned normal to the surface of the scoped geometric entity,
which implies that cracks must be perpendicular to the surface (cracks cannot be created at an incline).
To achieve this alignment, create a coordinate system as described in Creating a Coordinate System
Based on a Surface Normal (p. 487) and assign the created coordinate system to the Crack object. For
the Pre-Meshed Crack object, the origin of the coordinate system must be located on the open side of
the crack.
After the crack mesh is generated, a warning message
Mesher has aligned X-axis to the anchor face normal direction. Please orient the
crack coordinate system to the face normal direction for accurate computation of
fracture parameters
Indicates that one of the active crack coordinate systems is not oriented correctly, which may lead to
inaccurate computation of fracture parameters. To identify which coordinate system is not oriented
properly, set the Crack coordinate orientation variable to 1 (active) in the Variable Manager.
Then re-generate the crack mesh. The error message shown in the Messages window indicates the
Crack object that requires coordinate system modification. Orient the respective coordinate system
correctly; for more information, see Creating a Coordinate System Based on a Surface Normal (p. 487).
After correcting the improperly defined coordinate systems for all cracks, reset the Crack coordinate
orientation variable to inactive.
Note: The graphical view of the crack may differ from the mesh generated. Possible reasons include:
A crack definition unsuitable for valid mesh creation may result in some layers being peeled off to
create a valid mesh.
The crack contour may be shrunk to fit into the mesh domain.
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Cracks
The crack coordinate system may be changed to align it to surface normal.
The center of the crack may be changed to create the crack on the surface.
The crack is meshed with gradation from the contour center to the outside results in difficulty distributing the crack mesh.
The offset of the crack is not suitable for the crack contour, resulting in a contour that must be reduced
to ensure all element contours fit into the template.
Note
Before defining a pre-meshed crack, you must have defined at least one node-based
named selection. For more information on named selections, see Named Selections (p. 429). As an alternative, a geometric based named selection can be converted
into a node-based based named selection using the Worksheet. For more information,
see Specifying Named Selections using Worksheet Criteria (p. 434).
To define a pre-meshed crack:
1.
2.
Insert a Fracture object into the Tree by right-clicking the Model object and selecting Insert > Fracture.
Note
Only one Fracture object is valid per Model.
3.
Insert a Pre-Meshed Crack object into the Tree by right-clicking the Fracture object and selecting Insert
> Pre-Meshed Crack.
4.
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Specifying Geometry
For 3D analysis, for Crack Front (Named Selection), select the node-based named selection to which
the crack definition will be scoped.
Note
For a complete Pre-Meshed Crack definition, you must have previously defined the
scoped node-based named selection and generated all crack meshes.
5.
To further define the crack, use the following controls in the Details View.
Coordinate System: Specifies the coordinate system that defines the position and orientation of the
crack. The Y axis of the specified coordinate system defines the crack surface normal. The origin of
the coordinate system represents the open side of the crack. You can select the default coordinate
system or a local coordinate system that you have defined. The default is the Global Coordinate
System. The valid coordinate system must be of type Cartesian.
Solution Contours: Specifies the number of contours for which you want to compute the fracture
result parameters.
Suppressed: Toggles suppression of the Pre-Meshed Crack object. The default is No.
Note
The Pre-Meshed Crack object is suppressed automatically if the scoped body is
suppressed.
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Caution
The application will not respect mesh matching controls when one or more mesh Refinement
controls exist. This may result in mismatched node pairs and element faces.
If using a Match Control is not an option and it is necessary to use the Node Matching method, you
must ensure that node pairs and element faces match. Because it is necessary for Mechanical to search
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Specifying Geometry
the scoped geometry for matching node pairs within the specified Distance Tolerance, this method
can be slower and less robust than the Matched Meshing method.
Note
The Interface Delamination feature does not support adaptive mesh refinement.
Also see the Interface Delamination Object Reference page for information about the properties of this
feature.
Apply Interface Delamination
To specify Interface Delamination:
1. Insert a Fracture folder in the Tree Outline. The Fracture object becomes active by default.
2. On the Fracture context toolbar: click Interface Delamination. Or, right-click:
the Fracture tree object and select Insert>Interface Delamination.
Or...
in the Geometry window and select Insert>Interface Delamination.
3. Select the desired Method: either VCCT (default) or CZM. The properties vary based on your selection.
VCCT Method
1. Specify the Failure Criteria Option property: either Energy-Release Rate (default) or Material Data
Table.
2. Based on the selected Failure Criteria Option:
If specified as Energy-Release Rate: enter a Critical Rate value. This value determines the energy
release rate in one direction.
If specified as Material Data Table: specify a Material. This property defines the energy release
rate in all three fracture modes. This property is defined in Engineering Data. See the Static Structural & Transient Structural section of the Engineering Data Help for additional information about
the Cohesive Zone properties used by this feature.
3. Based on the Generation Method selected, either Matched Meshing (default) or Node Matching,
perform one of the following:
Matched Meshing
If Matched Meshing, specify a Match Control by selecting a pre-defined Match Control. The
Match Control that is referenced by the property requires that the delamination occurs between
two independent parts that have the same element/node pattern.
Node Matching
If Node Matching, specify:
a. Scoping Method
b. Source
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Note
This option assumes that the existing mesh is already matched.
Note
The Auto Time Stepping property must be set to On in the Step Controls category of
the Analysis Setting object.
Time stepping values take effect when crack growth is detected.
6. If Node Matching is selected as the Generation Type, the Node Matching Tolerance category
displays.
Specify the Tolerance Type property as either Program Controlled (default) or Manual. The
Distance Tolerance property can be modified if Manual is selected, otherwise it is read-only.
CZM Method
1. Specify a Material. This property is defined in Engineering Data. See the Static Structural & Transient
Structural section of the Engineering Data Help for additional information about the Cohesive Zone
properties used by this feature.
2. Define the Generation Method property as either Matched Meshing (default) or Node Matching.
3. Based on the Generation Method selected, either Matched Meshing or Node Matching, perform
one of the following:
Matched Meshing
For the Matched Meshing Generation Method, select a pre-defined Match Control. The Match
Control that is referenced by the property requires that the delamination occurs between two
independent parts that have the same element/node pattern.
Node Matching
If Node Matching is the Generation Method, then specify:
a. Scoping Method
b. Source
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Specifying Geometry
c. Target
Note
This option assumes that the existing mesh is already matched.
4. If Node Matching is selected as the Generation Type, the Node Matching Tolerance category
displays.
Specify the Tolerance Type property as either Program Controlled (default) or Manual. The
Distance Tolerance property can be modified if Manual is selected, otherwise it is read-only.
Tip
To automatically generate a Contact Debonding object, select a Contact Region and drag
and drop it onto the Fracture folder.
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Note
The following steps assume that you have properly defined your interface layer in the ACP
application.
VCCT Method (Default)
1. From the Workbench Project page, link your Static Structural or Transient Structural analysis to the
ACP (Pre) system and then launch Mechanical.
A Fracture folder is automatically created and includes an Interface Delamination object.
2. Select the new Interface Delamination object.
3. Specify the Failure Criteria Option property: either Energy-Release Rate (default) or Material Data
Table.
4. Based on the selected Failure Criteria Option:
If specified as Energy-Release Rate: enter a Critical Rate value. This value determines the energy
release rate in one direction.
If specified as Material Data Table: specify a Material. This property defines the energy release
rate in all three fracture modes. This property is defined in ACP.
5. The automatic setting for the Generation Method property is Pre-Generated Interface. Accept this
setting.
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Specifying Geometry
6. As necessary, select the appropriate Interface Layer from the Interface property drop-down menu.
7. Define the Initial Crack by selecting the Pre-Meshed Crack created by ACP.
8. Specify the Auto Time Stepping property as either Program Controlled (default) or Manual. The
following properties can be modified if Manual is selected, otherwise they are read-only.
a. Initial Time Step
b. Minimum Time Step
c. Maximum Time Step
Note
The Auto Time Stepping property must be set to On in the Step Controls category of
the Analysis Setting object.
Time stepping values take effect when crack growth is detected.
CZM Method
1. From the Workbench Project page, link your Static Structural or Transient Structural analysis to the
ACP (Pre) system and then launch Mechanical.
A Fracture folder is automatically created and includes an Interface Delamination object.
2. Select the new Interface Delamination object.
3. Specify the Material property. This property provides a fly-out menu to make a material selection
that was defined in the ACP (Pre) system.
4. The automatic setting for the Generation Method property is Pre-Generated Interface. Accept this
setting.
5. As necessary, select the appropriate Interface Layer from the Interface property drop-down menu.
Gaskets
Gasket joints are essential components in most structural assemblies. Gaskets as sealing components
between structural components are usually very thin and made of various materials, such as steel,
rubber and composites. From a mechanics perspective, gaskets act to transfer force between components.
The primary deformation of a gasket is usually confined to one direction, namely, through thickness.
The stiffness contributions from membrane (in plane) and transverse shear are much smaller in general
compared to the through thickness.
A typical example of a gasket joint is in engine assemblies. A thorough understanding of the gasket
joint is critical in engine design and operation. This includes an understanding of the behavior of gasket
joint components themselves in an engine operation, and the interaction of the gasket joint with other
components.
The overall procedure for simulating gaskets in ANSYS Workbench is to run a static structural analysis
and perform the following specialized steps:
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Gaskets
1. Specify a material with a valid gasket model in Engineering Data.
2. Set the Stiffness Behavior of the Body object to Gasket. This produces a Gasket Mesh Control object
beneath the Body object.
3. Adjust Details view settings for the Gasket Mesh Control object and generate the mesh.
4. Solve and review the gasket result.
Refer to the following sections for further details.
Gasket Bodies
Gasket Mesh Control
Gasket Results
Gasket Bodies
You can conveniently specify a solid body to be treated as a gasket by settings its Stiffness Behavior
to Gasket. A Gasket body will be meshed with special elements that have a preferential or sweep direction. The mesh will consist of a single layer of solid elements with all mid-side nodes dropped along
this direction. You must also specify a material with a valid gasket model in Engineering Data.
The following restrictions apply to Gasket bodies:
Gasket bodies are valid only in static structural analyses.
Gasket bodies are valid for 3D solids only, that is, 2D gasket bodies cannot be specified.
A valid gasket material model must be specified.
In addition to gasket bodies, a multibody part may also include flexible bodies but not rigid bodies.
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Specifying Geometry
In the resulting mesh, the gasket element faces on the source and target are quadratic, but the faces
on the sides are linear.
Note
When Element Midside Nodes is set to either Program Controlled or Kept results in
quadratic elements with midside nodes are dropped in the normal direction. When Element
Midside Nodes is set to Dropped the midside nodes are dropped, resulting in linear elements.
Gasket Results
Specialized results are available for analyzing gaskets. See Gasket Results (p. 948) for details.
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Note
Cylindrical coordinate systems are not supported by the Explicit Dynamics solvers, but may
be used for some postprocessing operations.
Annotations are available for coordinate systems. You can toggle the visibility of these annotations in
the Annotation Preferences dialog box. For more information, see Specifying Annotation Preferences (p. 119).
The following topics are covered in this section:
Creating Coordinate Systems
Importing Coordinate Systems
Applying Coordinate Systems as Reference Locations
Using Coordinate Systems to Specify Joint Locations
Creating Section Planes
Create Construction Surface
Transferring Coordinate Systems to the Mechanical APDL Application
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483
The remainder of the toolbar buttons involve the use of transformations discussed in a later
section.
2. In the Details view Definition group, set the following:
a. Type: set to Cartesian or Cylindrical.
b. Coordinate System: to Program Controlled or Manual. This assigns the coordinate system reference number (the first argument of the Mechanical APDL LOCAL command). Choose Program
Controlled to have the reference number assigned automatically, or choose Manual to assign a
particular reference number in the Coordinate System ID field for identification or quick reference
of the coordinate system within the input file. You should set the Coordinate System ID to a
value greater than or equal to 12. If you create more than one local coordinate system, you must
ensure that you do not duplicate the Coordinate System ID.
c. Suppressed: Yes or No (default). If you choose to suppress a coordinate system, you remove the
object from further treatment, write no related data to the input deck, and cause any objects
scoped to the coordinate system to become underdefined (therefore invalidating solutions).
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Note
A coordinate system's origin cannot be located by scoping it to a line body. If you wish to
put the origin at the center of the line body, please select the edge of the line body for the
origin selection instead.
To establish the origin for an associative coordinate system:
1. Set the Define By property to Geometry Selection or Named Selection. For a Reference Coordinate
System attached to a joint, work with the Orientation About Principal Axis category to make the coordinate system associative.
If you select:
Geometry Selection
a. Graphically select geometry (vertex or vertices, edge, face, cylinder, circle, or circular arc) or one
node or multiple nodes.
b. Select the Geometry field and then select Click to Change.
c. Click Apply. A coordinate system symbol displays at the centroid of your selection. The centroid
is defined as the simple average (unweighted by length, area, or volume) of the individual centroids
of your geometry selections.
Named Selection: Select a user-defined Named Selection from the Named Selection drop-down
menu.
Preselecting one or more topologies and then inserting a Coordinate System will automatically locate
its origin as stated above.
To establish the origin for a non-associative coordinate system:
In the Details view Origin group, set Define By to Global Coordinates. You then define the origin in
either of the following ways:
Selecting any point on the exterior of the model:
1. Set Define By to Global Coordinates.
2. Select the Click to Change field of the Location property.
3. Select the Hit Point Coordinate ( ) button on the Graphics Toolbar. This feature allows you to
move the cursor across the model and display coordinates.
4. Select the desired origin location on the model. A small cross hair appears at the selected location.
You can change the cross hair location as desired.
5. Click Apply in the Location property field. A coordinate system symbol displays at the origin
location. Note that the coordinates display in Origin X, Y and Z properties of the the Details view.
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4. Choose the Select Mesh option in the Select Type (Geometry/Mesh) menu.
5. Select as many nodes as desired and then click Apply. The origin coordinate system is specified
on the model based on the average location of the selected nodes.
Entering the coordinates directly in the Details view.
1. Set Define By to Global Coordinates.
2. Type the Origin X, Y, Z coordinates. The origin will be at this location.
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Using Transformations
Transformations allow you to fine tune the original positioning of the coordinate system. Options are
available for offsetting the origin by a translation in each of the x, y and z directions, as well as by rotation
about each of the three axes. Flipping of each axis is also available. To exercise transformations, you
use buttons on the Coordinate System Context Toolbar and settings in the Transformations category
in the Details view.
To transform a coordinate system:
1.
Choose a transformation (translation, rotation, or flip) from the Coordinate Systems toolbar.
3.
If required:
Reorder a transformation by highlighting it in the Details view and using the Move Transform Up
or Move Transform Down toolbar button.
Delete a transformation by highlighting it in the Details view and using the Delete Transform toolbar
button.
2.
In the Details view, define the principal axis by Hit Point Normal.
3.
4.
For more information, see Setting Principal Axis and Orientation (p. 486).
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487
Enable Hit Point Coordinate mode by toggling the Hit Point Coordinate button in the Graphics toolbar.
2.
3.
Right-click the Graphics window and select Create Coordinate System Aligned with Hit Point.
Mechanical creates a coordinate system on the location of hit point with the primary axis aligning
along the hit point normal.
If a hit point is not defined, Mechanical creates a coordinate system on the location of {0,0,0}, with
the axis the same as the global coordinate system.
Select the tree object that represents one of the applicable items mentioned above.
2.
For an Acceleration, Rotational Velocity, Force, Bearing Load, or Moment, in the Details view, set Define
By, to Components, then proceed to step 3. For the other items, proceed directly to step 3.
3.
In the Details view, set Coordinate System to the name of the local coordinate system that you want
to apply. The names in this drop-down list are the same names as those listed in the Coordinate Systems
branch of the tree outline.
Note
If you define a load by Components in a local coordinate system, changing the Define
By field to Vector will define the load in the global coordinate system. Do not change
the Define By field to Vector if you want the load defined in a local coordinate system.
488
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Note
The Section Plane feature does not support Cylindrical Coordinate Systems.
1. Select the desired Coordinate Systems object. The User-Defined Coordinate System illustrated here
slices the model along the X-Y plane.
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489
As illustrated here, the model is sliced based on the User-Defined Coordinate System.
490
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Note
This option is also available for Coordinate System objects in the Meshing Application.
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491
The Details display the defined coordinate system and allow you to suppress the object if desired.
492
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Setting Connections
Supported connection features consist of Contact, Mesh Connection, Joint, Spring, Beam Connection,
End Release, Spot Weld and Body Interaction (Explicit Dynamics only). Each of these connections can
be created manually in the application. Only Contact, Joint, and Mesh Connection can also be generated
automatically.
This section describes Connections folder, Connection Group folder, Automatic Generated Connections,
as well as each connection type as outlined below.
Connections Folder
Connections Worksheet
Connection Group Folder
Common Connections Folder Operations for Auto Generated Connections
Contact
Joints
Mesh Connection
Springs
Beam Connections
Spot Welds
End Releases
Body Interactions in Explicit Dynamics Analyses
Bearings
Connections Folder
The Connections folder is the container for all types of connection objects except for the three types
that can be automatically generated (Contact, Joint, and Mesh Connection). The objects of each of these
three types are placed in a sub-folder called the Connection Group folder. As illustrated below, the
Details view of the Connections folder provides the following two properties.
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Setting Connections
Auto Detection
Generate Automatic Connection On Refresh: options are Yes (default) or No. This is a setting to turn
on/off for auto generation of connection objects when the geometry is refreshed. The process of automatically creating the contact and mesh connection objects is additive. Any existing connection objects of
these types that were created manually may be duplicated when the connections are automatically regenerated. To avoid duplication, you should first delete any existing contact and mesh connection objects
before the geometry is refreshed.
Note
Special conditions apply to updating geometry that includes Spot Welds.
The process of automatically creating joint objects is not additive. Any existing joint objects are note
duplicated when connections are automatically regenerated.
Transparency
Enabled: options are Yes (default) or No. This is a setting to enable or disable transparency of the bodies
not associated with the connection in the graphics display.
Connections Worksheet
When Connections is selected in the Tree Outline, the Worksheet window supplements the Details
view by providing a summary of the contact information, joint information, mesh connection information,
and the connections between geometry bodies. In the worksheet, the Show Preferences button enables
you to select the worksheet data, and the Generate button generates the content.
To toggle on the worksheet:
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Connections Worksheet
1.
2.
Select the Show Preferences button to view the possible data types.
3.
Select the check boxes for the data types you want to view.
4.
Select the Generate button to generate the content. ANSYS Mechanical remembers the display preferences you select and will default to those in future sessions.
Select Hide Preferences to hide the preferences and Refresh to refresh the worksheet data.
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Setting Connections
matrix, activating the Bundle Connections option displays the spot welds as "3 Spot Welds" instead
of displaying the individual names of all three within the cell.
Note
The matrix displays a grounded connection as a connection to itself. For example,
if a grounded joint is scoped to body1, then it will be displayed in the cell of column
body1 and row body1.
Selection Options
Selecting the table, a cell, a row, or a column and the right-clicking the mouse provides a menu
of the following options:
Go To Selected Items in Tree: the application displays the associated contact object or objects
in the Geometry Window.
Edit Column Width: changes column width (in pixels). You can select multiple columns or rows.
A value of zero (default) indicates that the setting is program controlled.
Export (see below)
Note
The Connection Matrix is limited to 200 prototypes.
Control Connection Types
The Control Connection Types display area provides a list of selectable connection features/types that you can choose to display or to not display within the Connection Matrix.
Options include:
Contact
Spot Weld
Joint
Mesh Connection
Spring
Beam
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Setting Connections
Definition
Connection Type: options include Contact, Joint, and Mesh Connections.
Scope
Scoping Method: options include Geometry Selection (default) and Named Selection.
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to Named Selection.
Auto Detection
Tolerance Type: options include Slider, Value, and Use Sheet Thickness. Bodies in an assembly that
were created in a CAD system may not have been placed precisely, resulting in small overlaps or gaps
along the connections between bodies. You can account for any imprecision by specifying connection
detection tolerance. This tolerance can be specified by value when the type is set to Slider and Value,
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The radius of the circle is a graphical indication of the current Tolerance Value. The circle moves
with the cursor, and its radius will change when you change the Tolerance Value or the Tolerance
Slider. The circle appropriately adjusts when the model is zoomed in or out.
Use Range: appears when the Tolerance Type property is set to Slider or Value. Options include Yes
and No (default). If set to Yes, you will have the connection detection searches within a range from Tolerance Value to Min Distance Value inclusive.
Min Distance Percentage: appears if Use Range is set to Yes. This is the percentage of the Tolerance
Value to determine the Min Distance Value. The default is 10 percent. You can move the slider to adjust
the percentage between 1 and 100.
Min Distance Value: appears if Use Range is set to Yes. This is a read-only field that displays the value
derived from: Min Distance Value = Min Distance Percentage * Tolerance Value/100.
Thickness Scale Factor: appears if Tolerance Type is set to Use Sheet Thickness. The default value is
1. For Edge/Edge pairing (see below), the largest thickness among the surface bodies involved is used;
however, if the pairing is Face/Edge, the thickness of the surface body with the face geometry is used.
Face/Face: (Contacts only) options include Yes (default) and No. Detects connection between the faces
of different bodies. The maximum allowable difference in the normals for which contact is detected is 15
degrees. For Joints, Face/Face is the only detection type allowed. That is why the property does not appear
in the Details view when the Connection Type is Joint.
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Setting Connections
Face/Edge: (Contacts and Mesh Connections only) options include Yes, No (default), Only Solid Body
Edges and Only Surface Body Edges. Detects connection between faces and edges of different bodies.
Faces are designated as targets and edges are designated as contacts. For Only Solid Body Edges, the
face to edge connection uses the edges of solid bodies to determine connection with all faces. Likewise,
for Only Surface Body Edges, face to edge connection uses only edges of surface bodies to determine
connection with all faces.
Edge/Edge: (Contacts and Mesh Connections only) options include Yes and No. Detects connection
between edges of different bodies.
Priority: (Contacts and Mesh Connections only) options include All, Face Overrides and Edge Overrides.
For very large models the number of connection objects can sometimes become overwhelming and redundant, especially when multiple detection types are chosen. Selecting some type of priority other than
Include All will lessen the number of connection objects generated during Create Automatic Connections
by giving designated connection types precedence over other types. Face Overrides gives Face/Face
option precedence over both Face/Edge and Edge/Edge options. It also gives Face/Edge option precedence
over Edge/Edge option. In general, when Face Overrides priority is set with Face/Edge and Edge/Edge
options, no Edge/Edge connection pairs will be detected. Edge Overrides gives Edge/Edge option precedence over both Face/Edge and Face/Face options, no Face/Face connections pairs will be detected.
Group By: options include None, Bodies and Parts. This property allows you to group the automatically
generated connections objects. Setting Group By to Bodies (default) or to Parts means that connection
faces and edges that lie on the same bodies or same parts will be included into a single connection object.
Setting Group By to None means that the grouping of geometries that lie on the same bodies or
same parts will not occur. Any connection objects generated will have only one entity scoped to each
side (that is, one face or one edge). Applications for choosing None in the case of contact are:
If there are a large number of source/target faces in a single region. Choosing None avoids excessive
contact search times in the ANSYS solver.
If you want to define different contact behaviors on separate regions with contact of two parts. For
example, for a bolt/bracket contact case, you may want to have bonded contact between the bolt
threads/bracket and frictionless contact between the bolt head/bracket.
Search Across: This property enables automatic connection detection through the following options:
Bodies (default): Between bodies.
Parts: Between bodies of different parts, that is, not between bodies within the same multibody part.
Anywhere: Detects any connections regardless of where the geometry lies, including different parts.
However, if the connections are within the same body, this option finds only Face/Face connections,
even if the Face/Edge setting is turned On.
Fixed Joints: (Joint only) options include Yes and No. This property determines if Fixed Joints are to be
automatically generated. See the Automatic Joint Creation section for details.
Revolute Joints: (Joint only) options include Yes and No. This property determines if Revolute Joints
are to be automatically generated. See the Automatic Joint Creation section for details.
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Note
For small models, the auto contact detection process runs so fast that the Contact Detection Status (progress bar) dialog box does not get displayed. However, for large
models with many possible contact pairs, the progress bar dialog box is displayed
showing the contact detection progress. If you click the Cancel button on the dialog box
while contact detection is processing, the detection process stops. Any contact pairs
found by that moment are discarded and no new contacts are added to the tree.
The resulting connection objects will be placed under this folder and the folder name will be changed
from its default name Connection Group to a name based on the connection type. The folder name
for contacts will be Contacts, for mesh connections it will be Mesh Connections, and for joints it
will be Joints. Once the Connection Group folder contains a child object, the Connection Type
property cannot be changed. Each Connection Group folder will hold objects of the same type and
will include a worksheet that displays only content pertaining to that folder. When two or more
Connection Group folders are selected and you choose Create Automatic Connections, auto detection for the selected Connection Group folders will be performed. The Create Automatic Connections option is also available from the context menu (right mouse click) for the Connections
folder provided there is at least one Connection Group folder present. When you choose this
command from the Connections folder, auto detection will be performed for all connection groups
under this folder.
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501
Setting Connections
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Contact
Contact
The following topics are covered in this section:
Contact Overview
Contact Formulation Theory
Contact Settings
Supported Contact Types
Setting Contact Conditions Manually
Contact Ease of Use Features
Contact in Rigid Dynamics
Best Practices for Specifying Contact Conditions
Contact Overview
Contact conditions are created when an assembly is imported into the application and it detects that
two separate bodies (solid, surface, and line bodies) touch one another (they are mutually tangent).
Bodies/surfaces in contact:
Do not interpenetrate.
Can transmit compressive normal forces and tangential friction forces.
Can be bonded together (Linear)
Able to separate and collide (Nonlinear)
Surfaces that are free to separate and move away from one another are said to have changing-status
nonlinearity. That is, the stiffness of the system depends on the contact status, whether parts are
touching or separated.
Use the Contact Tool to help you coordinate contact conditions before loading and as part of the final
solution.
Note
For information about controlling the quality of facets, see Facet Quality in the Graphics
section of the ANSYS DesignModeler help.
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Setting Connections
In order to enforce compatibility at the contact interface, Workbench Mechanical offers several different
contact Formulations. These Formulations define the solution method used. Formulations include the
following and are discussed in detail in the Formulations section.
Pure Penalty (Default - Program Controlled)
Augmented Lagrange
MPC
Normal Lagrange
For nonlinear solid body contact of faces, Pure Penalty or Augmented Lagrange formulations can be
used. Both of these are penalty-based contact formulations:
FNormal = kNormalxPenetration
The finite contact Force, Fn, is a concept of contact stiffness, kNormal. The higher the contact stiffness,
the lower the penetration, xp, as illustrated here.
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Contact
Ideally, for an infinite kNormal, one would get zero penetration. This is not numerically possible with
penalty-based methods, but as long as xp is small or negligible, the solution results are accurate.
The main difference between Pure Penalty and Augmented Lagrange methods is that Augmented
Lagrange augments the contact force (pressure) calculations:
Pure Penalty: FNormal = kNormalxPenetration
Augmented Lagrange: FNormal = kNormalxPenetration +
Because of the extra term , the Augmented Lagrange method is less sensitive to the magnitude of
the contact stiffness kNormal.
Another available option is Normal Lagrange. This formulation adds an extra degree of freedom (contact
pressure) to satisfy contact compatibility. Consequently, instead of resolving contact force as contact
stiffness and penetration, contact force (contact pressure) is solved for explicitly as an extra DOF.
FNormal = DOF
Specifications:
Enforces zero/nearly zero penetration with pressure DOF.
Does not require a normal contact stiffness (zero elastic slip)
Requires Direct Solver, which can increase computation requirements.
Normal Lagrange Chattering
Chattering is an issue which often occurs with Normal Lagrange method. If no penetration is allowed
(left), then the contact status is either open or closed (a step function). This can sometimes make convergence more difficult because contact points may oscillate between open/closed status and is called
"chattering". If some slight penetration is allowed (right), it can make it easier to converge since contact
is no longer a step change.
For the specific case of Bonded and No Separation Types of contact between two faces, a Multi-Point
constraint (MPC) formulation is available. MPC internally adds constraint equations to tie the displacements between contacting surfaces. This approach is not penalty-based or Lagrange multiplier-based.
It is a direct, efficient way of relating surfaces of contact regions which are bonded. Large-deformation
effects are supported with MPC-based Bonded contact.
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Setting Connections
Comparison of Formulations
Some of the primary aspects of contact formulations are compared below.
Pure Penalty
Augmented Lagrange
Normal Lagrange
Contact penetration is
present and uncontrolled.
Contact penetration is
present but controlled to
some degree.
Good convergence
behavior (few equilibrium iterations).
No Penetration.
Only Bonded & No
Separation behaviors.
MPC
Iterative or Direct
Solvers can be used.
Contact Settings
When a model is imported into Workbench Mechanical, the default setting of the application automatically detects instances where two bodies are in contact and generates corresponding Contact Region
objects in the Tree Outline.
When a Contact Region is selected in the Tree Outline, as illustrated here, contact settings are available
in the Details view, and are included in the following categories:
Scope: settings for displaying, selecting, or listing contact and target geometries.
Definition: commonly used contact settings.
Advanced: advanced controls that are primarily program controlled.
Geometric Modification: settings for further defining contact interface behaviors.
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Contact
Scope Settings
The properties for the Scope category are described in the following table.
Property
Description/Selections
Scoping Method
Specifies whether the Contact Region is applied to a Geometry Selection (default), a Named Selection, or to a Pre-Generated Interface for
fracture mechanics (Interface Delamination) when you are using the
ANSYS Composite PrepPost (ACP) application.
Interface
Contact
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Setting Connections
Property
Description/Selections
Note that if you click on this field, the bodies are highlighted.
Target
Contact Bodies
This read only property displays which bodies have faces or edges in
the Contact list.
Target Bodies
This read only property displays which bodies have faces or edges in
the Target list.
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Contact
Property
Description/Selections
type of the thickness, imported thickness, layered sections and
imported layered sections objects associated with the shell bodies
in contact are set to Middle."
Note
If the Shell Thickness Effect is activated and the user has specified a contact Offset for the
Interface Treatment, the total offset will be half the thickness of the surface body plus the
defined contact offset.
Postprocessing surface bodies with the shell thickness effect has the following special considerations:
Because contact is detected half of the thickness from the middle of the surface body, viewing surface
body results without Thick Shell and Beam (See Main Menu>View Menu) effects turned on will show an
apparent gap between contact bodies. This is normal since contact is being detected away from the location of the nodes and elements.
When using the Contact Tool to postprocess penetration or gaps, these values are measured from the
middle of the surface bodies (location of the nodes and elements), regardless of whether or not the shell
thickness effect is active.
Support Specifications
Note
All bodies selected for the Target or Contact side of a contact pair must have the same stiffness
behavior.
You cannot scope the target side in a contact pair to more than one rigid body.
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Setting Connections
If any of the bodies you scope have rigid stiffness behavior, you must select Asymmetric behavior under Definition in the Details view.
If you have both rigid and flexible bodies in your contact pair, you must scope the rigid body
as a Target.
Definition Settings
The differences in the contact settings determine how the contacting bodies can move relative to one
another. This category provides the following properties.
Type
Scope Mode
Behavior
Trim Contact
Suppressed
Type
Choosing the appropriate contact type depends on the type of problem you are trying to solve. If
modeling the ability of bodies to separate or open slightly is important and/or obtaining the stresses
very near a contact interface is important, consider using one of the nonlinear contact types (Frictionless,
Rough, Frictional), which can model gaps and more accurately model the true area of contact. However,
using these contact types usually results in longer solution times and can have possible convergence
problems due to the contact nonlinearity. If convergence problems arise or if determining the exact
area of contact is critical, consider using a finer mesh (using the Sizing control) on the contact faces
or edges.
The available contact types are listed below. Most of the types apply to Contact Regions made up of
faces only.
Bonded: This is the default configuration and applies to all contact regions (surfaces, solids, lines, faces,
edges). If contact regions are bonded, then no sliding or separation between faces or edges is allowed.
Think of the region as glued. This type of contact allows for a linear solution since the contact length/area
will not change during the application of the load. If contact is determined on the mathematical model,
any gaps will be closed and any initial penetration will be ignored. [Not supported for Rigid Dynamics.
Fixed joint can be used instead.]
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Contact
No Separation: This contact setting is similar to the Bonded case. It only applies to regions of faces (for
3D solids) or edges (for 2D plates). Separation of the geometries in contact is not allowed.
Frictionless: This setting models standard unilateral contact; that is, normal pressure equals zero if separation occurs. Thus gaps can form in the model between bodies depending on the loading. This solution
is nonlinear because the area of contact may change as the load is applied. A zero coefficient of friction
is assumed, thus allowing free sliding. The model should be well constrained when using this contact
setting. Weak springs are added to the assembly to help stabilize the model in order to achieve a reasonable
solution.
Rough: Similar to the frictionless setting, this setting models perfectly rough frictional contact where there
is no sliding. It only applies to regions of faces (for 3D solids) or edges (for 2D plates). By default, no
automatic closing of gaps is performed. This case corresponds to an infinite friction coefficient between
the contacting bodies. [Not supported for Explicit Dynamics analyses.]
Frictional: In this setting, the two contacting geometries can carry shear stresses up to a certain magnitude
across their interface before they start sliding relative to each other. This state is known as "sticking." The
model defines an equivalent shear stress at which sliding on the geometry begins as a fraction of the
contact pressure. Once the shear stress is exceeded, the two geometries will slide relative to each other.
The coefficient of friction can be any nonnegative value. [Not supported for Rigid Dynamics. Forced
Frictional Sliding should be used instead.]
Forced Frictional Sliding: In this setting, a tangent resisting force is applied at each contact point. The
tangent force is proportional to the normal contact force. This settings is similar to Frictional except that
there is no "sticking" state. [Supported only for Rigid Dynamics]
By default the friction is not applied during collision. Collisions are treated as if the contact is frictionless
regardless the friction coefficient. The following commands override this behavior and include friction
in shock resolution (see Rigid Dynamics Command Objects Library in the ANSYS Mechanical User's
Guide for more information).
options=CS_SolverOptions()
options.FrictionForShock=1
Note that shock resolution assumes permanent sliding during shock, which may lead to unrealistic
results when the friction coefficient is greater than 0.5.
Friction Coefficient: Allows you to enter a friction coefficient. Displayed only for frictional contact applications.
Note
For the Bonded and No Separation contact Type, you can simulate the separation of a Contact
Region as it reaches some predefined opening criteria using the Contact Debonding feature.
Refer to KEYOPT(12) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide for more information
about modelling different contact surface behaviors.
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Setting Connections
Scope Mode
This is a read-only property that displays how the selected Contact Region was generated. Either
automatically generated by the application (Automatic) or constructed or modified by the user
(Manual). Note that this property is not supported for Rigid Body Dynamics analyses.
Behavior
This property will appear only for 3D Face/Face or 2D Edge/Edge contacts. For 3D Edge/Edge or Face/Edge
contacts, internally the program will set the contact behavior to Asymmetric (see below). Note that
this property is not supported for Rigid Body Dynamics analyses.
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Contact
solver will automatically choose the more appropriate contact face designation. Of course, you can designate
the roles of each face in the contact pair manually. [Not supported for Explicit Dynamics analyses.]
Note
Refer to KEYOPT(8) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide for more information
about asymmetric contact selection.
Trim Contact
The Trim Contact feature can speed up the solution time by reducing the number of contact elements
sent to the solver for consideration. Note that this feature is not supported for Rigid Body Dynamics
analyses.
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Setting Connections
Note that a doubling expansion effect can result from the bounding box expansion since the bounding
box of both the source and target elements are expanded. An example of the double expansion effect
is illustrated below where the Trim Tolerance is defined as 10 mm. For simplicity sake, the size of the
elements is specified as 5mm. Therefore, the bounding boxes for the contact/target elements will extend
10mm (two elements) in each direction as represented by the orange boxes, solid and dashed. For each
face, Contact and Target, the number of elements that will be used are illustrated.
The brown area illustrated below represents the elements from the contact face. On the corresponding
target side exist potential elements from the entire target face. The elements of the target face that
will be kept are drawn in black. On the target Face, each element bounding box is expanded by 10mm
and an overlap is sought against each element from the contact side. Referring to the image below,
the bounding boxes between Contact Element 1 (CE1) and Target Element 2 (TE2) overlap thus TE2 is
included in the analysis. Meanwhile, CE3 and TE4 do not overlap and as a result, TE4 is not included
in the analysis. This results in a reduced number of elements in the analysis and, typically, a faster
solution.
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Contact
Suppressed
Specifies whether or not the Contact Region is included in the solution.
Advanced Settings
The Advanced category provides the following properties.
Formulation
Detection Method
Penetration Tolerance
Elastic Slip Tolerance
Normal Stiffness
Constraint Type
Update Stiffness
Stabilization Damping Factor
Thermal Conductance
Pinball Region
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Setting Connections
Pinball Radius
Electric Conductance
Restitution Factor - Rigid Body Dynamics Solver Only
Formulation
Formulation options allow you to specify which algorithm the software uses for a particular Contact
pair computation.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. For this setting, the application selects the
Pure Penalty property for contact between two rigid bodies and the
Augmented Lagrange property for all other contact situations.
Pure Penalty
Augmented
Lagrange
MPC
Available for Bonded and for No Separation contact Types. Multipoint Constraint equations are created internally during the Mechanical APDL application solve to tie the bodies together. This can be
helpful if truly linear contact is desired or to handle the nonzero mode
issue for free vibration that can occur if a penalty function is used.
Note that contact based results (such as pressure) will be zero.
Note
When modeling Shell-Solid assemblies with the MPC
contact Formulation, the contact surface/edge must
be on the shell side and the target surface must be
on the solid side. However, you can override this requirement to support certain special cases, such as
acoustics. Please see the Modeling a Shell-Solid As-
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MAPDL
KEYOPT(2)
=1
KEYOPT(2)
=2
Contact
sembly section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide for additional information.
Normal Lagrange
For additional MAPDL specific information, see KEYOPT(2) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology
Guide.
Note
Cases involving large gaps and faces bonded together can result in fictitious moments being
transmitted across a boundary.
Detection Method
Detection Method allows you to choose the location of contact detection used in the analysis in order
to obtain a good convergence. It is applicable to 3D face-face contacts and 2D edge-edge contacts.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program
Controlled
This is the default setting. The application uses Gauss integration points (On
Gauss Point) when the formulation is set to Pure Penalty and Augmented Lagrange. It uses nodal point (Nodal-Normal to Target) for MPC and Normal Lagrange formulations.
On Gauss
Point
The contact detection location is at the Gauss integration points. This option
is not applicable to contacts with MPC or Normal Lagrange formulation.
The contact detection location is on a nodal point where the contact normal
is perpendicular to the contact surface.
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Nodal - Normal To Target
The contact detection location is on a nodal point where the contact normal
is perpendicular to the target surface.
The contact detection location is at contact nodal points in an overlapping region of the contact and target surfaces (projection-based method).
For additional MAPDL specific information, see Selecting Location of Contact Detection (specifically,
KEYOPT(4) related information) in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
Penetration Tolerance
The Penetration Tolerance property allows you to specify the Penetration Tolerance Value or the
Penetration Tolerance Factor for a contact when the Formulation property is set to Program Controlled, Pure Penalty, or Augmented Lagrange.
Note
The Update Stiffness property must be set to either Program Controlled, Each Iteration,
or Each Iteration, Aggressive for the Penetration Tolerance property to be displayed when
Formulation is set to Pure Penalty.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The Penetration Tolerance is calculated by the program.
Value
Enter the Penetration Tolerance Value directly. This entry is a length measurement
(foot, meter, etc.). Only non-zero positive values are valid.
Factor
Enter the Penetration Tolerance Factor directly. This entry must be equal to or
greater than zero but must also be less than 1.0. This entry has no unit.
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Contact
The Penetration Tolerance Factor property displays when Penetration Tolerance is set to Factor.
You enter a Factor.
Note
When viewing the Connections Worksheet, a Value displays as a negative number and a
Factor displays as a positive number.
For additional information, see the Determining Contact Stiffness and Allowable Penetration, specifically
Using FKN and FTOLN, section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide (Surface-to-Surface
Contact).
Note
Elastic Slip Tolerance is not applicable when the contact Type is set to Frictionless or No
Separation.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The Elastic Slip Tolerance Value is calculated by the
application.
Value
Enter the Elastic Slip Tolerance Value directly. This entry is a length measurement
(foot, meter, etc.). Only non-zero positive values are valid.
Factor
Enter the Elastic Slip Tolerance Factor directly. This entry must be equal to or
greater than zero but must also be less than 1.0. This entry has no unit.
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The Elastic Slip Tolerance Factor property displays when Elastic Slip Tolerance is set to Factor. You
enter a Factor.
Note
When viewing the Connections Worksheet, a Value displays as a negative number and a
Factor displays as a positive number.
For additional information, see the Determining Contact Stiffness and Allowable Penetration, specifically
Using FKT and SLTO, section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide (Surface-to-Surface
Contact).
Constraint Type
Controls the type of MPC constraint to be created for bonded contact. This setting is displayed only if
Formulation is set to MPC and if either Contact Bodies or Target Bodies are scoped to a surface body.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Target Normal,
Couple U to ROT
This is the default setting. Represents the most common type of surface body
contact. Constraints are constructed to couple the translational and rotational
DOFs. In most types of surface body contact, an offset will exist. Due to this
offset there will be a moment created. To get the correct moment, the rotation/displacement DOF's must be coupled together. If the program cannot
detect any contact in the target normal direction, it will then search anywhere
inside the pinball for contact.
Target Normal,
Uncouple U to
ROT
The rotational and displacement constraints will not be coupled together. This
option can model situations where the surface body edges line up well and a
moment is not created from the physical surface body positions. Thus it is most
accurate for the constraints to leave the displacements/rotations uncoupled.
This provides an answer which is closer to a matching mesh solution. Using a
coupled constraint causes artificial constraints to be added causing an inaccurate
solution.
Inside Pinball,
Couple U to ROT
Constraints are coupled and created anywhere to be found inside the pinball
region. Thus the pinball size is important as a larger pinball will result in a larger
constraint set. This option is useful when you wish to fully constrain one contact
side completely to another.
Normal Stiffness
Defines a contact Normal Stiffness factor. Property options include:
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Contact
Option
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The Normal Stiffness Factor is calculated by the program. If only Bonded or No Separation contact exists, the value is set to 10.
If any other type of contact exists, all the program controlled regions (including
Bonded or No Separation) will use the Mechanical APDL application default
(Real Constant FKN).
Manual
Update Stiffness
Allows you to specify if the program should update (change) the contact stiffness during the solution.
If you choose any of these stiffness update settings, the program will modify the stiffness
(raise/lower/leave unchanged) based on the physics of the model (that is, the underlying element stress
and penetration). This choice is displayed only if you set the Formulation to Augmented Lagrange
or Pure Penalty, the two formulations where contact stiffness is applicable.
An advantage of choosing either of the program stiffness update settings is that stiffness is automatically
determined that allows both convergence and minimal penetration. Also, if this setting is used, problems
may converge in a Newton-Raphson sense, that would not otherwise.
You can use a Result Tracker to monitor a changing contact stiffness throughout the solution.
Property options include:
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Property
Description
Program Controlled
Never
This is the default setting. Turns off the program's automatic Update Stiffness feature.
Each Iteration
Sets the program to update stiffness at the end of each equilibrium iteration.
This choice is recommended if you are unsure of a Normal Stiffness Factor to
use in order to obtain good results.
Each Iteration,
Aggressive
Sets the program to update stiffness at the end of each equilibrium iteration,
but compared to the Each Iteration, this option allows for a more aggressive
changing of the value range.
Description
MAPDL
FDMN
Damping is
activated for
all load
steps.
Thermal Conductance
Controls the thermal contact conductance value used in a thermal contact simulation.
Property options include:
Property
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KEYOPT(15)
= 2.
Description
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Contact
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The program will calculate the value for the thermal contact
conductance. The value will be set to a sufficiently high enough value (based on the
thermal conductivities and the model size) to model perfect contact with minimal
thermal resistance.
Manual
Pinball Region
This option allows you to specify the contact search size, commonly referred to as the Pinball Region.
Setting a pinball region can be useful in cases where initially, bodies are far enough away from one
another that, by default, the program will not detect that they are in contact. You could then increase
the pinball region as needed. Consider an example of a surface body that was generated by offsetting
a face of a solid body, possibly leaving a large gap, depending on the thickness. Another example is a
large deflection problem where a considerable pinball region is required due to possible large amounts
of over penetration. In general though, if you want two regions to be bonded together that may be far
apart, you should specify a pinball region that is large enough to ensure that contact indeed occurs.
For bonded and no separation contact types, you must be careful in specifying a large pinball region.
For these types of contact, any regions found within the pinball region will be considered to be in
contact. For other types of contact, this is not as critical because additional calculations are performed
to determine if the two bodies are truly in contact. The pinball region defines the searching range where
these calculations will occur. Further, a large gap can transmit fictitious moments across the boundary.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The pinball region will be calculated by the program.
Auto Detection
Value
This option is only available for contacts generated automatically. The pinball region
will be equal to the tolerance value used in generating the contacts. The value is
displayed as read-only in the Auto Detection Value field. Auto Detection Value is
the recommended option for cases where the automatic contact detection region
is larger than a Program Controlled region. In such cases, some contact pairs that
were detected automatically may not be considered in contact for a solution.
Radius
For the Rigid Body Dynamics solver: In the Rigid Body Dynamics solver, the pinball region is used
to control the touching tolerance. By default, the Rigid Body Dynamics solver automatically computes
the touching tolerance using the sizes of the surfaces in the contact region. These default values are
sufficient in most of cases, but inadequate touching tolerance may arise in cases where contact surfaces
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are especially large or small (small fillet for instance). In such cases, the value of the touching tolerance
can be directly specified using the following properties:
Property
Description
The touching tolerance is automatically computed by the Rigid Body Dynamics solver from the sizes of the contact surfaces.
Radius
Pinball Radius
The numerical value for the Pinball Radius. This choice is displayed only if Pinball Region is set to
Radius.
Electric Conductance
Controls the electric contact conductance value used in an electric contact simulation.
Property options include:
Property
Description
Program Controlled
This is the default setting. The program will calculate the value for the electric
contact conductance. The value will be set to a sufficiently high enough value
(based on the electric conductivities and the model size) to model perfect contact
with minimal electric resistance.
Manual
Note
The Electric Analysis result, Joule Heat, when generated by nonzero contact resistance is not
supported.
Description
None
This is the default setting. Contact behavior does not control automatic time
stepping. This option is appropriate for most analyses when automatic time
stepping is activated and a small time step size is allowed.
Automatic
Bisection
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Contact
the substep is reevaluated using a time increment that is bisected (reduced by
half ).
Predict for
Impact
Geometric Modification
The Geometric Modification category provides the properties described below. As described, this
category only displays when certain contact conditions are detected by the application and/or certain
property definitions are specified.
Interface Treatment
The Interface Treatment property defines how the contact interface of a contact pair is treated. It becomes active when contact Type is set to Frictionless, Rough or Frictional (nonlinear contact).
When active, the Interface Treatment option provides the following properties.
Adjust to Touch: Any initial gaps are closed and any initial penetration is ignored creating an initial stress
free state. Contact pairs are just touching as shown.
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This setting is useful to make sure initial contact occurs even if any gaps are present (as long as they
are within the pinball region). Without using this setting, the bodies may fly apart if any initial gaps
exist. Although any initial gaps are ignored, gaps can still form during loading for the nonlinear
contact types. For nonlinear contact types (Frictionless, Rough, and Frictional), Interface Treatment
is displayed where the choices are Adjust to Touch, Add Offset, Ramped Effects, and Add Offset,
No Ramping.
Add Offset, Ramped Effects: models the true contact gap/penetration plus adds in any user defined
offset values. This setting is the closest to the default contact setting used in the Mechanical APDL application except that the loading is ramped. Using this setting will not close gaps. Even a slight gap may
cause bodies to fly apart. Should this occur, use a small contact offset to bring the bodies into initial
contact. Note that this setting is displayed only for nonlinear contact.
Add Offset, No Ramping: this is the default setting. This option is the same as Add Offset, Ramped Effects
but loading is not ramped.
Offset: appears if Interface Treatment is set to Add Offset, Ramped or Add Offset, No Ramping. This
property defines the contact offset value. A positive value moves the contact closer together (increase
penetration/reduce gap) and a negative value moves the contact further apart.
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Contact
For 2D axisymmetric models, only edge-to-edge scoping is supported and for 3D models, only face-toface scoping is supported. For additional information about this property, please see the Simplified Bolt
Thread Modeling section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
Tip
When you specify the Bolt Thread option, it is strongly recommended that you have a refined
mesh. Please see the Relevance and the Sizing Group (Category) sections of the Meshing
User's Guide for additional information about mesh refinement.
Support Requirements
In order to use the Bolt Thread option, please note the following.
The Contact Geometry Correction property is available for all contact Type settings except for Bonded.
The Behavior properties Symmetric and Auto-Asymmetric are not supported.
It is recommended that you do not set the Detection Method to either Nodal-Normal To Target or On
Gauss Point.
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Mean Pitch Diameter
This property defines the average diameter of the threaded bolt.
Pitch Distance
This property defines the length of the thread pitch.
Thread Angle
This property defines the angle of the threads inclination.
The following diagram illustrates the Mean Pitch Diameter, Pitch Distance, and Thread Angle.
Thread Type
This property defines the number of threads on the bolt. Property options include:
Single-Thread
Double-Thread
Triple-Thread
Handedness
This property defines the bolt as either right or left handed. Property options include:
Right-Handed
Left-Handed
Face
Edge
(Scope = Contact)
(Scope = Contact)
Face
(Scope =
Target)
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Symmetry Respected: No
Symmetry Respected: No
Symmetry Respected: No
Symmetry Respected: No
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Contact
(Scope =
Target)
Vertex
(Scope =
Target)
2.
Click the right mouse button and choose Insert> Manual Contact Region. You can also select the
Contact button on the toolbar.
3.
A Contact Region item appears in the Outline. Click that item, and under the Details View (p. 11),
specify the Contact and Target regions (faces or edges) and the contact type. See the Contact and
Target topics in the Scope Settings section for additional Contact Region scoping restrictions.
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Contact
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Select the Contact Region object whose bodies you do not want to hide.
2.
3.
Select Hide All Other Bodies in the menu. All bodies are hidden except those that are part of the selected contact region.
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Contact
When you change the names of contact regions that involve multiple bodies, the region names change
to include the word Multiple instead of the long list of names associated with multiple bodies. An example is Bonded Multiple To Multiple.
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Setting Connections
Note
This feature is not applicable to Face/Edge contact where faces are always designated as
targets and edges are always designated as contacts.
Select two or more contact regions in the tree that share the same type of geometry (edges or faces).
Use the Shift or Ctrl key for multiple selections.
2.
3.
Select Merge Selected Contact Regions in the menu. This option only appears if the regions share the
same geometry types. After selecting the option, a new contact region is appended to the list in the
tree. The new region represents the merged regions. The individual contact regions that you selected
to form the merged region are no longer represented in the list.
2.
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Contact
3.
Select Save Contact Region Settings in the menu. This option does not appear if you selected more
than one contact region.
4.
Specify the name and destination of the file. An XML file is created that contains the configuration
settings of the contact region.
Note
The XML file contains properties that are universally applied to contact regions. For this
reason, source and target geometries are not included in the file.
To Load Configuration Settings to Contact Regions:
1.
Select the contact regions whose settings you want to assign. Use the Shift or Ctrl key for multiple
selections.
2.
3.
4.
Specify the name and location of the XML file that contains the configuration settings of a contact region.
Those settings are applied to the selected contact regions and will appear in the Details view of these
regions.
Select the contact regions whose settings you want to reset to default values. Use the Shift or Ctrl key
for multiple selections.
2.
3.
Select Reset to Default in the menu. Default settings are applied to the selected contact regions and
will appear in the Details view of these regions.
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Setting Connections
must be extended to adjacent surfaces in some cases. This is because the nature of rigid dynamics
usually implies very large displacements and rotations.
In rigid dynamics, only frictionless and forced friction contact is supported. The contact is always based
on Pure Lagrange formulation. Contact constraint equations are updated at each time step, and added
to the system matrix through additional forces of degrees of freedom called Lagrange Multipliers. In
this formulation, there is no contact stiffness. Contact constraints are satisfied when the bodies are
touching, and they are nonexistent when bodies are separated.
Contact and Rigid Bodies
Contact is formulated between rigid bodies. Hence, there is no possibility of deforming the bodies to
satisfy the contact constraint equations. If the contact equations cannot eventually be satisfied, the
solution will not proceed. To illustrate this, two examples are considered:
Example 3: Cylindrical Shaft in a Block
If the diameter of the cylindrical shaft is smaller than that of the hole, motion is possible.
If the diameter of the cylindrical shaft is larger than that of the hole, the simulation is not possible.
If the two diameters are exactly equal, then the analysis might fail.
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Contact
Example 4: Block Sliding on Two Blocks
If the green block slides horizontally from left to right and the height of the right block is less than
that of the left block, motion is possible.
If the height of the two bottom blocks is identical and a vertical contact surface is defined between
the two bottom blocks, the block might hit the vertical surface, and the solution will not proceed.
If the height of the right block is greater than the height of the left block, the green block will move
back to the left.
Note
Avoid ambiguous configurations whenever possible. Consider creating fillets on sharp
edges as a workaround.
Contact Mesh
You can scope the contact objects to rigid bodies using 3-D faces in solid bodies. When you create this
type of contact, the surface and edges in the contact region are meshed. The mesh helps to speed up
the solution by providing an initial position to the contact points that are calculated, and it helps to
drive the number of contact points used between the bodies when in contact. As each body has up to
6 degrees of freedom, a contact between two rigid bodies will restrain up to 6 relative degrees of freedom.
This means that a reasonably coarse mesh is generally sufficient to define the contact surface. The contact
solver will use this mesh to initiate the contact geometry calculation, but will then project back the
contact points to CAD geometry. Refining the mesh can increase the solution time without always increasing the quality of the solution. Conversely, refining the mesh can be useful if the geometry is concave
and the solver reports a high amount of shocks for the pair involving the concave surfaces.
Contact and Time Step
The rigid solver uses event-based time integration. Over each time step, the solver evaluates the trajectory
of the bodies, and checks when these trajectories interfere. When interference is found (as with stops
on joints), a shock will be analyzed, leading to a new velocity distribution. The physics of the velocity
redistribution during the shock is based on the conservation of momentum and energy. The amount of
energy lost during the shock is quantified by the coefficient of restitution. For details see, Joint Stops
and Locks. The trajectory detection of interferences allows the use of rather large time steps without
missing the contacts; however, transitions between adjacent contact surfaces in certain situations (such
as sliding situations) often require smaller time steps.
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In contrast to Penalty based simulation that introduces an artificial deformation of the bodies and
thus high frequencies in the simulation, the pure Lagrange formulation used in the rigid dynamics
formulation does not change the frequency content of the simulation.
A solution that includes contact requires an increased amount of geometrical calculation, resulting
in a significantly higher overall simulation time than a solution without contact. As such, it is recommended that joints stops are used in place of contacts whenever possible.
Limitations
For models with sliding contacts, e.g., cams, guiding grooves, etc., small bounces due to nonzero restitution factors can cause an increase in simulation time and instabilities. Using a restitution factor of zero
will significantly speed up the simulation.
The Rigid Dynamics solver unifies contact regions defined between the same pairs of parts/bodies.
Consequently, defining more than one contact region between the same pairs of bodies may lead
to unpredictable results. The following guidelines are strongly recommended:
All contact regions defined between the same pairs of parts/bodies must have the same type.
Mixing different types (e.g., frictionless and rough) may lead to incorrect results.
All contact regions defined between the same pairs of parts/bodies must follow the same order.
A body defined as a target body in one contact region must not be defined as contact body in
another contact region between the same pairs of parts/bodies.
Mesh Requirements
Defining a proper mesh is critical to contact conditions. A well-defined mesh ensures accurate stress
measurements at a contact region. Furthermore, a quality mesh is essential for nonlinear contact conditions in order to obtain an accurate solution. This is especially true for curved surfaces. Use local Mesh
Controls, such as Proximity Controls and Contact Sizing controls to better ensure mesh quality. Review
the Apply Mesh Controls and Preview Mesh section of the Help for more information on this topic.
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Contact
Augmented Lagrange
Pure Penalty
MPC (Multi-Point Constraint)
Normal Lagrange
Formulation methods work in combination with the specified contact Types (Bonded, No Separation,
Frictionless, Rough, Frictional, and Forced Frictional Sliding). The Augmented Lagrange method is the
default Formulation property for all contact types.
However, you can use the Bonded and No Separation contact types with the Multi-Point Constraint
(MPC) Formulation method. The examples listed below outline cases when this option is useful. Please
see the Selecting a Contact Algorithm (KEYOPT(2)) section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology
Guide for additional technical information about choosing contact formulations.
Workbench Mechanical considers the Bonded and No Separation contact types to be linear contact.
Generally, this means that if no other nonlinearities exist (plasticity, large deformation, or frictionless
contact) a nonlinear solution is not required in order to obtain an accurate solution.
If a Formulation is not MPC-based, Mechanical constructs the input file to enforce a single iteration
solution by issuing the NEQIT,1,FORCE command (in rare conditions this can result in an inaccurate
solution, such as when a contact region is touching a constraint or a rigid body that has both a
contact region and a remote displacement). In order to avoid this, you can use the MPC Formulation
on the contact pairs to enable a truly linear solution or you can modify the boundary conditions to
avoid contact overlap.
In a nonlinear analysis when convergence difficulties occur from Bonded/No-Separation contact situations,
switching to MPC can be an attractive alternative compared to modifying the contact stiffness. A common
example is where there is significant initial penetration. This is fine for a linear solution run but the presence
of non-linear features can cause convergence issues. You can view NR residuals to help determine the
proximity of convergence troubles.
During a Modal analysis, MPC can be employed to avoid spurious non-zero modes when gaps exist
between curved surfaces. It is an inherent limitation of penalty based contact that is avoided by using an
MPC based formulation.
Shell/Solid contact: When bonding shell edges to a solid, you need to make sure that the connection will
properly constrain the two sides. The default (penalty-based) Formulation is not able to constrain rotational
degrees of freedom that would create the possibility of a rigid body mode in cases such as a straight shell
edge connected to a solid face. You can overcome this by using an MPC formulation that does provide
options to constrain/couple the translation and rotation degrees of freedom.
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curate reactions are obtained on the Remote Displacements because it is connected to the contact region
via the MPC equations created. Using a remote displacement causes the solver to reorder the CEs such
that constrained node shares a CE with the bonded contact. This results in inaccurate reactions.
Regardless of the MPC formulation selection, MPC-based contact is used for Remote Boundary conditions.
It is good practice to avoid having two or more MPC-based boundary conditions overlap. The solver
does however attempt to negotiate and resolve the overconstraint conditions. The application issues
a warning in this situation.
Intelligent use of Contact Trimming as well as the Pinball setting on remote boundary conditions can
also be effective tools to mitigate this behavior.
In addition, MPC as well as other FE connections can be viewed via the Solution Information feature to
help you graphically view the distribution of MPC equations in a model. These equations are generated
from the MAPDL contact elements. See the Using Finite Element Access to Resolve Overconstraint tutorial for an example of an overconstraint situation along with steps to identify and correct it.
Contact Behavior
Properly choosing your source and target topology is also important. See the specific guidelines outlined
in the MAPDL contact documentation. The default behavior is auto-asymmetric wherein the MAPDL
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Contact
solver determines the optimal source/target. Using a pure asymmetric behavior is suggested only for
users willing to closely review each contact pair and able to determine the proper configuration.
Tip
Using the Initial Contact tool can help you determine which side the MAPDL solver chooses
to keep in the analysis.
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For example, if local displacements are 2mm but penetration is 0.02mm, would a change in displacements
by +/- 0.02mm influence overall results (including local stresses)? By comparing penetration to the results
in local area (not maximum deformations of entire model), you can determine if penetration values are
acceptable or not.
Caution
Do not assume that penetration values are always negligible because your solution converged.
You need to verify this after the solution.
If you believe that penetration is excessive, modify the Penetration Tolerance (Augmented Lagrange),
Normal Stiffness (Penalty or Augmented Lagrange), or use the Pure Lagrange formulation to reduce
the penetration.
Joints
The following topics are covered in this section:
Joint Characteristics
Joint Types
Joint Properties
Joint Stiffness
Manual Joint Creation
Example: Assembling Joints
Example: Configuring Joints
Automatic Joint Creation
Joint Stops and Locks
Ease of Use Features
Detecting Overconstrained Conditions
Joint Characteristics
A joint typically serves as a junction where bodies are joined together. Joint types are characterized by
their rotational and translational degrees of freedom as being fixed or free. If you specify a Joint as a
Remote Attachment it is classified as a remote boundary condition. Refer to the Remote Boundary
Conditions (p. 833) section for a listing of all remote boundary conditions and their characteristics.
Joints are supported in the following structural analyses:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Random Vibration
Response Spectrum
Rigid Dynamics
Static Structural
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Joints
Transient Structural
Note
A Joint cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an end release.
Joint Abstraction
Joints are considered as point-to-point in the solution but the user interface shows the actual geometry.
Due to this abstraction to a point-to-point joint, geometry interference and overlap between the two
parts linked by the joint can be seen during an animation.
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The use of two coordinate systems provides benefits. An example is when a CAD model is not imported
in an assembled configuration. In addition, it is important to define two coordinate systems so that you
can employ the Configure and Set (see Manual Joint Creation (p. 564)) features as well as having the
ability to update a model following a CAD update.
For the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver, the zero value of the degrees of freedom corresponds to the
matching reference coordinate system and moving coordinate system.
If a joint definition includes only the location of the Mobile Coordinate System (see Modifying Joint
Coordinate Systems (p. 554)), then the DOF of this joint are initially equal to zero for the geometrical
configuration where the joints have been built.
If the Reference Coordinate System is defined using the Override option, then the initial value of the
degrees of freedom can be a nonzero value.
Consider the example illustrated below. If a Translational joint is defined between the two parts using
two coordinate systems, then the distance along the X axis between the two origins is the joint initial
DOF value. For this example, assume it is 65 mm.
On the other hand, if the joint is defined using a single coordinate, as shown below, then the same
geometrical configuration has a joint degree of freedom that is equal to zero.
For the ANSYS Mechanical APDL solver, having one or two coordinate systems has no impact. The
initial configuration corresponds to the zero value of the degrees of freedom.
Joint Condition Considerations
When applying a Joint Condition, differences between the two solvers can arise. For example, consider
the right part illustrated above moving 100 mm towards the other part over a 1 second period. (The
distance along the X axis is 65 mm.)
Solver
ANSYS Rigid Dynamics Two Coordinate Systems
544
Displacement
65
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ANSYS Rigid Dynamics One Coordinate System
100
100
100
You can unify the joint condition input by using a Velocity Joint Condition.
Solver
Displacement
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Joint Types
You can create the following types of joints in the Mechanical application:
Fixed Joint (p. 546)
Revolute Joint (p. 546)
Cylindrical Joint (p. 546)
Translational Joint (p. 547)
Slot Joint (p. 547)
Universal Joint (p. 548)
Spherical Joint (p. 548)
Planar Joint (p. 549)
Bushing Joint (p. 549)
General Joint (p. 551)
Point on Curve Joint (p. 552)
The following sections include animated visual joint representations. Please view online if you are reading
the PDF version of the help.
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Setting Connections
Fixed Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: All
Revolute Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UX, UY, UZ, ROTX, ROTY
Example:
Cylindrical Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UX, UY, ROTX, ROTY
Example:
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Translational Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UY, UZ, ROTX, ROTY, ROTZ
Example:
Slot Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UY, UZ
Example:
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Universal Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UX, UY, UZ, ROTY
Example:
Spherical Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UX, UY, UZ
Example:
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Planar Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: UZ, ROTX, ROTY
Example:
Bushing Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: None
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Setting Connections
Example:
A Bushing has six degrees of freedom, three translations and three rotations, all of which can potentially
be characterized by their rotational and translational degrees of freedom as being free or constrained by
stiffness.
For a Bushing, the rotational degrees of freedom are defined as follows:
The first is a rotation around the reference coordinate system X Axis.
The second is a rotation around the Y Axis after the first rotation is applied.
The third is a rotation around the Z Axis after the first and second rotations are applied.
The three translations and the three rotations form a set of six degrees of freedom. In addition, the
bushing behaves, by design, as an imperfect joint, that is, some forces developed in the joint oppose
the motion.
The three translational degrees of freedom expressed in the reference coordinate system and the
three rotations are expressed as: Ux, Uy, Uz, and , , . The relative velocities in the reference coordinate system are expressed as: Vx, Vy, and Vz. The three components of the relative rotational
velocity are expressed as: x, y, and z. Please note that these values are not the time derivatives
of [, , ]. They are a linear combination.
The forces developed in the Bushing are expressed as:
Where:
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[F] is force and [T] is Torque, and [K] and [C] are 6x6 matrices (defined using Stiffness Coefficients
and Dampening Coefficients options). Off diagonal terms in the matrix are coupling terms between
the DOFs.
You can use these joints to introduce flexibility to an over-constrained mechanism. Please note that
very high stiffness terms introduce high frequencies into the system and may penalize the solution
time when using the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver. If you want to suppress motion in one direction
entirely , it is more efficient to use Joint DOF Zero Value Conventions instead of a very high stiffness.
Scoping
You can scope a bushing to single or multiple faces, single or multiple edges, or to a single vertex.
The scoping can either be from body-to-body or body-to-ground. For body-to-body scoping, there
is a reference and mobile side. For body-to-ground scoping, the reference side is assumed to be
grounded (fixed), scoping is only available on the mobile side. In addition to setting the scoping
(where the bushing attaches to the body), you can set the bushing location on both the mobile and
reference side. The bushing reference and mobile location cannot be the same.
Applying a Bushing
To add a bushing:
1.
After importing the model, highlight the Connections object in the tree.
2.
3.
Highlight the new Bushing object and enter information in the Details view.
Note that matrix data for the Stiffness Coefficients and Dampening Coefficients is entered in the
Worksheet. Entries are based on a Full Symmetric matrix.
A nonlinear force-deflection curve can be used to simulate multi-rate bushing with nonlinear stiffness. A
linear piecewise curve is used for this purpose.
To define a nonlinear stiffness-deflection curve:
1.
In the Worksheet, select the cell in which you want to define a non-linear stiffness-deflection curve.
2.
3.
Enter a constant stiffness value or enter displacement and stiffness values (minimum of two rows of
data) in the Tabular Data window. Tabular entries are plotted in the Graph window and show stiffness
vs. displacement.
Note
If tabular entries exist in the stiffness matrix, the MAPDL Solver does not account for constant terms and non-diagonal (coupled) terms.
General Joint
Constrained degrees of freedom: Fix All, Free X, Free Y, Free Z, and Free All.
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Setting Connections
A general joint has six degrees of freedom, three translations and three rotations, all of which can
potentially be characterized by their rotational and translational degrees of freedom as being free or
constrained by stiffness. All the degrees of freedom are set to fixed by default. You can free the X
translation, free the Y translation, free the Z translation and free all rotations. All the translational
degrees of freedom can be controlled individually to be fixed or free. But there are no individual
controls for rotational degrees of freedom. You can either set all rotations fixed, or just one of them
(X, Y or Z) free or all free.
Also, similar to a bushing, you can enter matrix data for the Stiffness Coefficients and Damping
Coefficients in the Worksheet. Coupled terms (off diagonal terms in the matrix) are only allowed
when all DOFs are free.
A point on curve joint has only one degree of freedom, which is the coordinate on the curve. UY and UZ
are always equal to zero. ROTX, ROTY, and ROTZ are driven so that the mobile coordinate system of the
joint always follows the reference curve.
For a point on curve joint, the X axis is always tangent to the reference curve, and the Z axis is always
normal to the orientation surface of the joint, pointing outward.
Scoping
You can scope a point on curve joint to a single curve or multiple reference curves. You can have
one or more orientation surfaces. The mobile coordinate system has to be scoped to a vertex, and
the joint coordinate system has to be positioned and oriented such that:
The origin is on the curve.
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The X axis is tangent to the curve.
The Z axis is the outer normal to the surface.
Note that the assembly phase may result in minor adjustments to ensure that the mobile coordinate
system is properly positioned.
Joint Properties
This section describes the Details view properties associated with a Joint object.
Category
Definition
Connection Type
Connection Type: The Connection Type property specifies the joint as either a
Body-Body scoping (multiple faces) or a Body-Ground scoping (multiple faces).
When defined as Body-Body, you need to define Reference category and Mobile
category properties. When you specify the Connection Type as body-to-ground,
the application assumes that the reference element of the joint is grounded (fixed).
Type
The Type property provides a drop-down list from which you can select a joints
type. Refer to the Joint Types (p. 545) section of the Help for descriptions of each
type. In addition to provided joint types, you can create a General joint that allows
you to specify each degree of freedom as being either Fixed or Free.
Torsional Stiffness
The Torsional Stiffness property defines the measure of the resistance of a shaft
to a twisting or torsional force. You can add torsional stiffness only for cylindrical
and revolute joints.
Torsional Damping
The Torsional Damping property defines the measure of resistance to the angular
vibration to a shaft or body along its axis of rotation. You can add torsional
damping only for cylindrical and revolute joints.
Suppressed
Includes or excludes the joint object in the analysis.
Reference
Scoping Method
This property allows you to choose to scope using a Geometry Selection (default),
Named Selection, or a user-defined Remote Point.
Note
If you scope a joint to a user-defined Remote Point, it is required
that the remote point be located at the origin (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) of the
Reference Coordinate System of the remote point.
Applied By
This property specifies the joint as a Remote Attachment (default) or a Direct
Attachment. The Remote Attachment option uses either a user-defined or a
system-generated Remote Point as a scoping mechanism. Remote Attachment
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Category
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Category
Note
The Pinball Region and Behavior settings are applicable to underlying bodies that are flexible.
If a Joints Reference and Mobile category are scoped to separate
Remote Points, the Behavior and Pinball Region properties for each
category become read-only and are set to the respective remote
points.
Mobile
Scoping Method
This property allows you to choose to scope using a Geometry Selection (default),
Named Selection, or a user-defined Remote Point.
Note
If you scope a joint to a user-defined Remote Point, it is required
that the remote point be located at the origin (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) of the
Reference Coordinate System of the remote point.
Applied By
This property specifies the joint as a Remote Attachment (default) or a Direct
Attachment. The Remote Attachment option uses either a user-defined or a
system-generated Remote Point as a scoping mechanism. Remote Attachment
is the required Applied By property setting if the geometry scoping is to a single
face or multiple faces, a single edge or multiple edges, or a single vertex or multiple
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Category
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Category
Caution
If you are scoping a joint to a Remote Point, you cannot scope the
Initial Position setting of a Joint's Mobile category as Unchanged.
This is also true when the Direct Attachment option is used because the Initial Position property is not available (Override is
active).
Behavior
For remote attachments, use the Behavior property to specify the scoped geometry
as either Rigid or Deformable. Refer to the Geometry Behaviors and Support
Specifications (p. 464) section for more information.
Pinball Region
For remote attachments, use the Pinball Region property to define where the
joint attaches to face(s) if the default location is not desirable. By default, the entire
face is tied to the joint element. This may not be desirable, warranting the input
of a Pinball Region setting, for the following reasons:
If the scoping is to a topology with a large number of nodes, this can lead to
an inefficient solution in terms of memory and speed.
Overlap between the joint scoped faces and other displacement type boundary
conditions can lead to over constraint and thus solver failures.
Note
The Pinball Region and Behavior properties are not visible when
the Applied By method is Direct Attachment.
The Pinball Region and Behavior settings are applicable to underlying bodies that are flexible.
If a Joints Reference and Mobile category are scoped to separate
Remote Points, the Behavior and Pinball Region properties for each
category become read-only and are set to the respective remote
points.
Stops
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Setting Connections
To move a joint coordinate system to a particular face:
1.
Highlight the Coordinate System field in the Details view of the Joint object. The origin of the coordinate
system will include a yellow sphere indicating that the movement mode is active.
2.
Select the face that is to be the destination of the coordinate system. The coordinate system in movement
mode relocates to the centroid of the selected face.
3.
Click the Apply button. The image of the coordinate system changes from movement mode to a permanent presence at the new location.
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Highlight the Coordinate System field in the Details view of the Joint object. The origin of the coordinate
system will include a yellow sphere indicating that the movement mode is active.
2.
Click on any of the axis arrows you wish to change. Additional handles are displayed for each axis.
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Setting Connections
3.
Click on the handle or axis representing the new direction to which you want to reorient the initially
selected axis.
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4.
Click the Apply button. The image of the coordinate system changes from movement mode to a permanent presence at the new orientation.
You can change or delete the status of the flip transformation by highlighting the Reference Coordinate System object or a Mobile Coordinate System object and making the change or deletion
under the Transformations category in the Details view of the child joint coordinate system.
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Setting Connections
When selecting either a Reference Coordinate System object or a Mobile Coordinate System object,
various settings are displayed in the Details view. These are the same settings that apply to all coordinate
systems, not just those associated with joints. See the following section on coordinate systems: Initial
Creation and Definition (p. 483) for an explanation of these settings.
Joint Stiffness
For Bushing and General Joints, Mechanical allows you to solve analyses with linear and nonlinear joint
stiffness using the features of the Worksheet. For these joint types, the Worksheet provides the entry
options for Constant and Tabular data.
Linear or nonlinear stiffness and damping behavior is associated with the free or unrestrained components
of relative motion of the joint elements. That is, the DOFs are free. For a General Joint, you must specify
the DOFs as Free in order to make entries in the Worksheet matrix.
Joint Stiffness calculations use the joint element MPC184. Please see its help section in the Mechanical
APDL Element Reference for additional technical information as well as the MPC184 Joint Help section
in the Mechanical APDL Material Reference.
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Please see the Material Behavior of Joint Elements topic of the Connecting Multibody Components with
Joint Elements section in the Mechanical APDL Multibody Analysis Guide for additional details about how
this feature related to the Mechanical APDL Application.
Worksheet
Using the Worksheet, you can define Stiffness Coefficients in Constant or Tabular format.
Nonlinear Joint Stiffness is supported by Tabular data entries only and the entries must be made diagonally. In addition, Damping Coefficients entries only support constant values.
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Setting Connections
Note
The MAPDL Solver does not support a mixture of Constant and Tabular data entries in the
Stiffness Coefficients matrix. That is, you cannot mix linear and nonlinear stiffness.
The ANSYS Rigid Dynamics Solver does support the combination of Constant and Tabular
data entries.
The Report Preview feature does not display table entries from the nonlinear joint stiffness
matrix.
Joints are a child object of the Connections object. The Connections object is typically generated
automatically. As needed, highlight the Model object in the tree and choose the Connections button
from the Model Context Toolbar once you have imported your model.
2.
Highlight the Connections object and open either Body-Ground menu or the Body-Body menu from
the Connections Context Toolbar and then select your desired Joint Type. The new joint object becomes
the active object in the tree.
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3.
Once inserted and active, there are a number of joint properties that require definition. For a detailed
description of each of these properties, refer to the Joint Properties Help section.
Tip
The Body Views button in the toolbar displays the Reference and Mobile bodies in
separate windows with appropriate transparencies applied. You have full body manipulation capabilities in each of these windows.
Note
You can pre-select a vertex or node (Body-Ground) or two vertices or nodes (BodyBody) and then insert a Joint to automatically create a directly attached joint.
4.
Once you have defined the desired joint properties, you may wish to use the Configure tool. The
Configure tool is activated by selecting the Configure button on the Joint Configure Context Toolbar.
This feature positions the Mobile body according to the joint definitions. You can then manipulate the
joint interactively (for example, rotate the joint) directly on the model. The notes section shown below
provides additional information about the benefits and use of the Configure feature (as well as the Assemble feature).
In addition, refer to the Example: Configuring Joints Help section for an example of the use of the
Configure tool.
Note
The Configure tool is not supported for Joints scoped as a Direct Attachment.
The Set button in the toolbar locks the changed assembly for use in the subsequent analysis.
The triad position and orientation may not display correctly until you click on the Set
button.
The Revert button in the toolbar restores the assembly to its original configuration from
DesignModeler or the CAD system.
5.
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Figure 20: Initial Geometry
This geometry consists of three bodies. In Figure 20: Initial Geometry (p. 567) they are (from left to right)
the Basis, the Arm, and the PendulumAxis. These three bodies have been imported completely disjointed/separate from each other.
The first step to orient and assemble the bodies is to add a Body-Ground Fixed joint to the body named
Basis. To do this:
1. Select Connections from the Outline.
2. From the context sensitive menu, choose Body-Ground > Fixed.
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Setting Connections
3. Click on a flat external face on the Basis body as seen in Figure 21: Selecting a Face for a Body-Ground
Fixed Connection (p. 568).
4. In the Details view under Mobile, click in the Scope field and select Apply.
Figure 21: Selecting a Face for a Body-Ground Fixed Connection
Next, you need to join the PendulumAxis to the Basis. Since they are initially disjoint, you need to set
two coordinate systems, one for the Basis and the other for the PendulumAxis. Additionally, to fully
define the relative position and orientations of the two bodies, you must define a fixed joint between
them. To do this:
1. From the context sensitive menu, click on Body-Body > Fixed.
2. Highlight the face on the Basis as shown below.
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3. In the Details view, click on the Scope field under Reference and select Apply.
4. Select the cylindrical face on the PendulumAxis.
5. In the Details view, select the Scope field under Mobile and select Apply.
Figure 22: Creating a Mobile Coordinate System
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6. Also, change the Initial Position value under Mobile from Unchanged to Override.
Now, the joint has two coordinate systems associated with it: A Reference and a Mobile coordinate
system.
Next, you must associate the Reference and the Mobile Coordinate Systems to the respective bodies
with the appropriate orientations. To associate the Reference Coordinate System to the respective
bodies:
1. In the Outline, highlight Reference Coordinate System.
2. In the Details view, click on the box next to Geometry under Origin.
3. Select the two internal rectangular faces on the Basis as shown in Figure 23: Creating the Reference Coordinate System (p. 570) and in the Details view, select Apply. This will center The Reference Coordinate
System at the center of the hole on the Basis.
Figure 23: Creating the Reference Coordinate System
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4. In the Details view, click Apply.
Figure 24: Creating the Mobile Coordinate System
Next, you will need to orient the PendulumAxis coordinate system so that it is oriented correctly in the
assembly:
1. In the Mobile Coordinate System associated with the PendulumAxis, click in the box next to Geometry
under Principal Axis (set to Z).
2. Select one of the vertical edges on the PendulumAxis such that the Z axis is parallel to it as shown in
Figure 25: Orienting the Pendulum Axis (p. 572). In the Details view, click Apply.
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Setting Connections
Figure 25: Orienting the Pendulum Axis
3. With Mobile Coordinate System highlighted in the Outline, select the x-offset button in the context
sensitive menu.
4. In the Details view, enter an Offset X value of 2.5mm to align the faces of the PendulumAxis with the
Basis.
Note
The transformations available allow you to manipulate the coordinate systems by entering
offsets or rotations in each of the 3 axis.
The two coordinate systems that were just defined should look similar to the figure below.
Figure 26: Oriented Coordinate Systems
Next, you will need to define the coordinate systems to join the Arm to the PendulumAxis during assembly.
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1. From the context sensitive menu, select Body-Body > Fixed.
2. To define the Reference Scope, choose one of the faces of the Arm that will be connected to the PendulumAxis then select Apply.
Figure 27: Selecting an Arm Face for Connection
3. Now, configure the Mobile Scope by selecting the flat end face of the PendulumAxis as shown in Figure 28: Scoping the Mobile Coordinate Systems (p. 574), then select Apply.
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Setting Connections
Figure 28: Scoping the Mobile Coordinate Systems
Note
The transformations available allow you to manipulate the coordinate systems by entering
offsets or rotations in each of the 3 axis.
3. Next, Highlight the Mobile Coordinate System. This coordinate system is associated with the Arm. Click
the box next to Geometry under Origin
4. Select the flat surface on the PendulumArm and click Apply.
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Now you will need to orient the PendulumAxis so that its faces are aligned with the faces on the Arm
during the Assemble process.
1. Highlight the Mobile Coordinate System that is assigned to the PendulumAxis.
2. From the Details view, click the in the Geometry field under Principal Axis and select an edge of the
PendulumAxis as shown in the figure.
Figure 29: Choose an Edge to Orient the PendulumAxis Geometry
3. Under Principal Axis In the Details view, select Apply in the Geometry field to orient the PendulumAxis
to this edge.
Now that the three bodies have been oriented and aligned, they are ready to be assembled.
1. In the Outline, highlight Connections.
2. From the context sensitive menu, click Assemble.
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Setting Connections
The parts should snap together in place and resemble Figure 30: Assembled Geometry (p. 576). If the
geometry you're attempting to assemble has not snapped into place as expected, you should retrace
your previous steps to make sure that the coordinate systems are properly oriented. If your assembly
has been successfully performed, then click Set in the context sensitive menu to place the assembly in
its assembled position to start the analysis.
Figure 30: Assembled Geometry
End of Example.
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To achieve the desired result, two revolute joints were created and configured:
The first joint is intended to allow rotation of the top link's upper hole referenced to a stationary point
(Body-Ground Revolute Joint).
The second joint is intended to allow rotation of the bottom link's upper hole referenced to the top link's
lower hole (Body-Ground Revolute Joint).
The following steps illustrate the steps of a common joint configuration:
1. After attaching the model to the Mechanical application, create the first revolute joint.
Select the Connections object in the tree and then open the Body-Ground drop-down menu on from
the Connections Context Toolbar and select Revolute. The new joint object becomes the active object
in the tree.
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Setting Connections
2. Scope the Mobile side of the first revolute joint to the top link's upper hole.
Select the inner surface of the upper hole and then under Mobile category in the Details view, select
the Scope field and click the Apply button.
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5. Scope the mobile side of the second joint to the bottom link's upper hole.
Select inside surface of hole, then under Mobile category in the Details view, select the Scope field
and click the Apply button.
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6. As illustrated here, the two holes intended to form the second joint are not properly aligned to correctly
create the revolute joint.
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Setting Connections
To align the holes, you need to indicate that the two holes need to match. To achieve this, first
create a coordinate system for the mobile side of the second joint, and then align the Mobile and
Reference coordinate systems. Create the mobile coordinate system in this step.
Highlight the second joint, Revolute - Solid To Solid, in the tree and select Override from the dropdown menu of the Initial Position property. Note that a new Coordinate System property displays.
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7. Scope the new mobile coordinate system to the back edge of the bottom link's upper hole.
Select the back edge of the bottom link's upper hole, then under Mobile category, select the Coordinate
System field, and then click the Apply button.
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8. Scope the existing Reference Coordinate System to the back edge of the top link's lower hole.
Select the back edge of the top link's lower hole, and then under Reference category, select the Coordinate System field and then click the Apply button.
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The above steps have correctly assigned the coordinate systems so that the holes can be aligned
and the revolute joint can operate properly.
To verify, highlight the Connections object in the tree and click the Assemble button in the Joint
Configure Context toolbar.
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By dragging the mouse cursor on a colored line, the joint will move allowing you to set the initial
position of the joint through the free translational or rotational degrees of freedom.
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For rotations, holding the Ctrl key while dragging the mouse cursor will advance the rotation in
10 degree increments. You can also type the value of the increment into the = field on the
toolbar. Clicking the Configure button again cancels the joining and positioning of the joint.
10. Create the joints.
After configuring a joint's initial position, click the Set button to create the joint.
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At this point, you also have the option of returning the configuration to the state it was in before
joint creation and upon attaching to the Mechanical application by clicking the Revert toolbar
button.
End of Example.
Insert a Connection Group object under the Connections folder either from the toolbar button or by
choosing Insert from the context menu (right mouse click) for this folder.
2.
From the Details view of the Connection Group object, choose Joint from the Connection Type drop
down menu.
3.
Select some bodies in the model based on the Scoping Method. The default is Geometry Selection
scoped to All Bodies.
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4.
Configure the types of joints (fixed and/or revolute) you want the Mechanical application to create
automatically through the appropriate Yes or No settings in the Details view. These properties will be
applied only to scoped geometries for this connection group. You can set defaults for these settings
using the Options dialog box under Connections.
Note
When both the Fixed Joints and Revolute Joints properties are set to Yes, the revolute
joints have priority; the search for revolute joints will be processed first followed by the
search for fixed joints.
5.
Choose Create Automatic Connections from the context menu (right mouse click) for the Connection
Group. Appropriate joint types are created and appear in the tree as objects under the Joints folder.
Each joint also includes a reference coordinate system that is represented as a child object to the joint
object.
6.
Display the Joint DOF Checker or the redundancy analysis and modify joint definitions if necessary.
Warning
Use Joint Stops sparingly. The application treats the stop constraint internally as a "must be imposed" or "hard" constraint and no contact logic is used. As a result, during the given iteration
of a substep, the stop constraints activate immediately if the application detects a violation of
a stop limit. Depending upon the nature of the problem, the stop constraint implementation
may cause the solution to trend towards an equilibriated state that may not be readily apparent
to you. In addition, do not use stops to simulate zero-displacement boundary conditions. You
should also avoid specifying stops on multiple joints. Finally, do not use joint stops as a substitute
for contact modeling. Whenever possible, you need to use node-to-node or node-to-surface
contact modeling to simulate limit conditions.
For joints with free relative DOFs, the Details view displays a group of options labeled Stops. This
grouping displays the applicable free DOFs (UX, UY, UZ, ROTX. etc.) for the joint type from which you
specify the constraint as a Stop or a Lock (as shown below). By default, no Stop or Lock is specified,
as indicated by the default option, None. You can select any combination of options. For stops and
locks, the minimum and maximum values you enter are relative to the joints coordinate system.
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Where:
d is the inner diameter.
D is the outer diameter.
H is the height of the joint.
Important Notes:
The Outer Diameter is considered to be on the reference side of the joint, so you might have to flip
reference and mobile on the joint to properly define a radial gap.
The shaft is considered to be infinitely long.
If the joint allows relative translations, the center of the shaft will shift with these translations. The
radial gap accounts for this center shift.
The principal axis of the radial gap is Z, meaning that the tilt occurs along the X and Y rotations of
the gap.
Radial gap stops do not support tilt angles greater than 1 rad.
Stops and Locks are applied to the following Joint Types.
Joint Type
Revolute
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Yes
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Joint Type
Cylindrical
Yes
Yes
Translational
Yes
Yes
Slot
Translational
Translational
Universal
Yes
Yes
Spherical
Radial Gap
No
Planar
Yes
Yes
General
Translational
Bushing
Translational
Note
When using the ANSYS Mechanical solver, Stops and Locks are active only when Large Deflection is set to On (under Analysis Settings (p. 1298)). This is because Stops and Locks make
sense only in the context of finite deformation/rotation. If Large Deflection is Off, all calculations
are carried out in the original configuration and the configuration is never updated, preventing
the activation of the Stops and Locks.
It is important to apply sensible Stop and Lock values to ensure that the initial geometry configuration does not violate the applied stop/lock limits. Also, applying conflicting boundary
conditions (for example, applying Acceleration on a joint that has a Stop, or applying Velocity
on a joint that has a Stop) on the same DOF leads to non-physical results and therefore is not
supported.
Solver Implications
Stops and Locks are available for both the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics and ANSYS Mechanical solvers,
but are handled differently in certain circumstances by the two independent solvers.
For the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver the shock is considered as an event with no duration, during which
the forces and accelerations are not known or available for postprocessing, but generate a relative velocity
"jump".
For the ANSYS Mechanical solver the stop and lock constraints are implemented via the Lagrange Multiplier method. The constraint forces due to stop and lock conditions are available when stop is established
Coefficient of Restitution
For the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver, Stops require you to set a coefficient of restitution value. This
value represents the energy lost during the shock and is defined as the ratio between the joints relative
velocity prior to the shock and the velocity following the shock. This value can be between 0 and 1.
For a restitution value of zero, a Stop is released when the force in the joint is a traction force, while a
Lock does not release. A restitution factor equal to 1 indicates that no energy is lost during the shock,
that is, the rebounding velocity equals the impact velocity (a perfectly elastic collision).
The coefficient of restitution is not applicable to the stops on the joints when using the ANSYS Mechanical solver.
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Setting Connections
Joint Legend
When you highlight a joint object, the accompanying display in the Geometry window includes a legend
that depicts the free degrees of freedom characteristic of the type of joint. A color scheme is used to
associate the free degrees of freedom with each of the axis of the joint's coordinate system shown in
the graphic. An example legend is shown below for a slot joint.
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You can display or remove the joint legend using View> Legend from the main menu.
Disable/Enable Transparency
The Enable Transparency feature allows you to graphically highlight a particular joint that is within a
group of other joints, by rendering the other joints as transparent. The following example shows the
same joint group presented in the Joint Legend (p. 594) section above but with transparency enabled.
Note that the slot joint alone is highlighted.
To enable transparency for a joint object, click the right mouse button on the object and choose Enable
Transparency from the context menu. Conversely, to disable transparency, click the right mouse button
on the object and choose Disable Transparency from the context menu. The behavior of this feature
is very similar to using transparency for highlighting contact regions. See Controlling Transparency for
Contact Regions (p. 530) for further details including an animated demonstration.
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Flip Reference/Mobile
For body-to-body joint scoping, you can reverse the scoping between the Reference and Mobile sides
in one action. To use this feature, click the right mouse button on the object and choose Flip Reference/Mobile from the context menu. The change is reflected in the Details view of the joint object as
well as in the color coding of the scoped entity on the joint graphic. The behavior of this feature is very
similar to the Flip Contact/Target feature used for contact regions. See Flipping Contact and Target
Scope Settings (p. 533) for further details including an animated demonstration.
Redundancy Analysis
This feature allows you to analyze an assembly held together by joints. This analysis will also help you
to solve over constrained assemblies. Each body in an assembly has a limited degree of freedom set.
The joint constraints must be consistent to the motion of each body, otherwise the assembly can be
locked, or the bodies may move in unwanted directions. The redundancy analysis checks the joints you
define and indicates the joints that over constrain the assembly. To analyze an assembly for joint redundancies:
1.
Right-click the Connections object, and then select Redundancy Analysis to open a worksheet with
a list of joints.
2.
Click Analyze to perform a redundancy analysis. All the over constrained joints are indicated as redundant.
3.
Click the Redundant label, and then select Fixed or Free to resolve the conflict manually.
or
Click Convert Redundancies to Free to remove all over constrained degrees of freedom.
4.
Note
Click Export to save the worksheet to an Excel/text file.
Model Topology
The Model Topology worksheet provides a summary of the joint connections between bodies in the
model. This feature is a convenient way of verifying and troubleshooting a complex model that has
many parts and joints. The Model Topology worksheet displays the connections each body has to other
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bodies, and the joint through which these bodies are connected. Additional information for the joints
is provided, including the joint type and the joint representation for the rigid body solver (i.e. whether
the joint is based on degrees of freedom or constraint equations).
To display the model topology, right-click on the Connections object, and then select Model Topology.
The Model Topology worksheet displays in the Data View. The content of the worksheet can be exported as a text file using the Export button.
Joints based on degrees of freedom are labeled either Direct or Revert in the Joint Direction column
of the Model Topology table. Direct joints have their reference coordinate system on the ground side
of the topology tree. Revert joints have their mobile coordinate system on the ground side. This information is useful for all post-processing based on python scripting, where internal data can be retrieved.
For reverted joints, some of the joint internal results need to be multiplied by -1.
Please refer to the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics Theory Manual for more information on model topology and
selecting degrees of freedom.
After modifying the joint definitions, the user displays the Joint DOF Checker again, which shows
that the overconstrained condition has been resolved.
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After solution, you can highlight the Solution Information object, then scroll to the end of its content
to view any information that may have been detected on model redundancies that caused overconstrained
conditions. An example is presented below.
Mesh Connection
The mesh connection feature allows you to join the meshes of topologically disconnected surface
bodies that may reside in different parts. In the past, this process was done at the geometry level (for
example, by using the DesignModeler application to repair small gaps). However, geometry tolerances
are tighter than the tolerances used by mesh connections and often lead to problems in obtaining
conformal mesh.
With mesh connections, the connections are made at the mesh level and tolerance is based locally on
mesh size. A connection can be edge-to-edge or edge-to-face. The mesh connection feature automatically generates post pinch controls internally at meshing time, allowing the connections to work across
parts so that a multibody part is not required:
Edge-to-edge Connect an edge on one face to edge(s) on another face to pinch out mesh/gap in
between.
Edge-to-face Connect edge(s) on face(s) to another face to pinch out the gap and create conformal
mesh between the edge(s) and face(s).
Although pinch controls can be pre or post, all mesh connections are post. Post indicates that the
mesh is pinched in a separate step after meshing is complete, whereas in a pre pinch control, the
boundary mesh is pinched prior to face mesh generation. Since mesh connections are a post mesh
process, the base mesh is stored to allow for quicker updates. That is, if you change a mesh connection
or meshing control, only local re-meshing is required to clean up the neighboring mesh.
Surface Bodies With No Shared Topology:
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Slave indicates the topology that will be pinched out during the operation. In other words, it is the
topology that is projected to other topologies involved in the connection.
The master geometry can be one or more faces or edges while the slave geometry can only be one
or more edges. When specifying faces, the annotation is displayed on both sides of the faces.
Note
Mesh connections support common imprints, which involve multiple slaves connected
at the same location to a common master. See Common Imprints and Mesh Connections (p. 602).
3. In the Details view specify Tolerance. The Tolerance here has a similar meaning to the Tolerance Value
global connection setting, and is represented as a transparent sphere. See Tolerances Used in Mesh
Connections (p. 600) for details about Tolerance and how it relates to the Snap Tolerance described
below.
4. For edge-to-face mesh connections only, in the Details view specify Snap to Boundary and Snap Type.
When Snap to Boundary is Yes (the default) and the distance from a slave edge to the closest mesh
boundary of the master face is within the specified snap to boundary tolerance, nodes from the slave
edge are projected onto the boundary of the master face. The joined edge will be on the master face
along with other edges on the master face that fall within the defined pinch control tolerance. See Pinch
Control for details.
Snap Type appears only when the value of Snap to Boundary is Yes.
If Snap Type is set to Manual Tolerance (the default), a Snap Tolerance field appears where
you may enter a numerical value greater than 0. By default, the Snap Tolerance is set equal to
the pinch tolerance but it can be overridden here. See Tolerances Used in Mesh Connections (p. 600)
for details about Snap Tolerance and how it relates to the Tolerance described above.
If Snap Type is set to Element Size Factor, a Master Element Size Factor field appears where
you may enter a numerical value greater than 0. The value entered should be a factor of the local
element size of the master topology.
Note
For edge-to-edge mesh connections (or edge-to-edge pinch controls), the snap tolerance
is set equal to the pinch tolerance internally and cannot be modified.
5. Highlight the Mesh folder and choose Generate Mesh (right-click and choose from context menu). The
surface bodies are displayed and show the mesh connections.
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Snap Tolerance Snap to boundary tolerance to sew up mesh at the connection (applicable to edge-toface mesh connections only).
The Tolerance value is used to find which bodies should be connected to which other bodies. Setting
a larger Tolerance connects more bodies together, while setting it smaller may cause some connections
to be missed. For this reason, you may be motivated to set this to a larger value than needed. Setting
a smaller value can avoid problems in automatic mesh connection creation, but also can result in other
problems because the tolerance used in meshing is inherited from automatic mesh connection detection
settings.
Using a Large Tolerance Value
For a large assembly for which you do not want to define mesh connections manually, automatic mesh
connection detection provides many benefits. Setting a large Tolerance value to find connections yields
more connections, which provides a higher level of comfort that the model is fully constrained. However,
larger values can be problematic for the following reasons:
When more automatic mesh connections are created, more duplicates can be created and the mesher
decides ultimately which connections to create. In general, making these decisions yourself is a better
approach.
The Snap Tolerance defaults to the same value as the Tolerance. If the value of Tolerance is too large
for Snap Tolerance, the mesher may be too aggressive in pinching out mesh at the connection, and
hence the mesh quality and feature capturing may suffer.
Using a Small Tolerance Value
When mesh connections are generated automatically, the Tolerance is used on the geometry edges
and faces to determine which entities should be connected. However, the connections themselves are
not generated until meshing occurs. Because the connections are made on nodes and elements of the
mesh rather than on the geometry, the tolerances do not translate exactly.
For example, in the case below, you would want to set a Tolerance that is slightly larger than the gap
in the geometry. If the gap is defined as x and the tolerance is set to x, automatic mesh connection
detection could find the connection, but the meshing process may result in mesh that is only partially
connected.
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In this case, you could scope local face mesh sizing on the horizontal plate to control the sizing.
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Note
Any error message that is related to a specific mesh connection will be associated with
the slave geometry in the connection.
2. Select the problematic bodies, right-click, and select Go To > Mesh Connections for Selected Bodies.
This action highlights all mesh connections attached to the problematic geometry.
3. Review the tolerances and mesh sizes associated with the highlighted connections.
Failures Due to Defeaturing from MultiZone Quad/Tri Meshing and/or Pinch Controls
Due to the patch independent nature of the MultiZone Quad/Tri mesh method, a connection may fail
because the mesh is associated with some face of the body but not with the face that is involved in
the connection. This type of mesh connection failure, which may also occur when pinch controls are
defined, is the result of the part mesh being significantly defeatured prior to mesh connection generation.
To avoid mesh connection failures when using MultiZone Quad/Tri and/or pinch controls, use one of
the following approaches:
Use virtual topology to merge the faces of interest with the adjacent faces to create large patches, and
then apply mesh connections to the patches.
Protect small faces in mesh connections by defining Named Selections.
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Mesh Connection
The software does not automatically extend the connection region because doing so may lose the engineering intent of the model.
For example, consider the two parts shown below.
If you are using the MultiZone Quad/Tri mesh method or pinch controls, the part mesh may look like
the one shown below. Notice that one face has been defeatured out.
In this case:
If the defeatured face is the one defined in the mesh connection, the connection will fail.
If the other face is the one defined in the mesh connection, the connection will succeed.
If you include both faces in the mesh connection, the connection will succeed.
Since you cannot always control which face is defeatured, the most robust and recommended approach
is to include both faces in the mesh connection.
Points to Remember
Toggling suppression of mesh connections or changing their properties causes bodies affected by those
mesh connections to have an unmeshed state. However, when you subsequently select Generate Mesh,
only the connections will be regenerated. Since mesh connections are a post mesh process, a re-mesh is
not necessary and will not occur.
Mesh connections cannot be generated incrementally. Anytime you add or change mesh connections and
select Generate Mesh, processing starts with the mesh in its unsewn (pre-joined) state and then re-sews
the entire assembly. This approach is necessary as mesh connections often have interdependencies which
can have a ripple effect through the assembly of parts. It is often the case that a connection must be
reevaluated across the assembly as a single connection may invalidate many.
With mesh connections, you can mix and match mesh methods and/or use selective meshing.
When using selective meshing and you generate mesh, only out-of-date parts are re-meshed but all mesh
connections are regenerated.
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Although the tolerance used for finding mesh connections and for generating mesh connections may be
the same value, the tolerance itself has slightly different meanings in the two operations. When finding
mesh connections, the tolerance is used to identify pairs of geometry edges or face(s)/edge(s). When
generating mesh connections, the tolerance is used in pinching together the edge mesh or edge/face
mesh. Since the geometry consists of NURBS, and the mesh consists of linear edges, the same tolerance
may mean something slightly different in the two operations.
For example, consider a geometry that consists of two cylindrical sheet parts that share an interface
constructed from the same circle. Also consider that you are finding mesh connections with a tolerance
of 0.0. In this case, the mesh connection is easily found because the two edges are exactly the same.
However, when the mesh connection is being formed, some segments of the edge may fail to be
pinched together if the mesh spacing of the two parts is different and thus the tolerance of the edge
mesh is different. Also see Tolerances Used in Mesh Connections (p. 600).
For a higher order element, a midside node along the connection between a slave and a master is located
at the midpoint between its end nodes, instead of being projected onto the geometry.
Although mesh connections do not alter the geometry, their effects can be previewed and toggled using
the Graphics Options toolbar.
For the Shape Checking control, mesh connections support the Standard Mechanical option only.
If you define a mesh connection on topology to which a match control, mapped face meshing control,
or inflation control (global or local) is already applied, a warning will be issued when you generate the
mesh. The warning will indicate that the mesh connection may alter the mesh, which in turn may eliminate
or disable the match, mapped face meshing, or inflation control.
Mesh connections and post pinch controls cannot be mixed with refinement or post inflation controls.
A mesh connection scoped to geometries (for the master and the slave) that lie on the same face are ignored by the mesher, and, as a result, no mesh extension is generated.
Refer to Clearing Generated Data for information about using the Clear Generated Data option on parts
and bodies that have been joined by mesh connections or post pinch controls.
Refer to Using the Mesh Worksheet to Create a Selective Meshing History for information about how mesh
connection operations are processed by the Mesh worksheet.
Springs
A spring is an elastic element that is used to store mechanical energy and which retains its original
shape after a force is removed. Springs are typically defined in a stress free or unloaded state. This
means that no longitudinal loading conditions exist unless preloading is specified (see below). In
Mechanical, the Configure feature is used to modify a Joint. If you configure a joint that has an attached
spring, the spring must be redrawn in the Geometry window. In effect, the spring before the Configure
action is replaced by a new spring in a new unloaded state.
Springs are defined as longitudinal and they connect two bodies together or connect a body to ground.
Longitudinal springs generate a force that depends on linear displacement. Longitudinal springs can
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be used as a damping force, which is a function of velocity or angular velocity, respectively. Springs
can also be defined directly on a Revolute Joint (p. 546) or a Cylindrical Joint (p. 546).
Note
A spring cannot be applied to a vertex that is scoped to an end release.
Springs are not supported for Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems.
The following topics are discussed in this section:
Applying Springs (p. 607)
Spring Behavior (p. 608)
Nonlinear Spring Stiffness (p. 610)
Preloading (p. 610)
Scoping (p. 611)
Spring Length (p. 611)
Advanced Features (p. 611)
Output (p. 612)
Example: Longitudinal Spring with Damping (p. 612)
Spring Incompatibility (p. 614)
Applying Springs
To apply a spring:
1.
After importing the model, highlight the Model object in the tree and choose the Connections button
from the toolbar.
2.
Highlight the new Connections object and choose either Body-Ground>Spring or Body-Body>Spring
from the toolbar, as applicable. (Body-Ground springs are not supported for explicit dynamics analyses.)
Note
You can pre-select a vertex or node (Body-Ground) or two vertices or nodes (BodyBody) and then insert a Spring to automatically create a directly attached spring. See
the Scoping subsection below.
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3.
Highlight the new Spring object and enter information in the Details view. Note that Longitudinal
Damping is applicable only to transient analyses.
Note
The length of the spring connection must be greater than 0.0 with a tolerance of 1e-8 mm.
Spring Behavior
The Spring Behavior property is modifiable for a Rigid Dynamics and Explicit Dynamics analyses only.
For all other analysis types, this field is read-only and displays as Both.
You can define a longitudinal spring to support only tension loads or only compression loads using the
Spring Behavior property. You can set this property to Both, Compression Only or Tension Only.
The tension only spring does not provide any restoring force against compression loads. The compression
only spring does not provide resistance against tensile loads. The stiffness of a compression only or
tension only spring without any preloads is shown below.
Stiffness Behavior of a Tension Only Spring:
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Note
Support Requirements
Tabular Data requires at least two rows of data.
The properties Longitudinal Damping and Preload are not applicable for Springs with nonlinear
stiffness.
In the Spring object Details view settings, click in the Longitudinal Stiffness property.
2.
Click the arrow in the Longitudinal Stiffness property then select Tabular.
3.
Enter displacement and force values in the Tabular Data window. A graph showing force vs. displacement
is displayed.
Preloading
(Not supported for explicit dynamics analyses.)
Mechanical also provides you with the option to preload a spring and create an initial loaded state.
The Preload property in the Details view allows you to define a preload as a length using Free Length
or to specify a specific Load. The actual length is calculated using spring end points from the Reference
and Mobile scoping. For rigid dynamics analyses, the spring will be under tension or compression depending upon whether you specified the free length as smaller or greater than the spring length, respectively. If preload is specified in terms of Load, a positive value creates tension and a negative value
creates compression. When the spring is linear (defined by a constant stiffness) the Rigid Dynamics
solver deduces the spring freelength by subtracting the value L=F/K (where F is the preload and K is
the stiffness) from the actual spring length. Note that this offset is also applied to the elongation results.
When the spring is non-linear (defined by a force/displacement table), this offset is not taken into account.
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Spring Length
The read-only property Spring Length displays the actual length of the spring which is calculated using
the end points from the Reference and Mobile scoping.
Scoping
You select the Scope of springs as body-to-body or body-to-ground using the property of the Scope
category and you define a springs end points using the properties of the Reference and Mobile categories. For body-to-ground property specification, the Reference is assumed to be grounded (fixed);
scoping is only available on the Mobile side. Since this is a unidirectional spring, these two locations
determine the springs line of action and as such the springs reference and mobile locations cannot
be the same as this would result in a spring with zero length.
In addition, the Reference and Mobile categories provide the scoping property Applied By. This
property allows you to specify the connection as either a Direct Attachment or a Remote Attachment.
The Remote Attachment option (default) uses a Remote Point as a scoping mechanism. The Direct
Attachment option allows you to scope directly to a single vertex or a node of the model.
Note
If specified as a Remote Attachment, springs are classified as remote boundary conditions.
Refer to the Remote Boundary Conditions (p. 833) section for a listing of all remote boundary
conditions and their characteristics.
You can scope of a spring to a:
Single face or to multiple faces (applied as a Remote Attachment only).
Single edge or multiple edges (applied as a Remote Attachment only).
Single vertex (can be applied as either a Remote Attachment or as a Direct Attachment) or multiple
vertices (applied as a Remote Attachment only).
Note
A spring cannot be applied to a vertex that is scoped to an end release.
Advanced Features
If specified as a Remote Attachment, the Reference and Mobile groups for Springs each include the
following advanced properties:
Behavior - This property allows you to specify the scoped geometry as either Rigid or Deformable. Refer
to the Geometry Behaviors and Support Specifications (p. 464) section for more information.
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Setting Connections
Pinball Region - This property allows you to specify the contact search size.
Note
The Behavior setting is applicable to underlying bodies that are flexible.
Output
Several outputs are available via a spring probe.
The following are the Details view settings of the Spring object:
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Springs
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Setting Connections
Spring Incompatibility
(applicable only to rigid dynamics analyses)
If the preload for a longitudinal spring is a tensile load, then the spring cannot be defined as compression
only. Alternatively, if the preload is a compressive load, then the spring cannot be defined as tension
only. Should this case occur, the spring will be marked as underdefined and if you attempt to solve
such a case, the following error message is displayed: The preload for a spring is incompatible with its
behavior being tension only spring or compression only spring.
Beam Connections
A beam is a structural element that carries load primarily in bending (flexure). Using the Beam feature,
you can establish a body-to-body or a body-to-ground connections. You can use beams for all structural
analyses.
To add a Beam object:
1. Select the Connections folder in the object tree. As needed, add a Connections folder by selecting the
Model object and clicking the Connections button on the Model Context Toolbar.
2. On the Connections Context Toolbar, click Body-Ground or Body-Body and then click Beam to add a
circular beam under connections.
3. In the Details View, under Definition, click the Material fly-out menu, and then select a material for the
beam.
4. Enter a beam radius in the Radius field.
5. If necessary, modify the Scope setting.
The Scope property of the Scope category allows you to change the scoping from Body-Body to
Body-Ground. Similar to Springs, this property defines the beams end points in coordination with
the properties of the Reference and Mobile categories. For body-to-ground property specification,
the Reference is assumed to be grounded (fixed) and as a result scoping is required on the Mobile
side only. Because beams define a span, the reference and mobile locations determine a distance
and as such the reference and mobile locations cannot be the same.
In addition, the Reference and Mobile categories provide the scoping property Applied By. This
property allows you to specify the connection as either a Direct Attachment or a Remote Attachment. The Remote Attachment option (default) uses a Remote Point as a scoping mechanism.
The Direct Attachment option allows you to scope directly to a single vertex or a node of the
model. Direct Attachment is not allowed if scoped to solid bodies, as they do not have rotational
degrees of freedom.
6. Under the Reference category, for Body-Body connections only:
a. Specify the Scoping Method property as either Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point. Based on the selection made in this step, select a:
geometry (faces, edges, or vertices) and click Apply in the Scope property field.
or...
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Beam Connections
single node (Direct Attachment Only) and click Apply in the Scope property. In order to select an
individual node, you need to first generate a mesh on the model, and then choose the Show Mesh
button on the Graphics Options Toolbar, and then specify Select Mesh as the Select Type from
the Graphics Toolbar.
or...
user-defined node-based named selection (Direct Attachment Only) or a user-defined geometrybased named selection (Remote Attachment Only) from the drop-down list of the Named Selection
property.
or...
user-defined remote point (Remote Attachment Only) from the drop-down list of the Remote Point
property.
Note
You can pre-select a vertex or node (Body-Ground) or two vertices or nodes (BodyBody) and then insert a Beam to automatically create a directly attached beam.
7. Specify the following properties as needed. These properties are available under the Reference Category
(Body-Body or Body-Ground connections) when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment:
Coordinate System: select a different coordinate system if desired.
Reference X Coordinate: enter a value as needed.
Reference Y Coordinate enter a value as needed.
Behavior: specify this property as either Rigid or Deformable. Refer to the Geometry Behaviors and
Support Specifications section for more information.
Pinball Radius: enter a value as needed.
8. Under Mobile Category (Body-Body or Body-Ground connections):
a. Specify the Scoping Method property as either Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point. Based on the selection made in this step, select a:
geometry (faces, edges, or vertices) and click Apply in the Scope property field.
or...
single node (Direct Attachment Only) and click Apply in the Scope property. In order to select an
individual node, you need to first generate a mesh on the model, and then choose the Show Mesh
button on the Graphics Options Toolbar, and then specify Select Mesh as the Select Type from
the Graphics Toolbar.
or...
user-defined node-based named selection (Direct Attachment Only) or a user-defined geometrybased named selection (Remote Attachment Only) from the drop-down list of the Named Selection
property.
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Setting Connections
or...
user-defined remote point (Remote Attachment Only) from the drop-down list of the Remote Point
property.
b. Specify the following properties as needed. These properties are available under the Mobile Category
(Body-Body or Body-Ground connections) when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment:
Coordinate System: select a different coordinate system if desired.
Mobile X Coordinate: enter a location value.
Mobile Y Coordinate enter a location value.
Behavior: specify this property as either Rigid or Deformable. Refer to the Geometry Behaviors
and Support Specifications section for more information.
Pinball Radius: enter a dimension value.
See the Beam Object Reference page of the Help for additional information about the available categories
and properties.
Note
For Body-Ground beam connections, the reference side is fixed. For Body-Body beam connections, you must define the reference point for each body.
The length of the beam connection must be greater than 0.0 with a tolerance of 1e-8 mm.
Beam connections support structural analyses only. In thermal stress analyses, beam connections
are assigned the environment temperature in the structural analysis. You can include a beam
in a thermal analysis by creating a line body and as a result providing for temperature transference.
The Beam Probe results provide you the forces and moments in the beam from your analysis.
Spot Welds
Spot welds are used to connect individual surface body parts together to form surface body model assemblies, just as a Contact Region is used for solid body part assemblies. Structural loads are transferred
from one surface body part to another via the spot weld connection points, allowing for simulation of
surface body model assemblies.
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Spot Welds
Spot weld objects are located in a Connection Group folder. When selected in the tree, they appear
in the graphical window highlighted by a black square around a white dot on the underlying vertices,
with an annotation.
If a surface body model contains spot weld features in the CAD system and the Auto Detect Contact
On Attach is turned on in Workbench Tools>Options>Mechanical, then Spot Weld objects are generated
when the model is read into the Mechanical application. Spot weld objects will also get generated
during geometry refresh if the Generate Automatic Connection On Refresh is set to Yes in the Details
view of the Connections folder. This is similar to the way in which the Mechanical application automatically constructs contacts when reading in assemblies models and refreshing the geometry.
You can manually generate spot welds as you would insert any new object into the Outline tree. Either
insert a spot weld object from the context menu and then pick two appropriate vertices in the model,
or pick two appropriate vertices and then insert the spot weld object.
You can define spot welds for CAD models that do not have a spot weld feature in the CAD system, as
long as the model contains vertices at the desired locations. You must define spot welds manually in
these cases.
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Setting Connections
Where:
fn and fs are normal and shear interface forces
Sn and Ssare the maximum allowed normal and shear force limits
n and s are user defined exponential coefficients
Not that the normal interface force fn is non-zero for tensile values only.
After failure of the spot weld the rigid body connecting the points is removed from the simulation.
Spot welds of zero length are permitted. However, if such spot welds are defined as breakable the
above failure criteria is modified since local normal and shear directions cannot be defined. A modified
criteria is used with global forces
Where,
are the force differences across the spot weld in the global coordinate system.
Note
A spot weld is equivalent to a rigid body and as such multiple nodal boundary conditions
cannot be applied to spot welds.
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End Releases
This feature allows you to release certain degrees of freedoms at a vertex shared by two or more edges
of one or more line bodies, by using an End Release object. You can only apply one end release at the
vertex and the edge must be connected to another edge at this vertex.
To add an End Release:
1. Add a Connections folder if one is not already in the tree, by highlighting the Model object and
choosing Connections from the Model Context Toolbar (p. 55) or by choosing Insert >Connections
from the context menu (right-click).
2. Add an End Release object by highlighting the Connections folder and choosing End Release from the
Connections Context Toolbar (p. 57) or by choosing Insert >End Release from the context menu (rightclick).
3. Set the following in the Details view:
a. Scoping Method as Geometry Selection (default) or Named Selection.
b. Edge Geometry and Vertex Geometry, respectively. The vertex should be one of the two end vertices
of the edge.
c. Coordinate System as the Global Coordinate System or a local coordinate system that you may
have defined previously.
d. Release any of the translational and/or rotational degrees of freedoms in X, Y and Z directions by
changing the individual settings from Fixed to Free.
e. Connection Behavior as either Coupled (default) or Joint, using a coupling or a general joint, respectively.
Notes
The end release feature is only applicable in structural analyses that use the ANSYS solver. The environment
folder of other solvers will become underdefined when one or more End Release objects are present.
An end release object requires that the vertex must be on an edge and it should be shared with one or
more other edges or one or more surface bodies.
A vertex cannot be scoped to more than one end release object.
The following boundary conditions are not allowed to be applied to a vertex or an edge that is already
scoped to an end release The object will become underdefined with an error message: Fixed Support,
Displacement, Simply Supported, Fixed Rotation, Velocity.
The following remote boundary conditions are not allowed to be applied to a vertex scoped to an end
release The object will become underdefined with an error message: Remote Displacement, Remote Force,
Moment, Point Mass, Thermal Point Mass, Spring, Joint.
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Setting Connections
more bodies in contact, a Body Interactions object folder appears by default under Connections in
the tree. Included in a Body Interactions folder are one or more Body Interaction objects, with each
object representing a contact pair.
You can also manually add these two objects:
To add a Body Interactions folder, highlight the Connections folder and choose Body Interactions from
the toolbar. A Body Interactions folder is added and includes one Body Interaction object.
To add a Body Interaction object to an existing Body Interactions folder, highlight the Connections
folder, the Body Interactions folder, or an existing Body Interaction object, and choose Body Interaction
from the toolbar.
General Notes
Each Body Interaction object activates an interaction for the bodies scoped in the object. With body
interactions, contact detection is completely automated in the solver. At any time point during the
analysis any node of the bodies scoped in the interaction may interact with any face of the bodies
scoped in the interaction. The interactions are automatically detected during the solution.
The default frictionless interaction type that is scoped to all bodies activates frictionless contact between
any external node and face that may come into contact in the model during the analysis.
To improve the efficiency of analyses involving large number of bodies, you are advised to suppress
the default frictionless interaction that is scoped to all bodies, and instead insert additional Body Interaction objects which limit interactions to specific bodies. The union of all frictional/frictionless body
interactions defines the matrix of possible body interactions during the analysis.
For example, in the model shown below:
Body A is traveling towards body B and we require frictional contact to occur. A frictional body interaction
type scoped only to bodies A and B will achieve this. Body A will not come close to body C during the
analysis so it does not need to be included in the interaction.
Body B is bonded to body C. A bonded body Interaction type, scoped to bodies B and C will achieve this.
If the bond between bodies B and C breaks during the analysis, we want frictional contact to take place
between bodies B and C. A frictional body interaction type scoped only to bodies B and C will achieve
this.
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A bonded body interaction type can be applied in addition to a frictional/frictionless body interaction.
A reinforcement body interaction type be can be applied in addition to a frictional/frictionless body
interaction.
Object property settings are included in the Details view for both the Body Interactions folder and the
individual Body Interaction objects. Refer to the following sections for descriptions of these properties.
Properties for Body Interactions Folder
Interaction Type Properties for Body Interaction Object
Identifying Body Interactions Regions for a Body
Contact Detection
The available choices are described below.
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Setting Connections
Trajectory
The trajectory of nodes and faces included in frictional or frictionless contact are tracked during the
computation cycle. If the trajectory of a node and a face intersects during the cycle a contact event is
detected.
The trajectory contact algorithm is the default and recommended option in most cases for contact in
Explicit Dynamics analyses. Contacting nodes/faces can be initially separated or coincident at the start
of the analysis. Trajectory based contact detection does not impose any constraint on the analysis time
step and therefore often provides the most efficient solution.
Note
Trajectory Contact Detection is not supported for a distributed solve. If you would like to
use Trajectory Contact Detection for a distributed solve, please contact ANSYS Technical
Support.
Note that nodes which penetrate into another element at the start of the simulation will be ignored
for the purposes of contact and thus should be avoided. To generate duplicate conforming nodes across
a contact interface:
1. Use the multibody part option in DesignModeler and set Shared Topology to Imprint.
2. For meshing, use Contact Sizing, the Arbitrary match control or the Match mesh Where Possible option
of the Patch Independent mesh method.
Proximity Based
The external faces, edges and nodes of a mesh are encapsulated by a contact detection zone. If during
the analysis a node enters this detection zone, it will be repelled using a penalty based force.
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Note
An additional constraint is applied to the analysis time step when this contact detection algorithm is selected. The time step is constrained such that a node cannot travel through a
fraction of the contact detection zone size in one cycle. The fraction is defined by the Time
Step Safety Factor (p. 626) described below. For analyses involving high velocities, the time step
used in the analysis is often controlled by the contact algorithm.
The initial geometry/mesh must be defined such that there is a physical gap/separation of at
least the contact detection zone size between nodes and faces in the model. The solver will
give error messages if this criteria is not satisfied. This constraint means this option may not
be practical for very complex assemblies.
Proximity Based Contact is not supported in 2D explicit dynamics analyses.
Formulation
This property is available if Contact Detection is set to Trajectory.
The available choices are described below.
Penalty
If contact is detected, a local penalty force is calculated to push the node involved in the contact event
back to the face. Equal and opposite forces are calculated on the nodes of the face in order to conserve
linear and angular momentum.
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Setting Connections
t is the simulation time step
Note
Kinetic energy is not necessarily conserved. You can track conservation of energy in contact
using the Solution Information object, the Solution Output, or one of the energy summary
result trackers.
The applied penalty force will push the nodes back towards the true contact position during
the cycle. However, it will usually take several cycles to satisfy the contact condition.
Decomposition Response
All contacts that take place at the same point in time are first detected. The response of the system to
these contact events is then calculated to conserve momentum and energy. During this process, forces
are calculated to ensure that the resulting position of nodes and faces does not result in further penetration at that time point.
Note
The decomposition response algorithm cannot be used in combination with bonded contact
regions. The formulation will be automatically switch to penalty if bonded regions are present
in the model.
The decomposition response algorithm is more impulsive (in a given cycle) than the penalty
method. This can give rise to large hourglass energies and energy errors.
Note
Only node to surface contact is currently supported. For shell to shell contact, this means
that contact takes place when the shell node impacts the shell contact surface as described
above.
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When set to Program Controlled, the behavior of self contact is determined by the Analysis Settings
Preference Type.
Tolerance
This property is available if Contact Detection is set to Trajectory and Element Self Contact is set to
Yes.
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Setting Connections
Tolerance defines the size of the detection zone for element self contact when the trajectory contact
option is used. (see Element Self Contact (p. 625)). The value input is a factor in the range 0.1 to 0.5.
This factor is multiplied by the smallest characteristic dimension of the elements in the mesh to give a
physical dimension. A setting of 0.5 effectively equates to 50% of the smallest element dimension in
the model.
Note
The smaller the fraction the more accurate the solution.
Pinball Factor
This property is available if Contact Detection is set to Proximity Based.
The pinball factor defines the size of the detection zone for proximity based contact. The value input
is a factor in the range 0.1 to 0.5. This factor is multiplied by the smallest characteristic dimension of
the elements in the mesh to give a physical dimension. A setting of 0.5 effectively equates to 50% of
the smallest element dimension in the model.
Note
The smaller the fraction the more accurate the solution. The time step in the analysis could
be reduced significantly if small values are used (see Time Step Safety Factor (p. 626)).
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Note
this option is numerically intensive and can significantly increase runtimes. It is recommended
that you compare results with and without edge contact to make sure this feature is required.
Frictionless Type
Setting Type to Frictionless activates frictionless sliding contact between any exterior node and any
exterior face of the scoped bodies. Individual contact events are detected and tracked during the analysis. The contact is symmetric between bodies (that is, each node will belong to a master face impacted
by adjacent slave nodes; each node will also act as a slave impacting a master face).
Supported Connections
Explicit Dynamics
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shell
Yes
Yes
Yes
Line
Yes
Yes
*Yes
*Only for Contact Detection = Proximity Based and Edge on Edge Contact = Yes (This option switches
on contact between ALL lines / bodies / edges, that is, there is no dependence on the scoping selection
of body interactions.)
Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
No
Shell
Yes
Yes
No
Line
No
No
No
Frictional Type
Descriptions of the following properties are also addressed in this section:
Friction Coefficient
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Setting Connections
Dynamic Coefficient
Decay Constant
Setting Type to Frictional activates frictional sliding contact between any exterior node and any exterior face of the scoped bodies. Individual contact events are detected and tracked during the simulation.
The contact is symmetric between bodies (that is, each node will belong to a master face impacted by
adjacent slave nodes, each node will also act as a slave impacting a master face).
Friction Coefficient: A non-zero value will activate Coulomb type friction between bodies (F = R).
The relative velocity () of sliding interfaces can influence frictional forces. A dynamic frictional formulation for the coefficient of friction can be used.
= d + (s d) e-
where
s = friction coefficient
d = dynamic coefficient of friction
= exponential decay coefficient
= relative sliding velocity at point of contact
Non-zero values of the Dynamic Coefficient and Decay Constant should be used to apply dynamic
friction.
Supported Connections
Explicit Dynamics
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shell
Yes
Yes
Yes
Line
Yes
Yes
*Yes
*Only for Contact Detection = Proximity Based and Edge on Edge Contact = Yes (This option switches
on contact between ALL lines / bodies / edges, that is, there is no dependence on the scoping selection
of body interactions.)
Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
No
Shell
Yes
Yes
No
Line
No
No
No
Bonded Type
Descriptions of the following properties are also addressed in this section:
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Supported Connections
Explicit Dynamics
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Setting Connections
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shell
Yes
Yes
Yes
Line
Yes
Yes
Yes
Note
Bonded body interactions and contact are not supported for 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses.
Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)*
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
Yes
Yes
No
Shell
Yes
Yes
No
Line
Yes
Yes
No
*The above matrix is valid only for Contact Regions. Bonded body interactions are not supported at all.
Reinforcement Type
This body interaction type is used to apply discrete reinforcement to solid bodies. All line bodies scoped
to the object will be flagged as potential discrete reinforcing bodies in the solver. On initialization of
the solver, all elements of the line bodies scoped to the object which are contained within any solid
body in the model will be converted to discrete reinforcement. Elements which lie outside all volume
bodies will remain as standard line body elements.
The reinforcing beam nodes will be constrained to stay at the same initial parametric location within
the volume element they reside during element deformation. Typical applications involve reinforced
concrete or reinforced rubber structures likes tires and hoses.
If the volume element to which a reinforcing node is tied is eroded, the beam node bonding constraint
is removed and becomes a free beam node.
On erosion of a reinforcing beam element node, if inertia is retained, the node will remain tied to the
parametric location of the volume element. If inertia is not retained, the node will also be eroded
Note
Volume elements that are intersected by reinforcement beams, but do not contain a beam
node, will not be experiencing any reinforced beam forces. Good modeling practice is
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Note that the target solid bodies do not need to be scoped to this object these will be identified
automatically by the solver on initialization.
Supported Connections
Explicit Dynamics
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
No
No
*Yes
Shell
No
No
No
Line
*Yes
No
No
*Only the line body needs to be included in the scope. The ANSYS AUTODYN solver automatically detects
which volume bodies that the line body passes through.
Note
Reinforcement body interactions are not supported for 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses.
Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
Connection Geometry
Volume
Shell
Line
Volume
No
No
No
Shell
No
No
No
Line
No
No
No
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Setting Connections
Bearings
A bearing is a two-dimensional elastic element used to confine relative motion and rotation of a rotating
machinery part. Bearings are a critical support for Rotordynamics analyses and as such, a good bearing
design is essential to ensure stability of machinery parts under high speed rotations.
Similar to a spring, a bearing has the structural characteristics of longitudinal stiffness and damping. In
addition to these characteristics, bearings are enhanced with coupling stiffness and damping that serve
as resistive forces to movement of the machinery part in a rotation plane.
Bearings are supported by all Mechanical analysis types that use the MAPDL solver.
Note
The damping characteristics are not applicable to static, linear buckling, undamped modal, and
spectrum analysis systems.
While negative stiffness and/or damping characteristics are allowed in all the supported analysis
systems, users are cautioned to ensure its proper use, and check the results carefully.
This boundary condition cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an End Release.
Scoping Requirements
Bearing scoping is limited to only a single face, single edge, single vertex, or an external remote point
and only the body-to-ground connection type is allowed. Similar to a spring, there is a Mobile side and
Reference side for the bearing connection. The Reference side is assumed to be grounded (or fixed)
and the mobile side is set to the scoped entity. Unlike springs, the location of the reference side is set
to that of the mobile side because they can be coincident during a linear analysis. For more information
about the use of a spring-damper bearing, see COMBI214 - 2D Spring-Damper Bearing in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference.
Apply Bearing
To add a Bearing:
1. Add a Connections folder if one is not already in the tree, by highlighting the Model object and
choosing Connections from the Model Context Toolbar (p. 55) or by choosing Insert>Connections from
the context menu (right-click).
2. Add a Bearing object by highlighting the Connections folder, opening the Body-Ground drop-down
list and then selecting Bearing or by right-clicking on the Connections folder and selecting Insert>Bearing from the context menu.
3. Set the following in the Details view:
a. Under the Reference category, specify the Rotation Plane property for your model. Selections include:
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Bearings
None (default)
X-Y Plane
Y-Z Plane
X-Z Plane
b. Scoping Method as Geometry Selection (default) or Named Selection. The Scoping Method may
also be specified to a user-defined Remote Point, if available.
c. Connection Behavior as either Rigid (default) or Deformable. If the Bearing is scoped to a Remote
Point, the Bearing assumes the Behavior of the Remote Point. The Behavior formulation Coupled is
not supported for Bearings.
d. Pinball Region as desired. Use the Pinball Region to define where the bearing attaches to face(s),
edge(s), or a single vertex if the default location is not desirable. By default, the entire
face/edge/vertex is tied to the bearing element. In the event that this is not desirable, you can choose
to enter a Pinball Region value. For example, your topology could have a large number of nodes
leading to solution processing inefficiencies. Or, if there is overlap between the bearingss scoped
faces and another displacement boundary condition can lead to over-constraint and consequently
solver failures.
Note
The Pinball Region and Behavior settings are applicable to underlying bodies that are flexible.
The Pinball Region and Behavior settings are not applicable to a Bearing scoped to the vertex
of line body.
A Bearing is classified as a remote boundary condition. Refer to the Remote Boundary Conditions
section for a listing of all remote boundary conditions and their characteristics.
The following example illustrates a Bearing on a cylindrical face with customized Details settings.
The stiffness characteristics K11, K22, K12, and K21, and damping characteristics C11, C22, C12, and C21
are used to model four spring-damper sets in a plane of a rotating shaft in this example. For more inRelease 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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633
Setting Connections
formation about the spring-damper orientation, see COMBI214 - 2D Spring-Damper Bearing in the
Mechanical APDL Theory Reference.
The bearing is created on a face of the shaft that is perpendicular to the Z-axis. As the Z-axis is the rotating axis of the shaft, the X-Y Plane is selected for the Rotation Plane option. While the bearing in this
example is defined using Global Coordinate System, it can also be defined with a user-defined local
coordinate system. When changing from one coordinate system to another, the Bearing needs the
scoping to be updated to desired location for the new coordinate system.
Note that the coordinates for the Mobile side cannot be modified. The location is read-only. For a
bearing to be modeled properly, the location of the mobile side must lie on the rotating axis of the
shaft.
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Step Controls
Step Controls play an important role in static and transient dynamic analyses. Step controls are used
to perform two distinct functions:
1. Define Steps.
2. Specify the Analysis Settings for each step.
Defining Steps
See the procedure, Specifying Analysis Settings for Multiple Steps located in the Establish Analysis Settings (p. 134) section.
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Step Controls
The selections available in the Details view for Step Controls group are described below.
Current Step Number: shows the step ID for which the settings in Step Controls, Nonlinear Controls,
and Output Controls are applicable. The currently selected step is also highlighted in the bar at the
bottom of the Graph window. You can select multiple steps by selecting rows in the data grid or the bars
at the bottom of the Graph window. In this case the Current Step Number will be set to multi-step. In
this case any settings modified will affect all selected steps.
Step End Time: shows the end time of the current step number. When multiple steps are selected this
will indicate multi-step.
Auto Time Stepping: is discussed in detail in the Automatic Time Stepping (p. 668) section.
Automatic time stepping is available for static and transient analyses, and is especially useful for
nonlinear solutions. Settings for controlling automatic time stepping are included in a drop down
menu under Auto Time Stepping in the Details view. The following options are available:
Program Controlled (default setting): the Mechanical application automatically switches time stepping
on and off as needed. A check is performed on non-convergent patterns. The physics of the simulation
is also taken into account. The Program Controlled settings are presented in the following table:
Auto Time Stepping Program Controlled Settings
Analysis Type
Initial Substeps
Minimum Substeps
Maximum Substeps
10
10
10
100
10
1000
Transient Thermal
On: You control time stepping by completing the following fields that only appear if you choose this
option. No checks are performed on non-convergent patterns and the physics of the simulation is not
taken into account.
636
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Note
With Time Integration set to Off in Transient Structural analyses, Workbench does not
compute velocity results. Therefore spring damping forces, which are derived from velocity
will equal zero. This is not the case for Rigid Dynamics analyses.
Activation/Deactivation of Loads
You can activate (include) or deactivate (delete) a load from being used in the analysis within the time
span of a step. For most loads (for example, pressure or force) deleting the load is the same as setting
the load value to zero. But for certain loads such as specified displacement this is not the case. Activation
and deactivation of loads is not available to the Samcef solver.
Note
Changing the method of how a multiple-step load value is specified (such as Tabular to
Constant), the Activation/Deactivation state of all steps resets to the default, Active.
To activate or deactivate a load in a stepped analysis:
1.
Highlight the load within a step in the Graph or a specific step in the Tabular Data window.
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637
Click the right mouse button and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step!.
Note
For displacements and remote displacements, it is possible to deactivate only one degree
of freedom within a step.
For Temperature, Thermal Condition, Heat Generation, Voltage, and Current loads, the following rules
apply when multiple load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections:
A load can assume any one of the following states during each load step:
Active: Load is active during the first step.
Reactivated: Load is active during the current step, but was deactivated during the previous step. A
change in step status exists.
Deactivated: Load is deactivated at the current step, but was active during the previous step. A change
in step status exists.
Unchanged: No change in step status exists.
During the first step, an active load will overwrite other active loads that exist higher (previously added)
in the tree.
During any other subsequent step, commands are sent to the solver only if a change in step status exists
for a load. Hence, any unchanged loads will get overwritten by other reactivated or deactivated loads irrespective of their location in the tree. A reactivated/deactivated load will overwrite other reactivated and
deactivated loads that exist higher (previously added) in the tree.
Note
For each load step, if both Imported Loads and user-specified loads are applied on common
geometry selections, the Imported Loads take precedence. See respective Imported Load for
more details.
For Imported loads commands are sent to the solver at a load step if the Imported Load:
Is active and has data specified for the current step
Has been reactivated and has data for the current step or at a previous step
Has been deactivated and data was applied at the previous step.
Note
For imported loads specified as tables, the data is available outside the range of specified
analysis times/frequencies. If the solve time/frequency for a step/sub-step falls outside the
specified Analysis Time/Frequency, then the load value at the nearest specified analysis
time is used.
638
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In this example the second step has a displacement value of -1.5. However since the load is deactivated
this will not have any effect until the third step. In the third step a displacement of -1.5 will be step
applied from the sprung-back location.
Solver Controls
The properties provided by the Solver Controls category vary based on the specified Analysis Type.
This table denotes which Details view properties are supported for each analysis type. The remainder
of the section describes the functions and features of the properties.
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639
RiTrangid
sient
ModDyStrucal
namtural
ics
Lin- Steady
MagTranear
netosient
Buck- State
statThermal
ling Thermal
ic
Electric
Thermal
Electric
Damped
Solver Type
Mode Reuse
Store Complex Solution
Weak Springs
Large Deflection
Inertia Relief
Time Integration and
Constraint Stabilization
Fracture
Solver Type
For Static Structural and Transient Structural analysis types, by default, the Solver Type property is set
to Program Controlled, which lets the program select the optimal solver. However you can manually
select the Direct or Iterative solver. The Direct option uses the Sparse solver and the Iterative option
uses the PCG or ICCG (for Electric and Electromagnetic analyses) solver. See the Help for the EQSLV
command in the Mechanical APDL Command Reference for more information about solver selection.
For a Modal Analysis, additional Solver Type options are available and include:
Unsymmetric
Supernode
Subspace
The Direct, Iterative, Unsymmetric, Supernode, and Subspace types are used to solve a modal system
that does not include any damping effects the Damped property is set to No. By default, the Solver
Type property is set to Program Controlled for a Modal Analysis. Except for the Unsymmetric option,
the solver types are intended to solve Eigen solutions with symmetric mass and stiffness. For a large
model, the Iterative solver is preferred over the Direct solver for its efficiency in terms of solution time
and memory usage.
During a Modal analysis, the Direct solver uses the Block Lanczos extraction method that employs an
automated shift strategy, combined with a Sturm sequence check, to extract the number of eigenvalues
requested. The Sturm sequence check ensures that the requested number of eigen frequencies beyond
the user supplied shift frequency (FREQB on the MODOPT command) is found without missing any
640
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Weak Springs
For stress or shape simulations, the addition of weak springs can facilitate a solution by preventing
numerical instability, while not having an effect on real world engineering loads. The following Weak
Springs settings are available in the Details view:
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641
Large Deflection
This field, applicable to static structural and Transient Structural analyses, determines whether the
solver should take into account large deformation effects such as large deflection, large rotation, and
large strain. Set Large Deflection to On if you expect large deflections (as in the case of a long, slender
bar under bending) or large strains (as in a metal-forming problem).
When using hyperelastic material models, you must set Large Deflection On.
642
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Note
Based on your application, it may be necessary to enter customized settings for Alpha
and Beta. In this case, start with small values and use the same value in both fields. Alpha
and Beta values that are too small have little effect and values that are too large cause
the time step to be too small. The valid values for Alpha and Beta are Alpha > = 0 and
Beta > = 0. If Both Alpha and Beta are zero, the stabilization will have no effect.
Fracture
For fracture analyses, only one control exists. The Fracture property, which ensures that the effect of
cracks are included in the solution, only applies to static structural analysis. It is visible only if the Fracture
folder exists in the model. The default setting is On.
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643
Restart Analysis
Note
This group is displayed in the Details view only if restart points are available. Restart points
can be generated by adjusting the settings in the Restart Controls group. You will also need
to set Delete Unneeded Files, under the Analysis Data Management group to No so that
restart point files are retained after a solve.
The Restart Analysis group is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
These control whether to use restart points in subsequent solution restarts. If restart points should be
used, Load Step, Substep and Time help reveal the point's identity in the calculation sequence.
Note
When using a modal system database from a version prior to the most current version of
Mechanical, it is possible to encounter incompatibility of the file.esav, created by a linked
static structural system. This incompatibility can cause the modal systems solution to fail. In
the event you experience this issue, use the Clear Generated Data feature and resolve the
static structural system.
The Restart Analysis controls are as follows:
Restart Type: By default, Mechanical tracks the state of restart points and selects the most appropriate
point when set to Program Controlled. You may choose different restart points by setting this to
Manual, however. To disable solution restarts altogether, set it to Off.
Current Restart Point: This option lets you choose which restart point to use. This option is displayed
only if Restart Type set to Manual.
Load Step: Displays the Load Step of the restart point to use. If no restart points are available (or all are
invalid for a Restart Type of Program Controlled) the display is Initial.
Substep: Displays the Substep of the restart point to use. If no restart points are available (or all are invalid for a Restart Type of Program Controlled) the display is Initial.
Time: Displays the time of the restart point to use.
Restart Controls
These control the creation of Restart Points. Because each Restart Point consists of special files written
by the solver, restart controls can help you manage the compromise between flexibility in conducting
your analyses and disk space usage. Please see the Solution Restarts section for more information about
the restart capability and how it relates to Restart Points.
The Restart Controls are as follows:
Generate Restart Points: Enables the creation of restart points.
644
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Note
If you want to interrupt the solution in a linear transient analysis, by default, the interrupt
will be at load step boundaries only (as opposed to nonlinear analyses where interrupts
occur at substeps). However, if you want to interrupt a solution to a linear transient analysis on a substep basis, set the following: Generate Restart Controls = Manual, Load
Step = All, Substep = All, and Maximum Points to Save Per Step = 1. These settings
allow you to accomplish the interrupt on a substep basis without filling up your disk with
restart files.
Retain Files After Full Solve: When restart points are requested, the necessary restart files are always
retained for an incomplete solve due to a convergence failure or user request. However, when the solve
completes successfully, you have the option to request to either keep the restart points by setting this
field to Yes, or to delete them by setting this field to No. You can control this setting here in the Details
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645
Note
Retain Files After Full Solve has interactions with other controls. Under the Analysis Data
Management (p. 664) category, setting Future Analysis to Prestressed forces the restart
files to be retained. Similarly, setting Delete Unneeded Files to No implies that restart
files are to be retained.
Creep Controls
Creep is a rate-dependent material nonlinearity in which the material continues to deform under a
constant load. You can perform an implicit creep analysis for a static or transient structural analysis.
Creep Controls are available in the Details view of the analysis settings for these two environments
only after you have selected a creep material for at least one prototype in the analysis.
The Creep Controls group is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Creep controls are step-aware, meaning that you are allowed to set different creep controls for different
load steps in a multistep analysis. If there were multiple load steps in the analysis before you chose the
creep material, then choosing the creep material will set the Creep Controls properties to their default
value.
The Creep Controls group includes the following properties:
Creep Behavior - The default value is Off for the first load step and On for all the subsequent load steps.
You may change it according to your analysis.
Creep Limit Ratio (available only if Creep Behavior is set to On) - This property issues the Mechanical
APDL CUTCONTROL command with your input value of creep limit ratio. (Refer to the CUTCONTROL
command description for details). The default value of Creep Limit Ratio is 1. You are allowed to pick
any non-negative value.
Cyclic Controls
The Harmonic Index Range setting within the Cyclic Controls category is only used in a Modal analysis that involves cyclic symmetry to specify the solution ranges for the harmonic index. The setting
appears if you have defined a Cyclic Region for this analysis.
The Program Controlled option solves all applicable harmonic indices.
646
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Note
Static Structural cyclic symmetry solutions always use all harmonic indices required for the
applied loads.
Radiosity Controls
The Radiosity Controls group is available for the following analysis types:
Steady - State Thermal
Transient Thermal
Thermal Electric
The following settings within the Radiosity Controls category are used in conjunction with the Radiation
boundary condition when defining surface-to-surface radiation for thermal related analyses that use
the ANSYS solver. These settings are based on the RADOPT command in Mechanical APDL.
Radiosity Solver
Flux Convergence
Maximum Iteration
Solver Tolerance (dependent upon the unit of measure)
Over Relaxation
For the Radiosity Solver property, selections include the Gauss-Seidel iterative solver (Program Controlled default), the Direct solver, or the Iterative Jacobi solver.
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647
648
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649
Cluster = 5: Here 5 solutions are performed automatically on either side of each natural
frequency capturing the behavior near the peaks.
650
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Note
With this option set to No, the addition of new frequency or phase responses
to a solved environment requires a new solution. Adding a new contour result
of any type (stress or strain) or a new probe result of any type (reaction force,
reaction moment, or bearing) for the first time on a solved environment requires
you to solve, but adding additional contour results or probe results of the same
type does not share this requirement; data from the closest available frequency
is displayed (the reported frequency is noted on each result). Note that the values
of frequency, type of contour results (displacement, stress, or strain) and type
of probe results (reaction force, reaction moment, or bearing) at the moment of
the solution determine the contents of the result file and the subsequent availability of data. Planning these choices can significantly reduce the need to resolve an analysis.
Full Method (Direct Integration)
The Full method uses the full system matrices for the solution calculations. It is more thorough
but also requires greater processing time and capability.
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651
The property Variational Technology displays when Full is specified. This option is an alternate Solution Method that is based on the harmonic sweep algorithm of the Full method.
The options include:
Program Controlled (default setting) - the application selects the most efficient method (Full
or Variational Technology).
Yes - Specifies that the Variational Technology method is used.
No - Specifies that the Full method is used.
For additional information, see Harmonic Analysis Variational Technology Method, and
Variational Technology, as well as the HROPT command in the Command Reference.
652
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Damping Controls
The controls of the Damping Controls group vary based on the type of analysis being performed.
Supported analysis types include:
Transient Structural
Harmonic
Random Vibration/Response Spectrum
The following forms of damping are available in the application:
Constant Damping. This property is available for Random Vibration analyses. The default setting is Program
Controlled. You may also set the property to Manual.
Constant Damping Ratio. This specifies the amount of damping in the structure as a percentage of critical damping.
If you set this in conjunction with the Stiffness Coefficient, and Mass Coefficient, the effects are cumulative. You define the Constant Damping Ratio in the Details view of the Analysis Settings object.
The Constant Damping Ratio can also be specified in Engineering Data.
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653
654
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Note
Restrictions of applying damping in each analysis type can be found in Damping section of
the MADPL Structural Analysis Guide.
Nonlinear Controls
This section describes the properties provided by Nonlinear Controls category. The properties of this
category vary based on analysis type. The subsections listed here describe the Nonlinear Controls
properties for each supported analysis type.
Nonlinear Controls for Steady-State, Static, and Transient Structural Analyses
Nonlinear Controls for Transient Thermal Analyses
Nonlinear Controls for Rigid Dynamics Analyses
655
Note
You may activate Displacement/Rotation convergence by the Mechanical APDL solver arbitrarily for highly nonlinear problems, even though you explicitly removed this option by
choosing Remove from the drop-down menu. If for some reasons, you want to override this
default behavior, it is important to turn on Force/Moment convergence and then try choosing
Remove on Displacement/Rotation convergence.
If you do not want any convergence options to be turned on, then you may try setting the
solution controls to off, using a "Commands Objects" (p. 1141) object.
Line Search
656
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Note
The Line Search control is step aware and can be different for each step.
Stabilization
Convergence difficulty due to an unstable problem is usually the result of a large displacement for small
load increments. Nonlinear stabilization technique can help achieve convergence. Nonlinear stabilization
can be thought of as adding artificial dampers to all of the nodes in the system. Any degree of freedom
that tends to be unstable has a large displacement causing a large damping/stabilization force. This
force reduces displacements at the degree of freedom so stabilization can be achieved.
There are three Keys for controlling nonlinear stabilization:
Off - Deactivate stabilization (default setting).
Constant - Activate stabilization. The energy dissipation ratio or damping factor remains constant during
the load step.
Reduce - Activate stabilization. The energy dissipation ratio or damping factor is reduced linearly to zero
at the end of the load step from the specified or calculated value.
There are two options for the Method property for stabilization control:
Energy - Use the energy dissipation ratio as the control (default setting).
Damping - Use the damping factor as the control.
When Energy is specified, an Energy Dissipation Ratio needs to be entered. The energy dissipation
ratio is the ratio of work done by stabilization forces to element potential energy. This value is usually
a number between 0 and 1. The default value is 1.0e-4.
When Damping is specified, a Damping Factor value needs to be entered. The damping factor is the
value that the ANSYS solver uses to calculate stabilization forces for all subsequent substeps. This value
is greater than 0.
Note
The Damping Factor value is dependent on the active unit system and may influence the
results if unit systems are changed. You may wish to use an initial trial value from a previous
run for this entry (such as a run with the Energy Dissipation Ratio as input). See the Controlling
the Stabilization Force section of the Mechanical APDL Structural Analysis Guide for additional
information.
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657
Output Controls
The controls of the Output Controls group vary based on the type of analysis being performed. Supported analysis types include:
Static Structural
658
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659
Note
To ensure that Membrane and Bending Stress results are not under-defined, set this option
to Yes.
Store Modal Results. Available for Modal analyses only. This field is displayed only when Stress and/or
Strain are set to Yes, implying that stress and strain results are to be expanded and saved to file.mode,
in addition to displacement results (mode shapes). Depending on the downstream linked analysis, you
may want to save these modal stress and/or modal strain results, which are linearly superimposed to get
the stress and/or strain results of the downstream linked analysis. This reduces computation time significantly in the downstream linked analysis because no modal stress and/or modal strain results are expanded
again. The following options are available:
Program Controlled (default setting): Let the program choose whether or not the modal results are
saved for possible downstream analysis.
No: Stress and strain results are not saved to file.mode for later use in the downstream linked analyses.
This option is recommended for the linked harmonic analysis due to load generation, which requires
that stresses and/or strains are expanded again as a result of the addition of elemental loads in the
linked harmonic analysis.
For Future Analysis: Stress and strain results are saved to file.mode for later use in the downstream
linked analyses. This option is recommended for a linked random vibration analysis. Choosing this option
improves the performance and efficiency of the linked random vibration analysis because, with no load,
there is no need for stress and strain expansion.
Expand Results From.
Linked Harmonic analyses. This field is displayed only when Stress and/or Strain and/or Calculate
Reactions are set to Yes, implying that stress, strain, and reaction results are to be expanded and saved
to file.mode after the load generation. Depending on the number of modes and number of frequency
steps, you may want to save these modal stresses and/or strains after the load generation, which can
be linearly superimposed to obtain harmonic stresses and/or strains at each frequency step. The following
options are available:
Program Controlled (default setting): Let the program choose whether or not the stress, strain, and
reaction results are expanded and saved for possible downstream analysis. When the Program Controlled option is chosen, one more read-only Details view entry (Expansion) will be shown. This in-
660
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Note
It is recommended that you not change Output Controls settings during a Solution Restart.
Modifying Output Controls settings change the availability of the respective result type in the
results file. Consequently, result calculations cannot be guaranteed for the entire solution. In
addition, Result file values may not correspond to GUI settings in this scenario. Settings turned
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661
The above output controls are not step-aware, meaning that the settings are constant across multiple
steps.
In addition, the following settings are step-aware and allow you to define when data is calculated and
written to the result file for Static Structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Steady-State thermal,
and Transient Thermal analyses:
Store Results At. Specify this time to be All Time Points (default setting), Last Time Point, Equally
Spaced Points or Specified Recurrence Rate.
Value. Displayed only if Store Results At is set to Equally Spaced Points or Specified Recurrence Rate.
The controls that define when data is calculated are step aware, meaning that the settings can vary
across multiple steps.
Modal with no
downstream linked
analysis
No
Not available.
Harmonic Solution
Not available.
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No
Not available.
Note
To evaluate summation
of element nodal forces
using FSUM in Command Snippet, it is required to save element
nodal forces in modal to
file.mode.
Modal with downstream linked Transient analysis
No
Transient Solution
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663
664
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665
Rotordynamics Controls
The controls of the Rotordynamics Controls group vary based on the type of analysis being performed.
Supported analysis types include:
Transient Structural
Harmonic
Modal
The following settings control the items that apply to a rotating structure in a Modal Analysis.
Coriolis Effect - Set to On if Coriolis effects should be applied. On is a valid choice only if the Damped
Solver Control is Yes. The default is Off.
Campbell Diagram - Set to On if Campbell diagram is to be plotted. The default is Off. On is a valid
choice only if Coriolis Effect is turned On.
Number of Points - Indicates the number of solve points for the Campbell diagram. The default value is
2. A minimum of two (2) solve points is necessary. This property is only displayed when Campbell Diagram
is set to On.
Visibility
Allows you to selectively display loads in the Graph window by choosing Display or Omit for each
available load type. A load must first be applied before the Visibility group becomes available/shown
under Analysis Settings.
The Visibility group is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Steady - State Thermal
Transient Thermal
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667
st
st
qr
trts
sts
668
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r
t
r
r ts r
2. Resolve the applied load-versus-time curve(s). The time step should be small enough to follow the
loading function. For example, stepped loads require a small ITS at the time of the step change so that
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669
ss
3. Resolve the contact frequency. In problems involving contact (impact), the time step should be small
enough to capture the momentum transfer between the two contacting faces. Otherwise, an apparent
energy loss will occur and the impact will not be perfectly elastic. The integration time step can be determined from the contact frequency (fc) as:
where k is the gap stiffness, m is the effective mass acting at the gap, and N is the number of points
per cycle. To minimize the energy loss, at least thirty points per cycle of (N = 30) are needed. Larger
values of N may be required if velocity or acceleration results are needed. See the description of
the Predict for Impact option within the Time Step Controls contact Advanced settings for more
information.
You can use fewer than thirty points per cycle during impact if the contact period and contact mass
are much less than the overall transient time and system mass, because the effect of any energy
loss on the total response would be small.
4. Resolve the nonlinearities. For most nonlinear problems, a time step that satisfies the preceding guidelines
is sufficient to resolve the nonlinearities. There are a few exceptions, however: if the structure tends to
stiffen under the loading (for example, large deflection problems that change from bending to membrane
load-carrying behavior), the higher frequency modes that are excited will have to be resolved.
After calculating the time step sizes using the above guidelines, you need to use the minimum value
for your analysis. However using this minimum time step size throughout a transient analysis can be
very inefficient. For example in an impact problem you may need small time step sizes calculated as
above only during and for a short duration after the impact. At other parts of the time history you may
be able to get accurate results with larger time steps sizes. Use of the Automatic Time Stepping (p. 668)
procedure lets the solver decide when to increase or decrease the time step during the solution.
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Options
Description
2D
Restart
Allows you to select the cycle (time increment for explicit integration) from
which to start the solution upon selecting Solve. A cycle of zero (default setting) indicates the solution will clear
any previous progress and start from
time zero. A non-zero cycle, on the
other hand, allows you to revisit a previous solution and extend it further in
time. A solution obtained from a nonzero cycle is considered to have been
"resumed" or "restarted".
Yes
Yes
Yes
Note that the list will only contain nonzero selections if a solve was previously
executed and restart files have been
generated.
When resuming an analysis, changes to
analysis settings will be respected
where possible. For example, you may
wish to resume an analysis with an extended termination time. Changes to
any other features in the model (geometry suppression, connections, loads,
and so on) will prevent restarts from
taking place.
See Resume Capability for Explicit Dynamics Analyses (p. 1136) for more information.
This field is not available for Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems.
Maximum Number of Cycles
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671
Options
Description
2D
Restart
End Time
Yes
Yes
Maximum Energy
Error
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
672
Yes
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Characteristic Dimension
Diagonals (default
setting)
Nearest Face
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673
Options
Description
2D
Restart
If set to Yes, activates automatic mass scaling and exposes the following options.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Caution
Mass scaling introduces additional mass into the system
to increase the CFL time
step. Introducing too much
mass can lead to non-physical results.
Note
Employ User Defined Results (p. 970) MASS_SCALE
(ratio of scaled mass/physical
mass) and TIMESTEP to review the effects of automatic
mass scaling on the model.
Maximum Element Scaling
674
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Options
Description
2D
Restart
Maximum Part
Scaling
Yes
Yes
Yes
Update Frequency
Options
Solve Units
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
No
No
Bending
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675
Options
Description
Truss
Hex Integration
Type
2D
Restart
No
Exact
No
No
1pt Gauss
Shell Sublayers
No
No
No
No
No
No
N/A
N/A
Shell Thickness
Update
Nodal
676
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Options
Description
2D
Tet Integration
Average Nodal
Pressure
Restart
No
Constant Pressure Uses the constant pressure integrated tetrahedral formulation. This formulation is more
efficient than Average Nodal, however it
suffers from volumetric locking under constant bulk deformation.
Nodal Strain
Recompute
No
No
Yes
No
Density Update
Program Controlled
Incremental
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677
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Total
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maximum Velocity
Yes
Yes
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Domain Size
Definition
Program Controlled
No
No
678
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Options
Description
2D
Restart
Manual
No
No
All Bodies
No
No
Eulerian Bodies
Only
X Scale factor, Y
Scale factor, Z
Scale Factor
No
X, Y, Z coordinates for the Euler domain origin for the Manual option
No
No
X Dimension, Y
Dimension, Z Dimension
No
No
Total Cells
No
Cell Size
Set Domain Resolution Definition by specifying the size of the cells in the Euler domain
No
No
Cell Size
No
Number of Cells
in X, Number of
Cells in Y, Number of Cells in Z
No
No
No
Lower X Face,
Lower Y Face,
Lower Z Face, Upper X Face, Upper
Y Face, Upper Z
Face
Impedance
Specify the boundary condition of the selected Euler domain face to be Impedance
Rigid
Specify the boundary condition of the selected Euler domain face to be Rigid
Euler Tracking
By Body
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No
No
679
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Linear Artificial
Viscosity
Yes
Yes
Linear Viscosity
in Expansion
Artificial viscosity is normally applied to materials in compression only. This option allows you to apply the viscosity for materials
in compression and expansion.
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Stiffness Coefficient
No
Yes
Viscous Coefficient
The viscous coefficient for hourglass damping used in hexahedral solid elements and
quadrilateral shell elements.
No
Yes
Static Damping
Yes
AUTODYN Standard
Flanagan
Belytschko
680
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Options
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
If set to No, all free nodes will be automatically removed from the analysis.
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681
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
This field is not displayed for Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems when On
Minimum Element Time Step is set to No.
Options
Save Results on
Cycles
Yes
Yes
Equally Spaced
Points
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cycles
Yes
Yes
Time
Yes
682
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Yes
Yes
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
Yes
Yes
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683
Options
Description
2D
Restart
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Output Contact
Forces
684
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Options
Description
2D
Restart
Contact Force Y
Contact Force Z
No
Yes
Cycles
Yes
Time
Yes
Equally Spaced
Points
Yes
Description
The permanent location for all the files generated during a solve.
This is a read-only field provided for information.
685
Efficiency
Low Velocity
High Velocity
QuasiStatic
Default
(Robustness)
Setting for
minimum
run time
(also minimum robustness
and accuracy in
some
cases)
Recommended
setting for
low deformation/velocity simulations
(<100m/s)
Recommended
for high
deformation/velocity simulations
(>100m/s)
Recommended
setting
for quasistatic simulations
Analysis Settings
Notes
Step Controls
Timestep
Safety Factor
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
Mass Scaling
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Mass Scaling:
Minimum CFL
timestep
Off
User Must
Define
User Must
Define
Off
User Must
Define
1000
100
Off
1000
686
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Efficiency
Low Velocity
High Velocity
QuasiStatic
Mass Scaling:
Maximum
Part Scaling
Off
1000
Off
1000
Mass Scaling:
Update Frequency
Off
Off
Characteristic
Dimension
Diagonals
Opposing
Faces
Opposing
Faces
Diagonals
Opposing
Faces
Beam Time
Step Safety
Factor
0.5
0.1
0.1
0.1
Exact
1pt Gauss
1pt Gauss
Exact
1pt Gauss
Shell Sublayers
Shell Inertia
Update
Recompute
Rotate
Recompute
Recompute
Recompute
Tet Integration
ANP
SCP
NBS
ANP
NBS
Minimum
Strain Rate
Cutoff
1e-10
1e-10
0.0
1e-10
0.0
AUTODYN
standard
AUTODYN
standard
Flanagan
Belytschko
AUTODYN
standard
Flanagan
Belytschko
ment Scaling
Factor (%)
Solver Controls
Increasing the safety
factor can lead to unstable results. Check
results carefully.
Damping Controls
Hourglass
Damping
Autodyn standard is
not rigid body rotation
invariant. Must use
Flanagan Belytschko if
large rotations are involved.
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687
Efficiency
Low Velocity
High Velocity
QuasiStatic
User Must
Define
For quasi-static analyses, it is recommended that static damping is used, but the
value used depends on
the configuration of
the model. See Explicit
Dynamics Damping
Controls (p. 680) for
more details on selecting an appropriate
value.
On Geometric
Strain Limit
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Geometric
Strain Limit
1.5
0.75
Unchanged
1.5
Unchanged
Save Results
on: Equally
Spaced Points
20
20
50
50
10
Save Result
Tracker Data:
Cycles
10
10
10
Save Solution
Output:
Cycles
100
1000
100
100
100
Body Self
Contact
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Element Self
Contact
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Static Damping
Erosion Controls
Output Controls
When using the Explicit Dynamics analysis system, the Body Self Contact and Element Self Contact
settings in the Body Interactions object Details panel should be set to Program Controlled in order for
688
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Note
Keep in mind the following guidelines for setting up other areas of your analysis:
Material Properties
Use Simplest Material definition possible
Use Linear Elastic properties unless you need to model non-linearities
Bonds
Only use breakable bonds if you really need to
Meshing
Mesh quality is a critical aspect for model performance and accuracy
Use Hex Meshes whenever possible
Use the patch independent tetrahedral mesh method to ensure uniform element size and
timestep optimization
Avoid small elements unless you need them
The Euler domain resolution is indicated by black node markers along each edge line of the Euler domain.
The visibility of this can be controlled by the Display Euler Domain option in the Analysis Settings.
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689
690
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691
Or you can first select geometries and then apply boundary conditions:
1. Highlight the Environment object
2. Pick your geometry.
3. Apply your boundary condition by:
a. Making a selection from the Environment context toolbar.
692
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Or...
b. Selecting the Environment object, right-clicking the mouse, selecting Insert, and then select your
desired boundary condition.
Or...
c. Rightclicking the mouse while in the Geometry window, selecting Insert, and then select your desired
boundary condition.
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693
Again, additional entries are typically required. For example, you may need to enter a Magnitude for
the boundary condition, specify a Coordinate System, and/or define a Direction.
Acceleration
The global Acceleration boundary condition defines a linear acceleration of a structure in each of the
global Cartesian axis directions.
694
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Analysis Types
Acceleration is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Rigid Dynamics
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
Acceleration applies a uniform load over all bodies.
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types and Topology: By virtue of Accelerations physical characteristics, this boundary
condition is always applied to all bodies of a model.
Loading Types: The boundary conditions loading is defined using one of the following options:
Vector Supported.
While loads are associative with geometry changes, load directions are not. This applies to any load
that requires a vector input, such as acceleration.
The vector load definition displays in the Annotation legend with the label Components. The Magnitude and Direction entries, in any combination or sequence, define these displayed values. These
are the values sent to the solver.
Components Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
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695
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
696
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Note
Should both an Acceleration and a Standard Earth Gravity boundary condition be specified,
a composite vector addition of the two is delivered to the solver.
Acceleration Example
The following illustrations compare how Acceleration and Gravity can be used to specify a gravitational
load with the same result.
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697
Resulting deformation.
Analysis Types
Standard Earth Gravity is available for the following analysis types:
698
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types and Topology: By virtue of Standard Earth Gravitys physical characteristics, this
boundary condition is always applied to all bodies of a model.
Loading Types: This boundary conditions loading is defined using a Coordinate System as the loading
quantity.
Loading Data Definition: Standard Earth Gravity is constant, only the direction may be modified.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
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699
Fields/Options/Description
Y Component - Read-only field with values for components based upon
the Direction specification.
Z Component - Read-only field with values for components based upon
the Direction specification.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Direction - Define the vector in terms of any of the following directions:
+x, -x, +y, -y, +z, -z.
Note
Should both an Acceleration and a Standard Earth Gravity boundary condition be specified,
a composite vector addition of the two is delivered to the solver.
Rotational Velocity
Rotational velocity accounts for the structural effects of a part spinning at a constant rate.
Analysis Types
Rotational Velocity is available for the following analysis types:
Modal Analysis
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Note
For a Transient Structural analysis that is linked to a Modal Analysis, Rotational Velocity is an
invalid boundary condition in the Transient Structural analysis.
For a Modal Analysis, Rotational Velocity is valid only when the following Analysis Settings
properties are specified:
Damped is set to Yes in the Solver Controls group.
Coriolis Effect property is set to On in the Rotordynamics Controls group.
700
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported. A rotational velocity is applied along a user defined axis to one or more bodies.
2D Simulation Supported. For 2D axisymmetric simulations, a Rotational Velocity load can only be applied
about the y-axis.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Rotational Velocity boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Rotational Velocity.
Body - Supported. One rotational velocity load can be applied to one or more bodies. However, multiple
rotational velocity loads cannot be applied to the same body. Attempting to apply more than one rotational velocity load to the same body will invalidate the loads. See the CGOMGA (Structural and Transient)
and CMOMEGA (Modal Analysis) commands in Mechanical APDL Command Reference.
Face - Not Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Types: The boundary conditions loading is defined using one of the following options.
Vector Supported. While loads are associative with geometry changes, load directions are not.
The vector load definition displays in the Annotation legend with the label Components. The Magnitude and Direction entries, in any combination or sequence, define these displayed values. These
are the values sent to the solver.
Components Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant
Tabular (Time Varying)
Function (Time Varying)
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701
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
702
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Fields/Options/Description
Magnitude
Axis
Components - Requires the specification of the following inputs:
Coordinate System - Drop-down list of available coordinate systems.
Global Coordinate System is the default. When using cyclic symmetry, the referenced coordinate system must match coordinate
system used in the Cyclic Region. The referenced coordinate system
must be Cartesian.
X Component - Defines magnitude in the X direction.
Y Component - Defines magnitude in the Y direction.
Z Component - Defines magnitude in the Z direction.
X Coordinate
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Note
In a Modal analysis:
With multiple solve points (Campbell Diagram turned On),
the magnitude or the resultant of the components must be
in ascending order.
When specified by Components, only the Global Coordinate
System is available (the option is read-only).
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703
Structural Loads
Pressure
Pipe Pressure
Pipe Temperature
Hydrostatic Pressure
Force
Remote Force
Bearing Load
Bolt Pretension
Moment
Generalized Plain Strain
Line Pressure
PSD Base Excitation
RS Base Excitation
Joint Load
Thermal Condition
Thermal Loads
Temperature
Convection
Radiation
Heat Flow
Heat Flux
Internal Heat Generation
Electric Loads
Voltage
Current
Thermal Condition
Magnetostatic Loads
Electromagnetic Boundary Conditions and Excitations
Magnetic Flux Boundary Conditions
Conductor
Interaction Loads
The following loads involve interactions between the Mechanical application and other products.
Motion Load
Fluid Solid Interface
Explosive Initiation
Detonation Point
704
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Pressure
A pressure load applies a constant pressure or a varying pressure in a single direction (x, y, or z) to one
or more flat or curved faces. A positive value for pressure acts into the face, compressing the solid body.
Analysis Types
Pressure is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Explicit Dynamics
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Note
Eigen Response Analyses (Linear Buckling Analysis and Modal Analysis) take into account
any pressure load stiffness contribution applied in the linked Static Structural analysis.
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Types Supported
3D Simulation Supported. For 3D simulations, a pressure load applies a pressure to one or more faces.
2D Simulation Supported. For 2D simulations, a pressure load applies a pressure to one or more edges.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Pressure boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Pressure.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported - 3D. If you select multiple faces when defining the pressure, the same pressure value
gets applied to all selected faces. If a constant pressurized face enlarges due to a change in CAD parameters,
the total load applied to the face increases, but the pressure (force per unit area) value remains constant.
Edge - Supported - 2D. If you select multiple edges when defining the pressure, the same pressure value
gets applied to all selected edges.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
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705
Note
Harmonic Response Analysis Only: Spatially varying Tabular and Function data is supported
for the Normal To loading type only.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
707
Fields/Options/Description
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Pipe Pressure
Used in any structural analysis, Pipe Pressure is useful for pipe stress analysis and pipe design. Pipe
Pressure is applied only to pipes in the form of line bodies.
Analysis Types
Pipe Pressure is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Explicit Dynamics
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported. For 3D structural analyses, a pipe pressure load applies a constant, tabular, or
functional variation of pressure to one or more line bodies which are set to be pipes.
2D Simulation Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Pipe Pressure boundary condition include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Not Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Line Bodies Only.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Pipe Pressure.
Body - Not Supported.
708
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
709
Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Indicates that the geometry selection is defined by a Named Selection.
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named Selection. This
field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Named Selections.
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Pipe Pressure.
Magnitude - Input field to define the magnitude of the Pipe Pressure. This value can be
defined as a Constant or in Tabular form, as well as Imported.
Phase Angle (Harmonic Analysis only)
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Loading - Specify whether the loading is Internal or External.
Pipe Temperature
For 3D structural analyses, a pipe temperature load applies a constant, tabular, or functional variation
of temperature to one or more line bodies which are set to be pipes. You can select it to be internal
pipe temperature or external pipe temperature from the Details view.
Analysis Types
Pipe Temperature is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
710
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711
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Hydrostatic Pressure
A hydrostatic pressure load simulates pressure that occurs due to fluid weight.
Analysis Types
Hydrostatic Pressure is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Static Structural
Transient Structural
712
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Hydrostatic Pressure boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Hydrostatic Pressure.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported (3D).
Edge - Supported (2D).
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Types: The boundary conditions loading is defined using one of the following options.
Vector Supported.
The vector load definition displays in the Annotation legend with the label Components. The Magnitude and Direction entries, in any combination or sequence, define these displayed values. These
are the values sent to the solver.
Components Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Hydrostatic Pressure is defined as a constant.
Note
During a multiple step analysis, tabular data is visible for this boundary condition. This information is read-only but you can use the context menu (right-click) features of the Tabular
Data display to activate or deactivate the loading per step.
713
714
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Hydrostatic Acceleration
X Coordinate
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715
Fields/Options/Description
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Location - Specify Free Surface Location using geometry picking tools.
Valid topologies include: face, edge, vertex.
Force
Force is specified based on the following topologies:
Face - Distributes a force vector across one or more flat or curved faces, resulting in uniform traction
across the face.
Edge - Distributes a force vector along one or more straight or curved edges, resulting in uniform line
load along the edge.
Vertex - Applies a force vector to one or more vertices.
Analysis Types
Force is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported. Force loads are not supported for 2D axisymmetric Explicit Dynamics analyses.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Force boundary condition include:
716
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717
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
718
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Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined
Named Selections.
Definition
Remote Force
A Remote Force is equivalent to a regular force load on a face or a force load on an edge, plus some
moment.
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719
A Remote Force is classified as a remote boundary condition. Refer to the Remote Boundary Conditions (p. 833) section for a listing of all remote boundary conditions and their characteristics.
A Remote Force can be applied to a face, edge, or vertex of a 3D model, or to an edge or vertex of a
2D model.
Analysis Types
Remote Force is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Rigid Dynamics
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Remote Force boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
720
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721
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
722
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Fields/Options/Description
Vector - A magnitude and direction (based on selected geometry). Requires
the specification of the following inputs:
Magnitude
Direction
Components - Option to define the loading type as Components (in the
world coordinate system or local coordinate system, if applied). Requires
the specification of at least one of the following inputs:
X Component - Defines magnitude in the X direction.
Y Component - Defines magnitude in the Y direction.
Z Component - Defines magnitude in the Z direction.
Phase Angle (Harmonic Analysis only)
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Behavior - This option dictates the behavior of the attached geometry.
Options include:
Rigid - Does not allow the scoped geometry to deform.
Deformable - Allows the scoped geometry to deform.
Coupled - Allows the scoped geometry to have the same DOF solution on
its underlying nodes as the remote point location.
Follower Load - When set to No (default), the force direction doesn't
change during the simulation. When set to Yes, the force direction is updated with the underlying body. Note that this options is specific to Rigid
Dynamics analysis.
Advanced
Pinball Region - Modify the Pinball setting to reduce the number of elements
included in the solver.
Bearing Load
The Bearing Load boundary condition simulates radial forces only. It is applied on the interior of a cylinder in the radial direction using a coordinate system. If the Mechanical application detects a portion
of the load to be in the axial direction, the solver stops the solution and issues an appropriate error
message.
Note
If your CAD system split the target cylinder into two or more faces, select all of the faces
when defining the Bearing Load.
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723
Although loading across multiple steps may appear as an application of tabular loading,
you cannot set the magnitude of a bearing load in terms of either tabular or functional
data. You must set a constant or ramped magnitude for each step such that one value
corresponds to each step.
Analysis Types
Bearing Load is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
724
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Note
Although loading across multiple steps may appear as an application of tabular
loading, you cannot set the magnitude of a bearing load in terms of either tabular or
functional data. You must set a constant or ramped magnitude for each step such
that one value corresponds to each step.
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725
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
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Fields/Options/Description
Components - Option to define the loading type as Components (in the
world coordinate system or local coordinate system, if applied). Requires
the specification of at least one of the following inputs:
Coordinate System - Drop-down list of available coordinate systems.
Global Coordinate System is the default.
X Component - Defines magnitude in the X direction.
Y Component - Defines magnitude in the Y direction.
Z Component - Defines magnitude in the Z direction.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Bolt Pretension
This boundary condition applies a pretension load to a cylindrical face, to a straight edge of a line body,
to a single body, or to multiple bodies, typically to model a bolt under pretension.
Analysis Types
Bolt Pretension is applicable to pure structural or thermal-stress analyses:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported (Body scoping only).
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727
Body scoping requires a local Coordinate System object in the tree. The application of the boundary
condition is at the origin and along the z-axis (3D) or x-axis (2D) of the local coordinate system. You
can place the coordinate system anywhere in the body and reorient the required axis.
Use caution when defining bolt loads by bodies and a coordinate system because the entire body is
sliced along the local cutting plane.
Face - Supported.
If you try to apply a preload on the same face more than once, all definitions except the first one are
ignored.
For simulating one Bolt Pretension through multiple split faces, you should apply only one Bolt Pretension boundary condition to one of the split faces, as the Bolt Pretension boundary condition slices
though the whole cylinder even though only part of the cylinder is selected.
Care should be used when applying a Bolt Pretension boundary condition to a cylindrical face that
has bonded contact. There is a possibility that if you apply a Bolt Pretension boundary condition to a
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Note
If a solution restart is performed from a substep of a load step that has an Increment specified, the increment value gets added to the solved deformation value at the beginning
of the selected restart sub-step.
Loading Data Definition: Bolt Pretension is defined by constant loading data only.
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729
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Bolt Pretension.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Define By - Options include:
Load
Adjustment
Lock
Open
Increment
Preload - Visible when the Define By is set to Load.
Preadjustment - Visible when the Define By is set to Adjustment.
Increment - Visible when the Define By is set to Increment.
Presented below is a model showing a Bolt Pretension load as a preload force and as a pre-adjustment
length:
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Moment
This boundary condition distributes a moment "about" (the vector of ) an axis across one or more flat
or curved faces, or about one or more edges or vertices. Use the right-hand rule to determine the sense
of the moment.
A Moment is classified as a remote boundary condition. Refer to the Remote Boundary Conditions (p. 833)
section for a listing of all remote boundary conditions and their characteristics.
Analysis Types
Moment is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
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731
Note
Face and edge selections for the moment load can span multiple parts, however, multiple
vertex selections must be of the same part type (solid, 3D surface or line bodies) or the selection is ignored.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Moment.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported - 3D only. If a face enlarges (e.g., due to a change in parameters), the total load applied
to the face remains constant, but the load per unit area decreases.
Edge - Supported.
Vertex - Supported. This boundary condition cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an end release.
Nodes - Supported.
Loading Types: The boundary conditions loading is defined using one of the following options.
Vector Supported. While loads are associative with geometry changes, load directions are not.
The vector load definition displays in the Annotation legend with the label Components. The Magnitude and Direction entries, in any combination or sequence, define these displayed values. These
are the values sent to the solver.
Components Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant - Supported.
Tabular (Time Varying) - Supported.
Tabular (Frequency Varying) - Supported for Harmonic Response Analysis only.
By default, at least two frequency entries are required when defining a frequency dependent tabular
load.
Tabular (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
Function (Time Varying) - Supported.
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Note
When specifying the Scoping Method, faces and edges can be scoped to either the
geometry where the load is to be applied (Geometry Selection), to a Named Selection,
or to a Remote Point. Vertices cannot be scoped to Remote Point.
3. Select the method used to define the moment: Vector (default) or Components.
4. Define the Magnitude, Coordinate System directional loading, and/or Direction of the load based on
the above selections.
5. For Harmonic analyses, specify a Phase Angle as needed.
6. Select the Behavior of the geometry.
7. As needed, enter a Pinball Region value. The default value is All.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
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733
Fields/Options/Description
Remote Point - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Remote Point.
This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Remote
Points.
Definition
Advanced
Pinball Region
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Analysis Types
The Generalized Plane Strain boundary condition is available for the following analysis types:
Modal Analysis
Linear Buckling
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Not Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Generalized Plane Strain boundary condition
include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported - 2D Surface Only.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Generalized Plane Strain.
Body - Supported - All Bodies.
Face - Not Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Types and Loading Data Definition: The Generalized Plane Strain boundary condition is
defined as a constant.
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735
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
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Fields/Options/Description
Rotation - Enter magnitude.
Magnitude
Note
You may wish to review the Generalized Plain Strain Probes section of the Help for additional
information about this boundary condition.
Line Pressure
For 3D simulations, a line pressure load applies a distributed force on one edge only, using force
density loading in units of force per length. You can define the force density on the selected edge in
various ways.
If a pressurized edge enlarges due to a change in CAD parameters, the total load applied to the edge
increases, but the pressure (force per unit length) remains constant.
Analysis Types
Line Pressure is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Line Pressure boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
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737
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Line Pressure.
Define By - Options include:
Vector - A magnitude and direction (based on selected geometry). Requires
the specification of the following inputs:
Magnitude
Direction
Tangential
Components - Option to define the loading type as Components (in the
world coordinate system or local coordinate system, if applied). Requires
the specification of at least one of the following inputs:
Coordinate System - Drop-down list of available coordinate systems.
Global Coordinate System is the default.
X Component - Defines magnitude in the X direction.
Y Component - Defines magnitude in the Y direction.
Z Component - Defines magnitude in the Z direction.
Phase Angle (Harmonic Analysis only)
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
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739
Note
Only fixed degrees of freedom of the supports are valid for excitations.
Boundary conditions defined with a local coordinate system are not supported.
You can also specify the excitation direction (X Axis, Y Axis, or Z Axis).
The user-defined PSD data table is created in the Tabular Data window. You can create a new PSD
table or import one from a library that you have created, via the fly-out of the Load Data option in the
Details view.
Note
Only positive table values can be input when defining this load.
When creating PSD loads for a Random Vibration analysis in the Mechanical application, Workbench
evaluates your entries by performing a "Goodness of Fit" to ensure that your results will be dependable.
Click the fly-out of the Load Data option and choose Improved Fit after entering data points for
viewing the graph and updating the table. Interpolated points are displayed if they are available from
the goodness of fit approximation. Once load entries are entered, the table provides one of the following
color-code indicators per segment:
Green - Values are considered reliable and accurate.
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RS Base Excitation
RS Base Excitation loads are used exclusively in response spectrum analyses to provide excitation in
terms of a spectrum. For each spectrum value, there is one corresponding frequency. Use the Boundary
Condition setting in the Details view to apply an excitation to all of the fixed supports that were applied
in the prerequisite modal analysis.
Note
Only fixed DOFs of the supports are valid for excitations.
You can also specify the excitation in a given direction (X Axis, Y Axis, or Z Axis).
The user-defined RS data table is created in the Tabular Data window. You can create a new RS table
or import one from a library that you have created, via the fly-out of the Load Data option in the Details
view.
Note
Only positive table values can be used when defining this load.
Three types of base excitation are supported:
RS Acceleration
RS Velocity
RS Displacement
You should specify the direction of the RS base excitation in the global Cartesian system.
Multiple RS excitations (uncorrelated) can be applied. Typical usage is to apply 3 different RS excitations
in the X, Y, and Z directions. Correlation between RS excitations is not supported.
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741
Joint Load
When you are using joints in a Transient Structural or Rigid Dynamics analysis, you use a Joint Load
object to apply a kinematic driving condition to a single degree of freedom on a Joint object. Joint
Load objects are applicable to all joint types except fixed, general, universal, and spherical joints. For
translation degrees of freedom, the Joint Load can apply a displacement, velocity, acceleration, or force.
For rotation degrees of freedom, the Joint Load can apply a rotation, angular velocity, angular acceleration, or moment. The directions of the degrees of freedom are based on the reference coordinate
system of the joint and not on the mobile coordinate system.
A positive joint load will tend to cause the mobile body to move in the positive degree of freedom
direction with respect to the reference body, assuming the mobile body is free to move. If the mobile
body is not free to move then the reference body will tend to move in the negative degree of freedom
direction for the Joint Load. One way to learn how the mechanism will behave is to use the Configure
feature. For the joint with the applied Joint Load, dragging the mouse will indicate the nature of the
reference/mobile definition in terms of positive and negative motion.
To apply a Joint Load:
1.
742
Highlight the Transient environment object and insert a Joint Load from the right mouse button
context menu or from the Loads drop down menu in the Environment toolbar.
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From the Joint drop down list in the Details view of the Joint Load, select the particular Joint object
that you would like to apply to the Joint Load. You should apply a Joint Load to the mobile bodies
of the joint. It is therefore important to carefully select the reference and mobile bodies while defining
the joint.
3.
Select the unconstrained degree of freedom for applying the Joint Load, based on the type of joint.
You make this selection from the DOF drop down list. For joint types that allow multiple unconstrained
degrees of freedom, a separate Joint Load is necessary to drive each one. Further limitations apply as
outlined under Joint Load Limitations (p. 743) below. Joint Load objects that include velocity, acceleration,
rotational velocity or rotational acceleration are not applicable to static structural analyses.
4.
Select the type of Joint Load from the Type drop down list. The list is filtered with choices of Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, and Force if you selected a translational DOF in step 3. The choices are
Rotation, Rotational Velocity, Rotational Acceleration, and Moment if you selected a rotational DOF.
5.
Specify the magnitude of the Joint Load type selected in step 4 as a constant, in tabular format, or as
a function of time using the same procedure as is done for most loads in the Mechanical application.
Refer to Defining Boundary Condition Magnitude (p. 848) for further information.
Tip
On Windows platforms, an alternative and more convenient way to accomplish steps 1
and 2 above is to drag and drop the Joint object of interest from under the Connections
object folder to the Transient object folder. When you highlight the new Joint Load
object, the Joint field is already completed and you can continue at step 3 with DOF
selection.
6.
As applicable, specify the load step at which you want to lock the joint load by entering the value of
the step in the Lock at Load Step field. The default value for this option is zero (0) and is displayed as
Never. This feature immobilizes movement of the joints DOFs. For example, this option is beneficial
when you want to tighten a bolt to an initial torque value (via a Moment Joint Driver on a Revolute
Joint) and then lock that joint during a subsequent load step.
Note
MAPDL References:
This feature makes use of the %_FIX% parameter on the DJ command.
When a joint driver with a force or moment load is deactivated, then the lock constraint on the joint is also deleted using the DJDELE command. This happens if the
locking occurs before the deactivation.
Unconstrained Degrees of
Freedom
None
Not applicable
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743
Unconstrained Degrees of
Freedom
Revolute
ROTZ
ROTZ
Cylindrical
UZ, ROTZ
UZ, ROTZ
Translational
UX
UX
Slot
UX
Universal
ROTX, ROTZ
None
Spherical
None
Planar
General
Bushing
Point on Curve
UX
UX
Note
Where applicable, you must define all three rotations for a Joint Load before proceeding to
a solve.
Thermal Condition
You can insert a known temperature (not from data transfer) boundary condition in an analysis by inserting a Thermal Condition object and specifying the value of the temperature in the Details view
under the Magnitude property. If the load is applied to a surface body, by default the temperature is
applied to both the top and bottom surface body faces. You do have the option to apply different
temperatures to the top and bottom faces by adjusting the Shell Face entry in the details view. When
you apply a thermal condition load to a solid body, the Shell Face property is not available in the Details
view. You can add the thermal condition load as time-dependent or spatially varying.
Note
When a Thermal Condition is specified on the Top or Bottom shell face of a surface body, the
opposite face defaults to the environment temperature unless it is otherwise specified from
another load object.
For an assembly of bodies with different topologies (solid body, line, shell, beam), you must
define a separate Thermal Condition load for each topology, that is, you must define one load
scoped to line bodies, define a second load scoped to surface bodies, and so on.
For each load step, if an Imported Body temperature load and a Thermal Condition load are
applied on common geometry selections, the Imported Body temperature load takes precedence.
See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when multiple load objects of
the same type exist on common geometry selections.
If the Thermal Condition is applied to a shell face that has a Layered Section applied to it, you
must set Shell Face to Both in order to solve the analysis.
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Analysis Types
Thermal Condition is available for the following analysis types:
Electric Analysis
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Thermal Condition boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Thermal Condition.
Body - Supported. The Thermal Condition is a body-based boundary condition.
Face - Not Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Types: The Thermal Condition boundary conditions loading is defined by Magnitude only.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant
Tabular (Time Varying)
Tabular (Spatially Varying)
Function (Time Varying)
Function (Spatially Varying)
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745
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Thermal Condition.
Magnitude - Temperature value. The default is 22 degrees Celsius.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
746
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Temperature
This boundary condition simulates a uniform, time-dependent, or spatially varying temperature over
the selected geometry.
A spatially varying load allows you to vary the magnitude of a temperature in a single coordinate direction
and as a function of time using the Tabular Data or Function features. See the Defining Boundary
Condition Magnitude (p. 848) section for the specific steps to apply tabular and/or function loads.
Note
For each load step, if an Imported Temperature load and a Temperature load are applied on
common geometry selections, the Imported Temperature load takes precedence. See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when multiple load objects of the
same type exist on common geometry selections.
Analysis Types
Temperature is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported - Plane Stress and Axisymmetric behaviors only.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Temperature boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Temperature.
Body - Supported. When scoping a load to a body, you need to specify whether the temperature is applied
to Exterior Faces Only or to the Entire Body using the Apply To option.
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747
Note
The same temperature value is applied when multiple faces, edges, or vertices are selected.
Loading Types: The Temperature boundary conditions loading is defined by Magnitude only.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant
Tabular (Time Varying)
Tabular (Spatially Varying)
Function (Time Varying)
Function (Spatially Varying)
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
748
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Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Indicates that the geometry selection is defined by a
Named Selection.
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined
Named Selections.
Apply To (Body scoping only) - Options include:
Exterior Faces Only
Entire Body
Definition
Convection
This boundary condition causes convective heat transfer to occur through one or more flat or curved
faces (in contact with a fluid).
The bulk fluid temperature is measured at a distance from the face outside of the thermal boundary
layer. The face temperature refers to the temperature at the face of the simulation model.
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749
Analysis Types
Convection is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported - Plane Stress and Axisymmetric behaviors only.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Convection boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Convection.
Body - Supported (3D Only).
Face - Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Options:
Film Coefficient - The film coefficient (also called the heat transfer coefficient or unit thermal conductance)
is based on the composition of the fluid in contact with the face, the geometry of the face, and the hydrodynamics of the fluid flow past the face. It is possible to have a time, temperature or spatially dependent
film coefficient. Refer to heat transfer handbooks or other references to obtain appropriate values for film
coefficient.
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Note
If you change the units from Celsius to Fahrenheit, or Fahrenheit to Celsius, when the
convection coefficient type Difference between surface and bulk is in use, the displayed
temperature values indicate a temperature difference only. The addition or subtraction of
32o for each temperature in the conversion formula offset one another. In addition,
switching to or from the Difference between surface and bulk Coefficient Type option
from any other option, clears the values in the Convection Coefficient table. This helps
to ensure that you enter correct temperature values.
Ambient Temperature - The ambient temperature is the temperature of the surrounding fluid. It is possible
to have a time or spatially dependent ambient temperature.
Convection Matrix - Specifies whether to use a diagonal film coefficient matrix or a consistent film coefficient matrix. The default setting, Program Controlled, allows the solver to determine whether to use a
diagonal or consistent film coefficient matrix.
Edit Data For - This field allows you to select and edit Film Coefficient or Ambient Temperature. The
tabular data, details view, graph and graphics view will change based on the selection in the Edit Data
For field. For example, when film coefficient is tabular/function and Edit Data For is Film Coefficient,
you will actively edit data for the Film Coefficient in the appropriate details view and tabular data fields.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant.
Tabular (Time Varying).
Tabular (Spatially Varying).
Tabular (Temperature Varying) - for Film Coefficient.
Function (Time Varying).
Function (Spatially Varying).
You can vary the magnitude of film coefficient and ambient temperature in a single coordinate direction
using either tabular data or a function. See the Defining Boundary Condition Magnitude (p. 848) section
for the specific steps to apply tabular and/or function loads.
Note
Scaling based on time is not supported for convection.
751
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
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Radiation
Applies thermal radiation to a surface of a model (an edge in a 2D model). You can define the exchange
of radiation between a body and the ambient temperature, or between two surfaces.
For thermal related analyses that use the ANSYS solver, the actual calculation of the radiation exchange
between two surfaces is performed using the Radiosity Solver method. The Radiosity Solver method
accounts for the heat exchange between radiating bodies by solving for the outgoing radiative flux for
each surface, when the surface temperatures for all surfaces are known. The surface fluxes provide
boundary conditions to the finite element model for the conduction process analysis in Workbench.
When new surface temperatures are computed, due to either a new time step or iteration cycle, new
surface flux conditions are found by repeating the process. The surface temperatures used in the computation must be uniform over each surface facet to satisfy the conditions of the radiation model.
For models that are entirely symmetrical, you can account for symmetry using Symmetry Regions or
Cyclic Regions. The Radiosity Solver method respects plane or cyclic symmetries. Using a model's symmetry can significantly reduce the size of the model. The Radiosity Solver method will take symmetry
into account and the Radiation Probe solution results will be valid for the full model.
Settings for the Radiosity Solver method are available under the Analysis Settings object in the Radiosity Controls category.
Related References
See the sections of the Mechanical APDL help listed below for further information related to using the
Radiation load in thermal related analyses that employ the ANSYS solver.
Analysis Types
Radiation is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
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Note
1
Radiation exchange between surfaces is restricted to gray-diffuse surfaces. Gray implies that
emissivity and absorptivity of the surface do not depend on wavelength (either can depend
on temperature). Diffuse signifies that emissivity and absorptivity do not depend on direction.
For a gray-diffuse surface, emissivity = absorptivity; and emissivity + reflectivity = 1. Note
that a black body surface has a unit emissivity.
Surface to Surface Radiation
When the Correlation property is specified as Surface to Surface in the Details view of a Radiation
object, the radiation energy is exchanged between surfaces. In this context, surface refers to a face
of a shell or solid body in a 3D model, or an edge in a 2D model. You can then specify Emissivity,
Ambient Temperature (defined above), Enclosure, and the Enclosure Type. Emissivity must be a
positive value that is not greater than 1. Emissivity can also be defined by Tabular Data.
You should assign the same Enclosure number to surfaces radiating to each other 1. Specify the Enclosure Type as either Open (default) or Perfect as suited for a simulation of the closed radiation problems.
Furthermore, closed radiation problems have no dependence on Ambient Temperature so that property
is removed from the Details view during closed problems.
Caution
You cannot apply a Surface to Surface Radiation load to a geometric entity that is already
attached to another Radiation load.
When using the Surface to Surface correlation with shell bodies, the Details view also includes a Shell
Face setting that allows you the choice of applying the load to Both faces, to the Top face only, or to
the Bottom face only.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Note
If a solver error occurs when the Enclosure Type is set to
Perfect, it is recommended that you change the setting
to Open.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
756
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Heat Flow
Heat Flow is available for 3D simulations and 2D simulations for Plane Stress and Axisymmetric behaviors
only. See the 2D Analyses section of the Help for the required geometry settings for Plane Stress and
Axisymmetric behaviors.
Heat flow simulates the transmission of heat across flat or curved surfaces or edges or across a vertex
or vertices and as a result adds energy to a body over time.
Perfectly Insulated
For a selected face or faces, Heat Flow allows you to specify a Perfectly Insulated load wherein a "no
load" insulated condition is applied to the face - that is, zero heat flow. An insulated face is a no load
condition meant to override any thermal loads scoped to a body. The heat flow rate is 0 across this
face. This load is useful in a case where most of a model is exposed to a given condition (such a free
air convection) and only a couple of faces do not share this condition (such as the base of a cup that
is grounded). This load overrides thermal loads scoped to a body only. See Resolving Thermal Boundary
Condition Conflicts for a discussion on thermal load precedence.
Selecting multiple faces insulates all of the faces.
Analysis Types
Heat Flow is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Heat Flow boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
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Note
If a face enlarges due to a change in CAD parameters, the total load applied to the face remains
constant, but the heat flux (heat flow rate per unit area) decreases.
If an edge enlarges due to a change in CAD parameters, the total load applied to the edge remains constant, but the line load (heat flow rate per unit length) decreases.
If you try to apply a heat flow to a multiple face, edge, or vertex selections that span multiple
bodies, the selection is ignored. The geometry property for the load object displays No Selection
if the load was just created, or it maintains its previous geometry selection if there was one.
Those multiple bodies should belong to the same part in order for the selection of multiple
faces to be valid for scoping.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant - Supported.
Tabular (Time Varying) - Supported for face selections in 3D and edge selections in 2D.
Tabular (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
Function (Time Varying) - Supported for face selections in 3D and edge selections in 2D.
Function (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
758
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Heat Flow.
Define As - Heat Flow (default) or Perfectly Insulated. Perfectly Insulated indicates
zero heat flow.
Magnitude - Loading value.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Heat Flux
Heat Flux is available for 3D simulations and 2D simulations for Plane Stress and Axisymmetric behaviors
only. See the 2D Analyses section of the Help for the required geometry settings for Plane Stress and
Axisymmetric behaviors.
The Heat Flux boundary condition applies a uniform heat flux to the selected geometry. A positive heat
flux acts into a face or edge, adding energy to a body. Heat flux is defined as energy per unit time per
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Analysis Types
Heat Flux is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported. Body and Face selections only.
2D Simulation Supported. Edge selections only.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Heat Flux boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Heat Flux.
Body - Supported - 3D Only.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Supported - 2D Only.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant - Supported.
Tabular (Time Varying) - Supported.
Tabular (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
Function (Time Varying) - Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Heat Flux.
Magnitude - Heat flux density value.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary
condition.
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Note
For each load step, if an Imported Heat Generation load and an Internal Heat Generation
load are applied on common geometry selections, the Imported Heat Generation load takes
precedence. See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when multiple
load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections.
Analysis Types
Internal Heat Generation is available for the following analysis types:
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Internal Heat Generation boundary condition
include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Internal Heat Generation.
Body - Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
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Fields/Options/Description
Definition
Voltage
A voltage load simulates the application of an electric potential to a body.
Analysis Types
Voltage is available for the following analysis types:
Electric Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Magnetostatic Analysis
For each analysis type, you define the voltage by magnitude and phase angle in the Details view, according to the following equation.
V = Vocos(t+)
Vo is the magnitude of the voltage (input value Voltage), is the frequency, and is the phase angle.
For a static analysis, t = 0.
Magnetostatic Analysis Requirements
See Voltage Excitation for Solid Source Conductors (p. 773).
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
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Caution
During an Electric/Thermal-Electric Analysis, voltage loads cannot be applied to a face,
edge, or vertex that is shared with another voltage or current load or a Coupling.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Current
A current load simulates the application of an electric current to a body.
Analysis Types
Current is available for the following analysis types:
Electric Analysis
Thermal-Electric Analysis
Magnetostatic Analysis
For each analysis type, you define the current by magnitude and phase angle in the Details view, according to the following equation.
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Current boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Not Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Current.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported. An applied current assumes that the body surfaces are equipotential.
Edge - Supported. An applied current assumes that the edges are equipotential.
Vertex - Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Note
Current loads assume that the scoped entities are equipotential, meaning they behave as
electrodes where the voltage degrees of freedom are coupled and solve for a constant potential.
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Caution
Current loads cannot be applied to a face, edge, or vertex that is shared with another voltage
or current load or a Coupling.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant - Supported.
Tabular (Time Varying) - Supported.
Tabular (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
Function (Time Varying) - Supported.
Function (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
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Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined
Named Selections.
Definition
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A flux parallel condition is required on at least one face of the simulation model. It is typically applied
on the outer faces of the air body to contain the magnetic flux inside the simulation domain or on
symmetry plane faces where the flux is known to flow parallel to the face.
To set this feature, right-click on the Magnetostatic environment item in the tree and select Magnetic
Flux Parallel from the Insert context menu or click on the Magnetic Flux Parallel button in the toolbar.
It can only be applied to geometry faces and Named Selections (faces).
Half-symmetry model of a keepered magnet system. Note that the XY-plane is a Flux Parallel boundary.
The flux arrows flow parallel to the plane.
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Half-symmetry model of a keepered magnet system. Note that the YZ-plane is a Flux Normal boundary.
The flux arrows flow normal to the plane. This is a natural boundary condition and requires no specification.
Note
Applying the flux parallel boundary conditions to the exterior faces of the air domain may
artificially capture more flux in the simulation domain than what physically occurs. This is
because the simulation model truncates the open air domain. To minimize the effect, ensure
the air domain extends far enough away from the physical structure. Alternatively, the exterior faces of the air domain may be left with an unspecified face boundary condition. An unspecified exposed exterior face imposes a condition whereby the flux flows normal to the
face. Keep in mind that at least one face in the model must have a flux parallel boundary
condition.
Conductor
Available for 3D simulations only.
A conductor body is characterized as a body that can carry current and possible excitation to the system.
Solid CAD geometry is used to model both solid source conductors and stranded source conductors.
In solid conductors, such as bus bars, rotor cages, etc., the current can distribute non-uniformly due to
geometry changes, hence the program performs a simulation that solves for the currents in the solid
conductor prior to computing the magnetic field.
Stranded source conductors can be used to represent wound coils. Wound coils are used most often
as sources of current excitation for rotating machines, actuators, sensors, etc. You may directly define
a current for each stranded source conductor body.
Solid Source Conductor Body (p. 771)
Stranded Source Conductor Body (p. 775)
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Note
Conductors require two material properties: relative permeability and resistivity. They also
must not terminate interior to the model with boundary conditions that would allow current
to enter or exit the conductor. Termination points of a conductor may only exist on a plane
of symmetry.
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ground one end of a conductor (set voltage to zero) and apply the net current at the terminal's other
end.
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Note
Voltage excitations may only be applied to solid source conductor bodies and at symmetry
planes.
An applied voltage drop across the terminals of a conductor body will induce a current. In this simple
example, the current in the conductor is related to the applied voltage drop, using the equations shown
below. V = applied voltage drop, I = current, = resistivity of the conductor (material property), L =
length of the conductor, and Area = cross section area of the conductor.
V = IR
R = (*L)/Area
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Note
Current excitations may only be applied to a face of a solid source conductor body at symmetry planes. An excitation must be accompanied by a ground potential set at another termination point of the conductor body on another symmetry plane. No current may be applied
to a conductor body face that is interior to the model domain. The symmetry plane on which
the current excitation is applied must also have a magnetic flux-parallel boundary condition.
An applied current to a conductor face will calculate and distribute the current within the conductor
body. A ground potential (voltage = 0) must be applied to a termination point of the conductor body.
Both the applied current and voltage constraints must be applied at a symmetry plane.
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After creating the body segments and assigning coordinate systems, right-click the Magnetostatic environment object in the tree and select Source Conductor from the Insert drop-down menu, or click
on the Source Conductor button in the toolbar. Select all body segments, then scope the bodies to
the conductor and, in the Details view, set Conductor Type to Stranded, then enter the Number of
Turns and the Conducting Area (cross section area of conductor). The stranded conductor is now ready
for you to apply a current. A step-by-step example is presented in the Current Excitation for Stranded
Source Conductors (p. 777) section.
Note
Conductors require two material properties: relative permeability and resistivity. They also
must not terminate interior to the model with boundary conditions that would allow current
to enter or exit the conductor. Termination points of a conductor may only exist on a plane
of symmetry.
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3. Right-click on the Magnetostatic environment object in the tree and select Source Conductor from the
Insert drop down menu, or click on the Source Conductor button in the toolbar.
Scope the Source Conductor to all of the solid bodies.
Set Conductor Type to Stranded.
Enter the Number of Turns and Conducting Area for the conductor.
For the Conducting Area, select a face that represents the conductor's cross-sectional area and
read the surface area that displays in the Status Bar located at the bottom of the screen display.
The Source Conductor graphic and Details view listing is shown below.
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4. Right-click on the Conductor object in the tree and select Current from the Insert drop down menu,
or click on the Current button in the toolbar.
Set Magnitude as constant or time-varying.
Set Phase Angle.
The Current automatically is scoped to the same bodies as the Source Conductor.
The displayed current arrows give you visual validation that the current direction has been properly
defined by the assigned local coordinate systems for each conductor body.
Changing either the Type of Source Conductor or any coordinate system will invalidate the
setup.
Motion Load
The application interacts with motion simulation software such as Dynamic Designer from MSC, and
MotionWorks from Solid Dynamics. This is not the motion feature that is built into the Mechanical application. See the Rigid Dynamics Analysis (p. 216) and Transient Structural Analysis (p. 285) sections for
information on the motion features built into the Mechanical application.
Motion simulation software allows you to define and analyze the motion in an assembly of bodies. One
set of computed results from the motion simulation is forces and moments at the joints between the
bodies in the assembly. See Inserting Motion Loads (p. 781) for the procedure on inserting these loads.
These loads are available for static structural analyses.
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Inertial State
If the part of interest is a moving part in the assembly, the frame loads file gives the inertial state of
the body. This includes gravitational acceleration, translational velocity and acceleration, and rotational
velocity and acceleration. Of these inertial "loads" only the rotational velocity is applied in the environment. The remaining loads are accounted for by solving with inertia relief (see below).
If the part of interest is grounded (not allowed to move) in the motion simulation, corresponding supports
need to be added in the environment before solving.
Joint Loads
For each joint in the motion simulation, the frame loads file reports the force data - moment, force, and
3D location - for the frame. Features are also identified so that the load can be applied to the appropriate
face(s), edge(s) or vertex(ices) within the application. These features are identified by the user in the
motion simulation software before exporting the frame loads file. For all non-zero moments and forces,
a corresponding "Moment" and "Remote Force" are attached to the face(s), edge(s) or vertex(ices)
identified in the frame loads file.
The Remote Force takes into account the moment arm of the force applied to the joint.
Note
Material properties have to be manually set to match density used in motion analysis.
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Modifying Loads
You can modify loads that have been inserted, but you should only do so with great care. Modifying
loads in the Mechanical application after importing from the motion simulation software will nullify the
original loading conditions sets in the motion simulation software. Therefore, you need to examine your
results in the Mechanical application carefully.
2.
3.
4.
Choose any structural New Analysis type except Rigid Dynamics and Random Vibration.
5.
6.
Click the environment object in the tree, then right-click and select Insert> Motion Loads.
7.
Select the Frame Load file that you exported from Dynamic Designer.
8.
Click Solve. If more than one body is unsuppressed in the Model corresponding to the environment
object, you will receive an error message at the time of solution stating that only one body should be
unsuppressed.
9.
The exported loads depend on the part geometry, the part material properties, and the part's location
relative to the coordinate system in the part document. When any of these factors change, you must
solve the motion simulation again by repeating the full procedure. Verify that material properties such
as density are consistent in the motion simulation and in the material properties.
Insert Motion Loads is intended to work with a single body only. Results with grounded bodies (bodies
not in motion in the mechanism) are not currently supported.
If an assembly feature (such as a hole) is added after Dynamic Designer generates its Joint attachments
for FEA, the attachments may become invalid. These attachments can be verified by opening the
Properties dialog box for a Joint and selecting the FEA tab. An invalid attachment will have a red "X"
through the icon. To correct this problem, manually redefine the joint attachments using the FEA tab
in the Joint Properties dialog.
A .log file is created when motion loads are imported. This troubleshooting file has the same name
(with an .log extension) and file location as the load file. If the .log file already exists, it is overwritten
by the new file.
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Analysis Types
Fluid Solid Interface is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis
Note
A Static Structural analysis coupled with other physics is intended to work with one substep
(specified in the Analysis Settings). When a Fluid Solid Interface is present, program controlled
sub-stepping will always use one substep regardless of any nonlinearities present. See Steps
and Step Controls for Static and Transient Analyses under the Configuring Analysis Settings
section of the Help.
When one or more FSI loads are present, any components defined in the MAPDL input file are
exported using the CMWRITE command to the file, file.cm, before the solution is completed.
This aids the post-processing of results in CFD-Post.
Mechanical - CFX
Once Fluid Solid Interfaces are identified, loads are transferred to and from body faces in the Mechanical APDL model using the MFX variant of the ANSYS Multi-field solver (see Chapter 4. Multi-field Analysis Using Code Coupling in the Coupled-Field Analysis Guide for details). This solver is accessed from
either the Mechanical APDL Product Launcher or CFX-Solver Manager, and requires both the Mechanical
APDL and CFX input files. To generate the Mechanical APDL input file, select the Solution object folder
in the Mechanical Outline View, and then select Tools> Write Input File. To generate the CFX input
file, use the CFX preprocessor, CFX-Pre.
Run time-monitoring is available in both the Mechanical APDL Product Launcher and CFX-Solver Manager.
Postprocessing of the Mechanical APDL results is available in the Mechanical application, and simultaneous postprocessing of both the Mechanical APDL and CFX results is available in the CFX postprocessor,
CFD-Post.
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Fluid Solid Interface boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Fluid Solid Interface.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type Read-only field that displays boundary condition type - Fluid Solid Interface.
Interface Number Incremental value for each new interface. This value can be
overridden if desired.
Export Results Thermal analyses only. The default value for this property is No.
When this property is set to Yes, thermal data is written to .axdt files for use with
External Data and System Coupling, which can connect to Fluent to transfer thermal
data to a CFD analysis for a one-way transfer of static data. The file format for an
External Data File (.axdt) is described in the External Data File Format Help section
in the Workbench User Guide.
Data to Transfer [Expert] The default for this property is Program Controlled.
When set to All System Coupling Data Transfers, the fluid solid interface regions
can participate in force, displacement, and thermal coupling through System
Coupling. You need to set All System Coupling Data Transfers for Mechanical to
participate in a thermal-structural analysis.
Suppressed Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Detonation Point
An explosive may be initiated by various methods of delivering energy to it. However whether an explosive is dropped, thermally irradiated, or shocked, either mechanically or through a shock from an
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Analysis Types
Detonation Point is available for an Explicit Dynamics analysis only.
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Not Supported.
Note
Detonation Points are not available for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system.
Fields/Options/Description
Definition
Burn Instantaneously - When set to Yes, results in initiation of detonation for all
elements with an explosive material at the start of the solve.
Detonation Time - User can enter the time for initiation of detonation. [Only visible
if Burn Instantaneously is set to No.]
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Location
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Fields/Options/Description
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Location - User can interactively select detonation location using the vertex/edge/face selection tools:
Select Vertex - Sets X/Y/Z location to vertex location.
Select Edge - Sets X/Y/Z location to centre of edge.
Select Face - Sets X/Y/Z location to centre of face.
Theory
The Detonation analysis method used is Indirect Path detonation. Detonation paths are computed by
finding either a direct path through explosive regions or by following straight line segments connecting
centers of cells containing explosives. Either:
Detonation paths will be computed as the shortest route through cells that contain explosive.
Or...
Detonation paths are computed by finding the shortest path obtained by following straight line
segments connecting the centers of cells containing explosive.
The correct detonation paths will automatically be computed around wave-shapers, obstacles, corners,
etc.
Detonation points must lie within the grid. Paths cannot be computed through multiple Parts. If a detonation point is placed in one Part, the detonation from this point cannot propagate to another Part.
If this is required, you must place one or more detonation points in the second Part with the appropriate
initiation times set to achieve the required detonation.
The following illustration outlines the detonation process:
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The result ALPHA can be used to view the progress of the detonation wave through the material. This
corresponds to the burn fraction, which will be a value between zero (no detonation) and one (detonation complete). For the same example, looking at values of alpha at a later stage in the calculation,
the detonation wave can clearly be seen in the body on the right as the spherical band of contours
showing the value of alpha changing from zero to one. The body on the left has a value of one for the
entire body, as it detonated instantaneously.
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Fixed Supports
This boundary condition prevents one or more:
Flat or curved faces from moving or deforming
Straight or curved edges from moving or deforming.
Vertices from moving.
Analysis Types
A Fixed Support is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported. Fixes one or more faces, edges, or vertices.
2D Simulation - Supported. Fixes one or more edges or vertices.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Fixed Support boundary condition include:
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Note
If you are using a surface body model, see the Simply Supported boundary condition section.
Scoping Types: The boundary condition does not require a scoping type because no loading data is
required.
Loading Data Definition: Fixed supports do not have loading data.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Displacements
Displacements are applied at the geometry level. They require that one or more flat or curved faces or
edges or one or more vertices to displace relative to their original location by one or more components
of a displacement vector in the world coordinate system or local coordinate system, if applied.
Analysis Types
A Displacement is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported. Displaces one or more faces, edges, or vertices.
2D Simulation Supported. Displaces one or more edge or vertices.
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Note
Multiple surfaces, edges, or vertices can be selected.
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Loading Types: The boundary conditions loading is defined using one of the following options.
Normal To Supported (3D Faces Only).
Components Supported.
Entering a zero for a component prevents deformation in that direction.
Entering a blank for a component allows free deformation in that direction.
In a cylindrical coordinate system X, Y, and Z are used for R, , and Z directions. When using a cylindrical
coordinate system, non-zero Y displacements are interpreted as translational displacement quantities,
Y = R. Since they are treated as linear displacements it is a reasonable approximation only, for
small values of angular motion .
For Explicit Dynamics analyses, when using a cylindrical coordinate system, the Y the component (that
is, direction) of a displacement constraint is defined as a rotation.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
Constant Supported.
Tabular (Time Varying) Supported.
Tabular (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported for Explicit Dynamics.
Function (Time Varying) - Not Supported for Explicit Dynamics.
Function (Spatially Varying) - Not Supported for Explicit Dynamics.
Free Supported.
Note
Solution Restarts are only supported for Tabular data modifications.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Remote Displacement
A Remote Displacement allows you to apply both displacements and rotations at an arbitrary remote
location in space. You specify the origin of the remote location under Scope in the Details view by
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Analysis Types
A Remote Displacement is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics
Harmonic Response
Modal. For a Modal analysis, only zero magnitude Remote Displacement values are valid. These function
as supports. If non-zero magnitude remote displacements are needed for a Pre-Stress Modal analysis, apply
the Remote Displacement in the static structural environment.
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Rigid Dynamics
A common application is to apply a rotation on a model at a local coordinate system. An example is
shown below along with a plot of the resulting Total Deformation.
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Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Remote Displacement boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Remote Displacement.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Supported.
Vertex - Supported. This boundary condition cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an end release.
Nodes - Not Supported
Loading: This boundary conditions loading in defined in one or more of the following directions.
X Component
Y Component
Z Component
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Note
Solution Restarts are only supported for Tabular data modifications.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
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Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Named
Selections.
Coordinate System - Drop-down list of available coordinate systems. Global Coordinate System is the default.
Z Coordinate
Y Coordinate
X Coordinate
Location - The location of a Remote Displacement can be defined in the global
coordinate system or in a local Cartesian coordinate system. It is by default at the
centroid of selected geometry.
Definition
Advanced
Pinball Region: Specify the radius of the pinball (length unit). The displacement is applied to the elements that are within the pinball region.
Velocity
Analysis Types
Velocity is available for the following analysis types:
Explicit Dynamics - For Explicit Dynamics analyses, the Y Component (that is, direction) of a velocity
constraint defined with a cylindrical coordinate system has units of angular velocity.
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
This section describes the characteristics of the boundary condition, including the application requirements, support limitations, and loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
798
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Impedance Boundary
This boundary condition is available for the explicit solver only.
You can use the impedance boundary condition to transmit waves through cell faces. The boundary
condition predicts the pressure P in the dummy cell from the impedance, particle velocity and a reference
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Theory
In order to economize on problem size it is sometimes advantageous for problems which have only
outward traveling solutions (e.g. an expanding high pressure source) to limit the size of the grid by a
boundary condition which allows outward traveling waves to pass through it without reflecting energy
back into the computational grid.
In practice it proves impossible to include a simple boundary condition which is accurate for all wave
strengths but the algorithm used here give a reasonable approximation over a wide spectrum. However
it should always be borne in mind that the condition is only approximate and some reflected wave,
however small, will be created and care must be taken that such a wave does not have a significant
effect on the later solution. Note that the following analysis deals only with the normal component of
velocity of the wave and the velocity component parallel to the boundary is assumed to be unaffected
by the boundary.
For a one-dimensional wave traveling in the direction of increasing x, the conditions on the rearward
facing characteristic are
where c is the acoustic impedance ( is the local density and c is the local sound speed) and dp and
du are the changes of pressure and velocity normal to the wave along the characteristic. Since it is assumed that no wave energy is being propagated back in the direction of decreasing x the error in applying the above condition on a non-characteristic direction is in general small and it is applied on the
transmitting boundary in the form
Where:
uN is the component of mean velocity normal to the boundary
[c]boundary is the assumed Material Impedance for the boundary
pref is the user defined reference pressure
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801
which is exact for a plane elastic longitudinal wave propagating in an infinite elastic medium.
Note
The default Material Impedance (Program Controlled) is zero. In this case the impedance
at the boundary is taken to be the impedance at time t of the element to which the
boundary is applied. This represents the case of perfect transmission of plane normal elastic
waves.
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Impedance Boundary boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Impedance Boundary.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Not Supported.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Frictionless Face
You use this boundary condition to prevent one or more flat or curved faces from moving or deforming
in the normal direction. The normal direction is relative to the selected geometry face. No portion of
the surface body can move, rotate, or deform normal to the face.
For tangential directions, the surface body is free to move, rotate, and deform tangential to the face.
For a flat surface body, the frictionless support is equivalent to a symmetry condition.
Analysis Types
A Frictionless Support is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
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Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Frictionless Support boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Frictionless Support.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported - 3D Only.
Edge - Supported - 2D Only.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
804
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Fields/Options/Description
entities (for example: 1 Body, 2 Edges) to which the boundary has been applied
using the selection tools.
Named Selection - Indicates that the geometry selection is defined by a Named
Selection.
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Named
Selections.
Definition
Note the effect of the compression only support in the animation of total deformation.
The following demo is presented as an animated GIF. Please view online if you are reading the PDF version
of the help. Interface names and other components shown in the demo may differ from those in the released
product.
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Since the region of the face in compression is not initially known, a nonlinear solution is required and
may involve a substantial increase in solution time.
Analysis Types
A Compression Only Support is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Compression Only Support boundary condition
include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Not Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Compression Only Support.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported - 3D Only.
806
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Type - Read-only field that describes the object - Compression Only Support.
Normal Stiffness - Defines a contact Normal Stiffness factor. Options include:
Program Controlled - This is the default setting. The Normal Stiffness Factor is
calculated by the program.
Manual - The Normal Stiffness Factor is input directly by the user. The Normal
Stiffness Factor property displays for this setting.
Update Stiffness - Specify if the program should update (change) the contact
stiffness during the solution. Options include:
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Fields/Options/Description
Never - This is the default setting. Turns off the program's automatic Update
Stiffness feature.
Each Iteration - Sets the program to update stiffness at the end of each equilibrium
iteration.
Each Iteration, Aggressive - Sets the program to update stiffness at the end of
each equilibrium iteration, but compared to the option, Each Iteration, this option
allows for a more aggressive changing of the value range.
Suppressed - Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.
Cylindrical Support
For 3D simulations, this boundary condition prevents one or more cylindrical faces from moving or
deforming in combinations of radial, axial, or tangential directions. Any combination of fixed and free
radial, axial, and tangential settings are allowed.
Analysis Types
A Cylindrical Support is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported. Cylindrical supports can only be applied to circular edges
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Cylindrical Support boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Cylindrical Support.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported - 3D Cylindrical Face Only.
808
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Simply Supported
Available for 3D simulations only.
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809
Analysis Types
A Simply Supported is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Simply Supported boundary condition include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported - Surface Only.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported - Line Only.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Simply Supported.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Not Supported.
Edge - Supported.
Vertex - Supported. This boundary condition cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an End Release. In
addition, a simply supported vertex is not realistic and leads to singular stresses (that is, stresses that approach infinity near the simply supported vertex). You should disregard stress and elastic strain values in
the vicinity of the simply supported vertex.
Nodes - Not Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Fixed Rotation
You can apply a Fixed Rotation boundary condition to faces, edges, and vertices of a surface body.
When you only apply a fixed rotation support to a surface body, the geometry is free in all translational
directions. However, by default, the rotation of the geometry is fixed about the axes of the corresponding
coordinate system.
Note
Rotation constraints are combined with other constraints that produce rotational DOF assignments to determine which values to apply. They are combined with all other constraints
to determine the Nodal Coordinate System orientation (frictionless supports, cylindrical
supports, given displacements, etc.).
There may be circumstances in which the rotational support and other constraints cannot
resolve a discrepancy for preference of a particular nodes coordinate system.
Analysis Types
A Fixed Rotation is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
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811
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Fixed Rotation boundary condition include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported - Surface Body only.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Fixed Rotation.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Supported.
Vertex - Supported.
A fixed vertex rotation support is not realistic and leads to singular stresses (that is, stresses that approach
infinity near the fixed vertex rotation support). You should disregard stress and elastic strain values in
the vicinity of the fixed vertex rotation support.
This boundary condition cannot be applied to a vertex scoped to an end release.
Nodes - Not Supported.
In the Details view, select Free or Fixed for Rotation X, Rotation Y, and Rotation Z to define the fixed
rotation support.
1. On the Environment context toolbar: click Supports>Fixed Rotation. Or, right-click the Environment
tree object or the Geometry window and select Insert>Fixed Rotation.
2. Specify Scoping Method and Geometry or Named Selection.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Note
When parameterizing this boundary condition, a Free axis of rotation
is represented by a zero (0) and Fixed with a value of one (1) inside the
Parameter tab in ANSYS Workbench (outside of Mechanical).
Elastic Support
Allows one or more faces (3D) or edges (2D) to move or deform according to a spring behavior. The
Elastic Support is based on a Foundation Stiffness set in the Details view, which is defined as the
pressure required to produce a unit normal deflection of the foundation.
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Analysis Types
An Elastic Support is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Modal
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation Supported.
2D Simulation Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Elastic Support boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Elastic Support.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported.
Edge - Supported - 2D Only.
Vertex - Not Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Coupling
While setting up a model for analysis, you can establish relationships among the different degrees of
freedom of the model by physically modeling the part or a contact condition. However, sometimes
there is a need to be able to model distinctive features of a geometry (for example, models that have
equipotential surfaces) which cannot be adequately described with the physical part or contact. In this
instance, you can create a set of surfaces/edges/vertices which have a coupled degree of freedom by
using the Coupling boundary condition.
Coupling the degrees of freedom of a set of geometric entity constrains the results calculated for one
member of the set to be the same for all members of the set.
Analysis Types
Coupling is available for the following analysis types:
Electric Analysis
Steady-State Thermal Analysis
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815
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported. Apply to one or more faces or edges or at least two vertices.
2D Simulation - Supported. Apply to one or more edges or at least two vertices.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Coupling boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Coupling.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Supported 3D Only.
Edge - Supported.
Vertex - Supported.
Nodes - Not Supported.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Constraint Equation
This feature allows you to relate the motion of different portions of a model through the use of an
equation. The equation relates the degrees of freedom (DOF) of one or more Remote Points for Harmonic, Modal, Modal (SAMCEF), Static Structural, Static Structural (SAMCEF), or Transient Structural
systems, or one or more joints for the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver.
For example, the motion along the X direction of one remote point (Remote Point A) could be made
to follow the motion of another remote point (Remote Point B) along the Z direction by:
0 = [1/mm Remote Point A (X Displacement)] - [1/mm Remote Point B (Z Displacement)]
The equation is a linear combination of the DOF values. Thus, each term in the equation is defined by
a coefficient followed by a node (Remote Point) and a degree of freedom label. Summation of the linear
combination may be set to a non-zero value. For example:
7 = [4.1/mm Remote Point A (X Displacement)] + [1/rad Remote Vertex(Rotation Z)]
Similarly, for the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver, to make the rotational velocity of gear A (Revolute A)
to follow the rotational velocity of gear B (Revolute B), in the Z direction, the following constraint
equation should be written:
0 = [1/rad Revolute A (Omega Z)] - [1/rad Revolute B (Omega Z)]
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Note
For Harmonic, Modal, Static Structural, and Transient Structural systems, the first unique
degree of freedom in the equation is eliminated in terms of all other degrees of freedom in
the equation. A unique degree of freedom is one which is not specified in any other constraint
equation, coupled node set, specified displacement set, or master degree of freedom set.
You should make the first term of the equation be the degree of freedom to be eliminated.
Although you may, in theory, specify the same degree of freedom in more than one equation,
you must be careful to avoid over-specification.
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Pipe Idealization
Pipe Idealization is a (boundary) condition used to model pipes that have cross-section distortion. This
is common for curved pipe structures under loading. It is related to the mesh and acts much like a mesh
control. Pipe elements are created by meshing lines or curves.
Prerequisites
1. In the Line Bodys (Geometry Object) Details view Definition category, the Model Type option must be
set to Pipe.
2. The scoped line-body must be meshed with higher order elements. This means that Element Midside
Nodes option under the Advanced category of the Mesh Object, must be set to Kept. If not, the solver
reports an error.
3. Element Midside Nodes in the Advanced section of the Mesh Details panel must be set to Kept); otherwise the solver will report an error.
819
Support Limitations
Note the following limitations for this condition.
If one or more of the elbow elements has a subtended angle of more than 45 degrees, a warning is reported.
The solution can proceed, or you may want to use a finer mesh for better results.
Pipe Idealization cannot be use with symmetry.
Although the solution will account for cross section distortions, the graphics rendering for the results will
display the cross sections in their original shape.
Analysis Types
Pipe Idealization is available for the following analysis types:
Modal
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported - Line Bodies Only. Apply to one or more edges or at least two vertices.
2D Simulation - Not Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Pipe Idealization boundary condition include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Not Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The following topology selection options are supported for Pipe Idealization.
Body - Not Supported.
Face - Not Supported.
Edge - Supported. It can only be scoped to edges that have been modeled as pipes. It can be scoped directly
to the geometry or to a Named Selection containing edges that are modeled as pipes.
820
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
821
Nodal Orientation
Nodal Orientation objects are meant to rotate the nodes to a given coordinate system that you select
in the GUI. By inserting a Nodal Orientation object and scoping it to a subset of nodes, you can create
a Nodal Coordinate System and apply nodal rotations to the scoped nodes. Later, other node based
boundary conditions (Nodal Force, Nodal Displacements, and Nodal Rotations) can use these Nodal
Coordinate Systems.
When two or more Nodal Orientations prescribe different Nodal Coordinate Systems at a single node,
the object that is added last (in the tree) is applied.
Analysis Types
Nodal Orientation is available for the following analysis types:
Modal
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
822
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Nodal Force
Using Nodal Force, you can apply a force to an individual node or a set of nodes. You must create a
node based Named Selection before you can apply a Nodal Force. The Nodal Force that you apply in
Mechanical is represented as an F Command in the Mechanical APDL application. You can also apply
a spatially varying Nodal Force to the scoped nodes.
Note
A Nodal Force may be added during Solution Restart without losing the restart points.
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823
Analysis Types
Nodal Force is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Nodal Force boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The Nodal Force boundary condition is scoped via node-based Named Selections only.
See the Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection Help section for more information.
Tip
Define a Nodal Orientation for the Named Selection to control the Nodal Coordinate System.
824
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Note
When Divide Load by Nodes is set to Yes, the forces are evenly distributed across the nodes
and do not result in a constant traction.
Two Nodal Force objects that have same scoping do not produce a cumulative loading effect.
The Nodal Force that was specified last takes priority and is applied, and as a result, the other
Nodal Force is ignored.
A load applied to a geometric entity and a Nodal Force produce a resultant effect.
Nodal Pressure
Using Nodal Pressure, you can apply pressure on element faces. You must create a node based named
selection before you can apply a Nodal Pressure. It is applicable for solid and surface bodies only.
Specifically, an elemental face pressure is created only if all of the nodes of a given element face (including midside) are included. If all nodes defining a face are shared by an adjacent face of another selected
element, the face is not free and will not have a load applied.
Warning
For application to surface bodies, the MAPDL solver logic for this load is such that if all of
the nodes of a shell element are specified, then the load is applied to the whole element
face. However, if only some nodes are specified on an element and those nodes constitute
a complete external edge, then an edge pressure is created. Therefore, it is critical that you
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825
Note
A Nodal Pressure may be added during Solution Restart without losing the restart points.
Analysis Types
Nodal Pressure is available for the following analysis types:
Harmonic Response (Full) Analysis Using Pre-Stressed Structural System
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Nodal Pressure boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The Nodal Pressure boundary condition is scoped via node-based Named Selections only.
See the Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection Help section for more information.
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Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
Note
To apply Nodal Pressure, the Named Selections that you create must include nodes such that
they define an element face.
Two Nodal Pressure objects that have same scoping do not produce a cumulative loading effect.
The Nodal Pressure that was specified last takes priority and is applied, and as a result, the
other Nodal Pressure is ignored.
A load applied to a geometric entity and a Nodal Pressure produce a resultant effect.
You can apply a spatially varying Nodal Pressure to scoped nodes.
Nodal Displacement
Using Nodal Displacement, you can apply a displacement to an individual node or a set of nodes. You
must create a node based named selection before you can apply a Nodal Displacement. You can also
apply a spatially varying Nodal Displacement to the scoped nodes.
Analysis Types
Nodal Displacement is available for the following analysis types:
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Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Nodal Displacement boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The Nodal Displacement boundary condition is scoped via node-based Named Selections
only. See the Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection Help section for more information.
On the Environment toolbar, click Direct FE>Nodal Displacement. Or, right-click the Environment
tree object or the Geometry window and select Insert>Nodal Displacement.
2.
Click the Named Selection drop-down list and then select the node-based Named Section to prescribe
the scope of the Nodal Displacement.
3.
Tip
Define a Nodal Orientation for the Named Selection to control the Nodal Coordinate System.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
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Fields/Options/Description
Named Selection - Drop-down list of available node-based Named Selections.
Definition
Note
Solution Restarts are only supported for Tabular data modifications.
If a Component is set to Function, all other Components automatically default to the Free
setting and become read-only.
Two Nodal Displacement objects that have same scoping do not produce a cumulative loading
effect. The Nodal Displacement that was specified last takes priority and is applied, and as a
result, the other Nodal Displacement is ignored.
Nodal Rotation
Using Nodal Rotation, you can apply a fixed rotation to an individual node or a set of nodes that have
rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs).
Analysis Types
Nodal Rotation is available for the following analysis types:
Modal
Harmonic Response
Static Structural
Transient Structural
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829
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported.
2D Simulation - Supported.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the Nodal Rotation boundary condition include:
Solid - Not Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Supported.
Topology: The Nodal Rotation boundary condition is scoped via node-based Named Selections only.
See the Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection Help section for more information.
On the Environment toolbar, click Direct FE>Nodal Rotation. Or, right-click the Environment tree
object or the Geometry window and select Insert>Nodal Rotation.
2.
Click the Named Selection drop-down list and then select the node-based Named Section to prescribe
the scope of the Nodal Rotation.
3.
Define the X, Y, and/or Z axis as Fixed or Free. At least one Component must be defined as Fixed.
Tip
Define a Nodal Orientation for the Named Selection to control the Nodal Coordinate System.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Definition
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Fields/Options/Description
X Component - Define the x-axis of rotation as Fixed (default) or Free.
Y Component - Define the y-axis of rotation as Fixed (default) or Free.
Z Component - Define the z-axis of rotation as Fixed (default) or Free.
Suppressed - Includes or excludes the boundary condition in the analysis.
Note
When parameterizing this boundary condition, a Free axis of rotation is represented by a
zero (0) and Fixed with a value of one (1) inside the Parameter tab in ANSYS Workbench
(outside of Mechanical).
EM (Electro-Mechanical) Transducer
Using the EM Transducer boundary condition, you can model simple Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
(MEMS) devices.
Analysis Types
EM Transducer is available for the following analysis types:
Static Structural
Transient Structural
Common Characteristics
The following section outlines the common boundary condition characteristics that include application
requirements of the boundary condition, support limitations, as well as loading definitions and values.
Dimensional Types
3D Simulation - Supported. Node-based Named Selections only support face node selection.
2D Simulation - Supported. Node-based Named Selection only support edge node selection.
Geometry Types: Geometry types supported for the EM Transducer boundary condition include:
Solid - Supported.
Surface/Shell - Supported.
Wire Body/Line Body/Beam - Not Supported.
Topology: The EM Transducer boundary condition is scoped via node-based Named Selections only.
See the Specifying Named Selections by Direct Node Selection Help section for more information.
Loading Types: The loading for this boundary condition is always defined as a Voltage Difference.
Loading Data Definition: Enter loading data using one of the following options.
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On the Environment toolbar, click Direct FE>EM Transducer. Or, right-click the Environment tree
object or the Geometry window and select Insert>EM Transducer.
2.
3.
Specify a GAP Direction, either X, Y, or Z based on the default Nodal Coordinate System or a userdefined nodal coordinate system.
4.
Fields/Options/Description
Scope
Scoping Method - Read-only field that displays scoping method - Named Selection.
Named Selection - Drop-down list of available node-based Named Selections.
Definition
Coordinate System Read-only field that displays the coordinate system - Nodal
Coordinate System.
GAP Direction Specify the structural DOF used, X, Y, or Z based on the Nodal Coordinate System. This is used with the Volt DOF.
Initial Gap Input field for initial range of motion (in GAP Direction). Can be Parameterized.
Minimal Gap Input field for minimal range of motion (in GAP Direction). Can be
Parameterized.
Function[1]
Unit System Read-only field displaying the unit of measure associated with the
Voltage.
Angular Measure Read-only field displaying the unit of measure for the voltages
angle.
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Fields/Options/Description
Graph Controls[1]
Number of Segments The function is graphed with a default value of 200 line
segments. You can change this value to better visualize the function.
Note
The newly created (by EMTGEN command) ground plane nodes (of TRANS126 elements) are
assumed to be fixed.
833
Note
You can import data from external files and apply it in a Mechanical application analysis by
creating a link with an upstream External Data system; see External Data Import.
You can use System Coupling to apply loads from a Fluent CFD analysis; see System Coupling.
You can use the HFSS, Maxwell, or Q3D Extractor applications and perform an analysis in
Mechanical by applying the imported loads.
Imported Loads
Imported boundary conditions include:
Imported Body Force Density
Imported Body Temperature
Imported Convection Coefficient
Imported Displacement
Imported Force
Imported Heat Flux
Imported Heat Generation
Imported Initial Strain
Imported Initial Stress
Imported Pressure
Imported Remote Loads
Imported Surface Force Density
Imported Temperature
Imported Velocity
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Target Analysis
CFD (Convection)
CFD (Pressure)
CFD (Temperature)
Polyflow (Temperature)
Thermal-Electric (Temperature)
In the Project Schematic, add an appropriate analysis with data transfer to create a link between the
solution of a previous analysis and the newly added analysis.
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Attach geometry to the analysis system, and then double-click Setup to open the Mechanical window.
An Imported Load folder is added under the environment folder, by default.
3.
To add an imported load, click the Imported Load folder to make the Environment toolbar available
or right mouse click on the Imported Load folder and select the appropriate load from the context
menu.
Note
An Imported Load can also be created from duplicating an existing imported load.
Perform a right mouse click on an Imported Load to display the context menu, select
duplicate to add an identical Imported Load to your model.
4.
On the Environment toolbar, click Imported Loads, and then select an appropriate load.
5.
Select the appropriate geometry, using the geometry selection or geometry-based Named Selection
option and then click Apply.
The following Imported Loads can also be scoped to node-based Named Selections.
Imported Body Temperatures (from External Data, for Submodeling2 (p. 838), or for Thermal-Stress)
Imported Displacements (from External Data or for Submodeling)
Imported Forces (from External Data)
Imported Temperatures (from External Data or for Submodeling)
Imported Velocities (from External Data)
Imported Initial Stress and Imported Initial Strain (from External Data), when Applied To is set to
Corner Nodes
6.
7.
The Data View can be used to control the load data that is imported. Each data transfer incorporates
some or all of the column types shown below.
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If you are using the ANSYS solver, loads can be applied using tables, or can be applied at each analysis
time/frequency specified in the imported load using the Tabular Loading property. When sending as
tables, the loads can either be ramped or step changed (stepped) between the specified Analysis
Times/Frequencies.
a.
When ramped, the load value at step/sub-step is calculated using linear interpolation in the range
where solve step/sub-step falls.
b.
When stepped, the load value specified at t2 is applied in the range (t1, t2], where (t1, t2] is the
range greater than t1 and less than or equal to t2.
Note
When program controlled, the loads are sent as tables when Analysis Time(s)/Frequency(ies) not matching any step end times/maximum frequency are present in the
load definition. The loads are ramped for static/steady state and harmonic analyses
and step applied for transient analyses.
The loads are always sent as tables when Ramped or Stepped is chosen.
Extrapolation is not performed when stepping/ramping the loads. If the solve time
for a step/sub-step falls outside the specified Analysis Time/Frequency, then the
load value at the nearest specified analysis time is used.
For temperature loads, the values are ramped from reference temperature for the first
time step. For all other loads, the values are ramped from zero.
User can choose not to send the loads as tables using the Off option. The analysis
times/frequencies specified in the load definition must match the step end
times/maximum frequency in this case for the solution to succeed.
9.
In the Project tree, right-click the imported load, and then click Import Load to import the load.
10. When the load has been imported successfully, a contour or vector plot will be displayed in the Geometry
window.
For vector loads types, contours plots of the magnitude (Total) or X/Y/Z component can be viewed
by changing the Data option in the details pane. Defaults to a vector plot (All).
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837
Note
The isoline option is drawn based on nodal values. When drawing isolines for imported
loads that store element values (Imported Body Force Density, Imported Convection,
Imported Heat Generation, Imported Heat Flux, Imported Pressure, Imported Surface
Force Density, Imported Initial Stress and Imported Initial Strain), the program automatically calculates nodal values by averaging values of the elements to which a node is
attached.
The minimum and maximum values of source data are also available in Legend Controls
for External Data Import, Thermal-Stress, Submodeling, and Acoustic Coupling analyses.
11. To preview the imported load contour that applies to a given row in the Data View, use the Active
Row option in the Details view.
12. To activate or deactivate the load at a step, highlight the specific step in the Graph or Tabular Data
window, and choose Activate/Deactivate at this step! See Activation/Deactivation of Loads for additional
rules when multiple load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections.
To export data, select the Imported Load object, right-click the mouse, and then select Export.
Additional information on Thermal-Stress, Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI), Ansoft - Mechanical Data
Transfer, Icepak to Mechanical Data Transfer, Submodeling, and External Data Import can be found in
the Special Analysis Topics (p. 301) section.
Note
Convergence is not supported for environments with imported loads.
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Note
For a particular load step, an active Imported Body Force Density load will overwrite other
Imported Body Force Density loads that exist higher (previously added) in the tree, on common
geometry selections. See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when
multiple load objects of the same type exist on common geometry selections.
Note
For large-deflection analyses, the loads are applied to the initial size of the element, not the
current size.
Note
Adaptive Convergence objects inserted under an environment that is referenced by an Imported Body Temperature object will invalidate the Imported Body Temperature object, and
not allow a solution to progress.
For a particular load step, an active Imported Body Temperature load will overwrite any
Thermal Condition loads on common geometry selections.
When a Thermal Condition is specified on the Top or Bottom shell face of a surface body, the
opposite face defaults to the environment temperature unless it is otherwise specified from
another load object.
For an assembly of bodies with different topologies, you must define a separate Imported
Body Temperature load for surface bodies.
The values used in the solution are calculated by first converting the imported load values into
the solver unit system and then multiplying the scale value.
For each load step, if an Imported Body Temperature load and a Thermal Condition load
are applied on common geometry or node selections, the Imported Body Temperature load
takes precedence. An active Imported Body Temperature load will also overwrite other Imported Body Temperature loads that exist higher (previously added) in the tree, on common geo-
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839
Note
A warning message will appear if negative mapped HTC values are present. Insert a validation
object and use the Source Value option to determine source nodes with values less than
zero.
See the Imported Boundary Conditions (p. 834) section for applicable transfers or for specific steps to
transfer data.
Imported Displacement
When displacements are transferred to a structural analysis, an Imported Displacement object can be
inserted to represent the transfer.
See the Imported Boundary Conditions (p. 834) section for applicable transfers or for specific steps to
transfer data.
Note
If one or more nodes with imported displacements have nodal rotations specified on them,
Mechanical attempts to negotiate and apply the imported displacements. The imported
displacements are transformed to the nodal coordinate system and then applied on the
node(s). However, there may be cases when a suitable transformation cannot be obtained
(for example, [x,y,z] -> [fixed, free, free] in the global coordinate system becomes [fixed, fixed,
free] in the nodal coordinate system if the coordinate system is rotated about the z-axis).
For such situations, Mechanical will report a conflict.
Note
For each load step, if an Imported Displacement and other support or displacement constraints
are applied on common geometry or node selections, you can choose to override the specified
constraints by using the Override Constraints property in the details of the Imported Dis-
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Imported Force
When forces are transferred to a structural analysis, an Imported Force object can be inserted to represent the transfer.
If the import process involves mapping data across meshes, additional result information is reported
in the Transfer Summary. The reported source and target force results may be used to validate the
mapping and also to appropriately apply a scaling factor.
See the Imported Boundary Conditions (p. 834) section for applicable transfers or External Data Import
for specific steps to transfer data.
Note
Profile preserving algorithms are used to import force loads, therefore the total force on the
source and target may not match. Use the scaling factor reported in the Transfer Summary
to appropriately scale the load.
Note
For surface bodies, the thickness of each target node is ignored when data is mapped. When
importing data from an External Data system, the Shell Thickness Factor property enables
you to account for the thickness at each target node, and consequently modify the location
used for each target node during the mapping process. See External Data Import for additional information.
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841
Note
The Joule heating, from an Electric analysis, resulting from limited contact electric conductance
is ignored during this data transfer.
For each load step, if an Imported Heat Generation load and an Internal Heat Generation load
are applied on common geometry selections, the Imported Heat Generation load takes precedence. An active Imported Heat Generation load will also overwrite other Imported Heat Generation loads that exist higher (previously added) in the tree, on common geometry selections.
See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when multiple load objects of
the same type exist on common geometry selections.
For surface bodies, the thickness of each target node is ignored when data is mapped. When
importing data from an External Data system, the Shell Thickness Factor property enables
you to account for the thickness at each target node, and consequently modify the location
used for each target node during the mapping process. See External Data Import for additional
information.
Note
Imported Initial Strain can only be applied at the start of the first step.
Activation/Deactivation of loads is not available for Imported Strain load.
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Important
Mechanical maps every individual tensor by direct interpolation of individual components. This
is numerically the simplest method but is physically inconsistent especially in nonlinear solid
mechanics applications. See the Recommendations and Guidelines for Mapping of Initial
Stress and Strain Data section for more information.
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843
Note
Imported Initial Stress can only be applied at the start of the first step.
Activation/Deactivation of loads is not available for Imported Initial Stress load.
Imported Initial Stress load is not supported for bodies which have the following material types
assigned :
Materials with kinematic hardening properties
Gasket materials
For shell bodies, the user has the option to import stress on All, Top, Middle, or Bottom shell
face(s).
For shells with layered sections specified, All is the only supported option for importing stress
on shell faces.
Initial stress can only be applied to a shell body with a default coordinate system. If a coordinate
system is specified either directly through the Coordinate System property on the body or
indirectly through the Coordinate System property on Layered Section, then the object becomes invalid and stress cannot be imported.
Important
Mechanical maps every individual tensor by direct interpolation of individual components. This
is numerically the simplest method but is physically inconsistent especially in nonlinear solid
mechanics applications. See the Recommendations and Guidelines for Mapping of Initial
Stress and Strain Data section for more information.
Recommendations and Guidelines for Mapping of Initial Stress and Strain Data
Mechanical maps initial stress and strain data by direct interpolation of individual components. This is
numerically the simplest method but is physically inconsistent especially in nonlinear solid mechanics
applications.
Tensor fields associated with solid mechanics applications e.g. stress, strains, plastic strains etc. are
not independent of each other. The strains are related to the displacements through the compatibility
equations and the stresses are related to strains through the constitutive equations. In addition, for
plasticity, other equations like the flow rule also relate the plastic strain tensors to the stress tensors.
Hence independent interpolation of these tensors will violate these equations which in turn will create
a globally un-equilibrated state of stress in the mapped domain. So, using these mapped quantities in
nonlinear solid mechanics applications is not recommended. However, irrespective of these limitations,
if the user wants to use these mapped fields, it is strongly recommended that he uses a dummy load
step in the solver with the imported initial stress/strain results and only apply new loads and/or
boundary conditions if and only if the dummy load step converges and the resulting deformation is
physically consistent with the problem. Generally, the analysis with the dummy load step will not converge
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+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
Imported Pressure
When pressures are transferred to a structural or harmonic analysis, an Imported Pressure object can
be inserted to represent the transfer.
See the Imported Boundary Conditions (p. 834) section for applicable transfers or for specific steps to
transfer data.
Note
For surface bodies, the thickness of each target node is ignored when data is mapped. When
importing data from an External Data system, the Shell Thickness Factor property enables
you to account for the thickness at each target node, and consequently modify the location
used for each target node during the mapping process. See External Data Import for additional information.
Imported pressure loads from External Data can be mapped and applied either to the centroids or
corner nodes of the selected element faces 3D or element edges(2D) using the Applied to property in
the Details view.
When imported pressure loads are applied to corner nodes, the Filter property under the Scope group
allows the user to select a subset of the scoped element faces/edges and imports the load only on the
specified subset. To filter a subset of element faces/edges, follow the following steps:
1. Create a nodal Named Selection to select all the nodes in the region of interest.
2. Select the created named selection in the Filter property. You may also choose any pre-existing nodal
Named Selection.
The filtered subset of element edges/faces is then determined by the following:
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Imported Temperature
When temperatures are transferred to a thermal analysis, an Imported Temperature object can be inserted to represent the transfer.
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Note
For each load step, if an Imported Temperature load and Temperature load are applied on
common geometry or node selections, the Imported Temperature load takes precedence. An
active Imported Temperature load will also overwrite other Imported Temperature loads that
exist higher (previously added) in the tree, on common geometry or node selections. See Activation/Deactivation of Loads (p. 637) for additional rules when multiple load objects of the
same type exist on common geometry selections.
If a scale factor is specified, the values used in the solution are calculated by first converting
the imported load values into the solver unit system and then multiplying the scale value.
For surface bodies, the thickness of each target node is ignored when data is mapped. When
importing data from an External Data system, the Shell Thickness Factor property enables
you to account for the thickness at each target node, and consequently modify the location
used for each target node during the mapping process. See External Data Import for additional
information.
Imported Velocity
When velocities are transferred to an acoustic analysis, an Imported Velocity object can be inserted
to represent the transfer. Imported velocity objects are not supported in MSUP harmonic analyses
See the Imported Boundary Conditions (p. 834) section for applicable transfers or for specific steps to
transfer data.
Note
For surface bodies, the thickness of each target node is ignored when data is mapped. When
importing data from an External Data system, the Shell Thickness Factor property enables
you to account for the thickness at each target node, and consequently modify the location
used for each target node during the mapping process. See External Data Import for additional information.
Note
An acoustic analysis is performed via ACT. For information on creating optimization extensions,
see the Application Customization Toolkit Developers Guide and the Application Customization Toolkit Reference Guide. These documents are part of the ANSYS Customization Suite
on the ANSYS Customer Portal.
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Note
Changing the method of how a multiple-step load value is specified (such as Tabular to
Constant), the Activation/Deactivation state of all steps resets to the default, Active.
Support Limitations
Tabular Heat Flow loads applied to an edge in a 3D analysis are not supported.
Function Heat Flow loads applied to an edge in a 3D analysis are not supported.
Function loads are not supported for Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA) analyses.
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849
The equal sign [=] must be used to begin an expression. Additional operators include: +, - , *, /, ^ (for
power) and % (integer Modulus).
Sample usage:
2+3
10.5-2.5
3.5*3.3
10.12/1.89
2^10
10%3
2*(3+5)
The order of operator precedence is:
parentheses
intrinsic functions (like sin or cos)
power (^)
multiplication (*), division (/) and integer modulus (%)
addition (+) and subtraction (-)
Note
If the decimal separator (p. 16) in the current language is a comma (,) as it is in German,
then the separator for the list of parameters of a function is a semicolon (;).
For example, if an English expression is =2.5 + pow (1.3, 6), the equivalent German expression
is =2,5 + pow (1.3; 6).
The supported intrinsic functions are:
Supported Intrinsic Functions
850
Sample Usage
sin(x)
sin(3.1415926535/2)
sinh(x)
sinh(3.1415926535/2)
cos(x)
cos(3.1415926535/2)
cosh(x)
tan(x)
Sample Usage
tanh
tanh(1.000000)
asin(x)
asin(0.326960)
acos(x)
acos(0.326960)
atan(x)
atan(-862.42)
atan2(y,x)
pow(x,y)
pow(2.0,3.0)
sqrt(x)
sqrt(45.35)
exp(x)
exp(2.302585093)
log(x)
log(9000.00)
log10(x)
log10(9000.00)
rand()
rand()
ceil(2.8)
ceil(x)
ceil(-2.8)
floor(2.8)
floor(x)
fmod(x,y)
floor(-2.8)
fmod(-10.0, 3.0)
You can also enter hexadecimal (starting with 0x) and octal (starting with &) numbers, for example 0x12
and &12.
Tabular Loads
For entering a tabular load value, click the flyout arrow in the input field, such as the Magnitude field,
choose Tabular (Time) for Static and Transient analysis systems or choose Tabular (Frequency) for a
Harmonic Response analysis system, then enter the data in the Tabular Data window. The Graph
window displays the variation of the load with time for Static and Transient analysis systems, or frequency
for Harmonic analysis system. For time varying loads, annotations in the Geometry window display the
current time in the Graph window along with the load value at that time. Tabular Loads allow up to
100,000 entries. For frequency varying loads, annotations in the Geometry window displays the minimum
range of harmonic frequency sweep and load value of first frequency entry.
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851
Select the appropriate geometry on the model and do one of the following:
Click on the appropriate icon on the toolbar and choose the load.
OR...
Click right mouse button, select Insert, and choose the load.
2.
Go to the Details view and in the input field, such as the Magnitude field, click on the flyout field
and choose Import. Note that the Import feature can present different dependencies, such as time
and temperature.
Choose the desired load history if it is listed, then click OK. If it is not listed, click the Add
button, choose a load history or Browse to one that is stored, then click OK in both dialog
boxes.
2.
Go to the Details view and in the input field, such as the Magnitude field, click on the flyout field,
choose Export, and save the file to a specific location.
852
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Function Loads
For entering a mathematical function, click the flyout arrow in the input field (for example, Magnitude),
choose Function, then type a function such as =1000*sin(10*time). Any time values that you are
evaluating can exceed the final time value by as much as one time step. The Graph window displays
the variation of the load with time. Annotations in the Geometry window display the current time in
the Graph window along with the load value at that time.
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853
Caution
Specifying larger numbers of points may slow the response time of Mechanical.
Direction
There are four types of Direction:
Planar Face (p. 855)
Edge (p. 855)
Cylindrical Face or Geometric Axis
Two Vertices (p. 856)
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Planar Face
Note
Not applicable to rotational velocity. Rotational velocity gets aligned along the normal to a
planar face and along the axis of a cylindrical face.
Edge
Straight
Circular or Elliptical
Selected cylinder
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855
Two Vertices
2 selected vertices
Note
Hold the CTRL key to select the second vertex.
Loads that require you to define an associated direction include the Define By Details view control.
Setting Define By to Vector allows you to define the direction graphically, based on the selected geometry. Setting Define By to Components allows you to define the direction by specifying the x, y, and
z magnitude components of the load.
Note
If you switch the load direction setting in the Define By field, the data is lost.
856
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Using Results
The Help for Results is organized in the following sections based on analysis type as well as the treatment
and usage for the various result options.
Introduction to the Use of Results
Result Definitions
Structural Results
Thermal Results
Magnetostatic Results
Electric Results
Fatigue Results
User Defined Results
Result Outputs
Result Utilities
Result Application
To apply Results:
Highlight the Solution object in the tree. Open the desired Solution Context Toolbar menu and select a
result item, result probe, or result tool.
Or...
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Using Results
Right-click on the Solution object, select Insert, and then choose from the result options.
Note
See the User Defined Result section of the Help for more information about the specification
and definition of this result type.
Once inserted into the tree, you need to scope your result objects to geometric or meshing entities of
the model.
Note
Any result object clears generated data when it is Suppressed.
Result Definitions
The following topics related to result definitions are covered in this section.
Applying Results Based on Geometry
Scoping Results
Solution Coordinate System
Material Properties Used in Postprocessing
Clearing Results Data
Averaged vs. Unaveraged Contour Results
Peak Composite Results
Layered and Surface Body Results
Unconverged Results
Handling of Degenerate Elements
Strain
Stress
Tools
Solid Body
Total, Directional
All choices
All choices
Yes
Surface Body
Total, Directional
All choices
All choices
Yes
Line Body
Total, Directional
None
None
Yes
Transient Analysis
Geometry
858
Result Definitions
Deformation
Strain
Stress
Tools
Solid Body
All choices
All choices
All choices
Yes
Surface Body
All choices
All choices
All choices
Yes
All
None
None
Yes
Line Body
Strain
Stress
Tools
Solid Body
Total, Directional
All applicable
choices, except Energy
All choices
None
Yes
Surface Body
Total, Directional
All applicable
choices, except Energy
All choices
None
Yes
Line Body
Total, Directional
None
None
None
Yes
Strain
Stress
Tools
Solid Body
Directional,
Directional
Velocity, Directional Acceleration
Normal,
Shear
Equivalent
(von-Mises),
Normal,
Shear
None
No
Surface Body
Directional,
Directional
Velocity, Directional Acceleration
Normal,
Shear
Equivalent
(von-Mises),
Normal,
Shear
None
No
Line Body
Directional,
Directional
Velocity, Directional Acceleration
None
None
None
No
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859
Using Results
Geometry
Strain
Stress
Tools
Solid Body
Normal,
Shear
Equivalent
(von-Mises),
Normal,
Shear
None
No
Surface Body
Normal,
Shear
Equivalent
(von-Mises),
Normal,
Shear
None
No
Line Body
None
None
None
No
Solid Body
All choices
Yes
Surface Body
All choices
Yes
Temperature
Yes
Line Body
Magnetostatic Analysis
Geometry
Solid Body
Surface Body
Line Body
All choices
2 (p. 861)
Yes
Not Applicable
Yes
None
Yes
Electric Analysis
Geometry
All choices
Yes
Surface Body
Yes
Yes
Line Body
Yes
Yes
Solid Body
860
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Result Definitions
Geometry
Strain
Stress
Solid Body
All choices
3 (p. 861)
All choices
Surface Body
All choices
All choices
None
None
Line Body
Solid Body
All choices
All choices
No
Surface Body
All choices
All choices
No
Line Body
All choices
All choices
No
1 - Contact results are not reported, and are not applicable to the following:
Edges.
MPC contact.
Target side of asymmetric contact.
2 - Electric Potential can only be scoped to conductor bodies.
3 - See Harmonic Analysis section.
Scoping Results
All result objects can be scoped to:
Geometry selections - edges, a single vertex, faces, parts, bodies, or the entire assembly.
Geometry-based Named Selections.
Node-based Named Selections
Node selections of the underlying mesh.
Element-based Named Selections.
Element selections of the underlying mesh.
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861
Using Results
See the Results Context Toolbar section for additional information about how results are graphically
represented following a solution.
Note
Direct graphical node or element selection requires you to generate the mesh and have the
Show Mesh tool turned on.
Node-Based Scoping
The following are known characteristics related to node-based scoping:
If all nodes of an element face are scoped, then Mechanical will draw contour bands on the entire face.
If some nodes of an element face are not scoped, then Mechanical will draw the face as transparent and
draw the scoped nodes in contour colors.
As is the case with other scoping that occurs within a body (such as vertex or edge), any applicable averaging is done considering all of the nodes on a body.
Element-Based Scoping
Unlike results scoped to geometries or nodes, results scoped to elements evaluate only the scoped
elements. No adjacent elements are considered. The example results show below illustrate this behavior.
Refer to the Averaged vs. Unaveraged Contour Results section of the Help for additional information
on this topic.
The following results illustrate contour bands for all nodes.
Global Averaged Result
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Result Definitions
Support Requirements
Make sure that your result objects conform to the following:
Once a solution is computed, the scope of the result object cannot change. You must either add a new
result object with the desired scope, or you can right mouse click on that result item, and choose Clear
Generated Data to change its scope.
Result scoping has an impact on convergence. Refinement does not happen outside the scope for a given
convergence control. Multiple convergence controls are possible, however.
Application
The following are typical applications for viewing results in a solution coordinate system:
Viewing results in a particular direction for surface bodies or solid shell bodies, that is, solids meshed
with the Solid Shell element option (see the Meshing Help: Sweep description in the Method Control
section).
Viewing results in a random vibration, spectrum, or surface bodies in an explicit dynamics analysis. Results
for these analysis types only have meaning in a solution coordinate system.
Background
The meshing of surface bodies and solid shell bodies result in coordinate systems whose alignment is
on a per element basis, in contrast to solid body element types whose coordinate systems are aligned
with the global coordinate system by default. Surface body alignment on a per element basis can lead
to results with totally random alignment directions as shown below.
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863
Using Results
To produce meaningful results for surface body and solid shell bodies, you can re-align the random
direction of each element's solution coordinate systems to a uniform direction of a local coordinate
system. An example is shown below.
Procedure
To correct for random coordinate system alignments in surface bodies and solid shell bodies, and to
ensure a consistent alignment:
1. For each part, create a local coordinate system to specify the alignment of the elements of the part.
2. Choose the Solution Coordinate System option for the result.
Note
The Coordinate System setting for result objects in a random vibration, spectrum, or explicit
dynamics analysis is set to Solution Coordinate System by default and cannot be changed
because the results only have meaning when viewed in the solution coordinate system.
The solution coordinate system is not supported by explicit dynamics analyses for results.
864
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Result Definitions
Note
If a material property is temperature dependent, it is evaluated at the reference temperature
of the body to be used in the computation for the result.
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865
Using Results
To clear all results data, simply select the Solution object and choose the Clear Generated Data menu
item from the File menu or from a right-mouse click menu. You can clear individual results by selecting
a result object before choosing the Clear Generated Data menu item.
Note
Anytime the geometry or mesh has been changed, you should clear all results data.
If meshes become obsolete, the solution and results are totally cleared.
Average the component (X, Y, Z, XY, YZ, XZ) stress values from the elements at a common node.
2.
Calculate the equivalent stress values (from the six component strains) on a per element basis.
2.
For equivalent stress, stress/strain intensity, max shear stress/strain, and principal stresses/strains, the
first technique is used to calculate the results. For equivalent strains, which are calculated by the
Mechanical APDL solver, the second technique is used. For random vibration analysis, equivalent stresses
are calculated by the Mechanical APDL solver using the Segalman method, so the second technique is
also used.
Note
If an elemental result is scoped to a surface body, then there may be two sets of results at
each node (Top and Bottom) and sometimes a third set of results (Middle). At release 12.0,
866
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Result Definitions
if the solver writes Middle results to the result file, then Mechanical displays these results if
the Shell Face setting in the Details view equals Middle (Membrane). If the solver did not
write Middle results to the result file, then Mechanical displays the average of Top and
Bottom if the Shell Face setting in the Details View is Middle (Membrane). For a given node
on the shell, the Mechanical application will average Top results, separately average Bottom
results, and separately average Middle results. When you export a result in the Mechanical
application that is set to Top/Bottom, you may note that a node number is repeated in the
Excel file. This is because both the Top and Bottom stresses are listed.
You can display contour results by setting the Display Option field to one of the following:
Unaveraged: Displays unaveraged results.
Averaged (default): Displays averaged results.
Nodal Difference: Computes the maximum difference between the unaveraged computed result (for
example, total heat flux, equivalent stress) for all elements that share a particular node.
Nodal Fraction: Computes the ratio of the nodal difference and the nodal average.
Elemental Difference: Computes the maximum difference between the unaveraged computed result (for
example, total heat flux, equivalent stress) for all nodes in an element, including midside nodes.
Elemental Fraction: Computes the ratio of the elemental difference and the elemental average.
Elemental Mean: Computes the elemental average from the averaged component results.
Characteristics of unaveraged contour displays:
Because of the added data involved in the processing of unaveraged contour results, these results take
a longer time to display than averaged results.
Occasionally, unaveraged contour result displays tend to resemble a checkerboard pattern.
Capped Isosurface displays can have missing facets.
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867
Using Results
Principal values themselves are averaged when averaging results across bodies for principal and vector
sums. Calculated results, such as the types shown below, are averaged at the nodes at the interfaces of
bodies. That is, they do not average the components (SX, SY, etc.) across bodies. For example, this feature
averages equivalent stress (SEQV) values directly:
SEQV(node_1) + SEQV(node_2) + SEQV(node_N)/N
This differs from the usual method (except for equivalent strain) of averaging the components and
then computing SEQV.
Principal Stresses (1, 2, 3)
Stress Intensity (INT)
Equivalent Stress (EQV)
Principal Strains (1, 2, 3)
Strain Intensity (INT)
Equivalent Strain (EQV)
Total Thermal Flux
The following result illustrations show the outcomes between not performing an average calculation,
performing an average calculation but not across bodies, and performing an average calculation
across bodies.
No Averaging Performed
868
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Result Definitions
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869
Using Results
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Result Definitions
If the associated bodies have different material properties, such as Poisson's ratios, then, because this
feature averages quantities like equivalent elastic strain at common nodes, you may see unexpected results
at the interfaces. The Poisson Ratio employed to calculate elastic equivalent in one body may be significantly
different from the Poisson Ratio employed to calculate elastic equivalent in a different body. Therefore,
in this scenario, averaging across bodies at the interface is not recommended.
If you choose to compare this feature against MAPDL PowerGraphics with AVRES,1,FULL in effect,
PowerGraphics employs the effective Poisson's ratio in the AVPRIN,KEY,EFFNU command. The EFFNU
value may not match the Poisson's ratios in all bodies. PowerGraphics also calculates equivalent strain
from the average component strains if KEY (in the AVPRIN command) is set to ZERO. As a result, there
may be differences between this feature and PowerGraphics when the AVRES,1,FULL command is employed.
Support Limitations
The following results features are not supported:
Probe results
Results in cyclic symmetry analyses
Results on line bodies
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871
Using Results
If:
The element nodal solution for element 1 is 0.0 and 0.0 for nodes 1 and 2.
The element nodal solution for element 2 is 100 and 80 for nodes 2 and 3.
The element nodal solution for element 3 is 3 and 0.0 for nodes 3 and 4.
The unaveraged solution is then:
The value at node 12 is the average of the values at the associated element's end points, namely 0.0.
The value at node 23 is the average of the values at the associated element's end points, namely 90.
The value at node 34 is the average of the values at the associated element's end points, namely 1.5.
872
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Result Definitions
The value at node 2 is 50.
The value at node 3 is 41.5.
Note that the value at the mid-side node 23 (90) exceeds the values at the end points.
The following is a 2D model that demonstrates the mid-side averaging technique for non-line elements.
The average mid-side node data does not demonstrate the quirks seen for line elements.
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Using Results
874
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Result Definitions
1.
2.
In the Details view, under Definition, click the By list and select the result view. Choices are the following:
Maximum Over Time or Time of Maximum: Each node/element/sample point is swept through the result
sets to find its maximum result. Either the result itself is reported (sometimes referred to as a "peak hold")
or the time at which the peak occurred is reported. This result is applicable in static and transient analyses.
Maximum Over Frequency or Frequency of Maximum: With these options chosen, the phase specified
in the Sweeping Phase property is held constant and each node/element/sample point is swept through
frequency range to find its maximum result. This result is applicable during a Harmonic Response analysis
only.
Maximum Over Phase or Phase of Maximum: With these options chosen, frequency is held constant
and each node/element/sample point is swept through a phase period of 0o to 360o at specified increments
to find its maximum result. You can control the increment using the Phase Increment entry. This result
is applicable during a Harmonic Response analysis only.
Maximum Over Cyclic Phase or Cyclic Phase of Maximum: Each node/element/sample point is swept
through a phase angle of 0o to 360o in 10 degree increments find its maximum result. This result is applicable during a cyclic modal analysis only and for harmonic indices greater than zero.
Note
There is no affiliation between composite results and composite elements.
875
Using Results
Elemental results outputting volume or energy are calculated for the entire element, regardless of the
requested layer.
If the Layer specified does not exist for a particular surface body, the display of the result will be
translucent with zero values for minimums and maximums on that body. If you enter 0 for Layer, it
defaults to the Entire Section.
Note
A Layer number must be specified to calculate the Middle stresses and strains. If you set Layer
to 0 (Entire Section) while Shell is Middle, the Shell option will become invalid. Similarly, if you
have Layer set to Entire Section and you try to set Shell to Middle, Shell will become invalid.
If there is a Layered Section in the model, convergence is not supported for results.
If Layer is Entire Section, Top stresses and strains are for the top surface of the topmost layer
and the Bottom stresses and strains are for the outer surface of the bottom layer.
If a Layered Section is present in the model and you enter a number larger than the maximum
number of layers that exists in the model, the Layer field will become invalid.
All stress tool results and all fatigue tool results are unsupported if Layered Sections are present
in the model.
Only results from the section top and bottom are available on hyperelastic layered shells. Thus
no results will be reported on such bodies if the layer is not set to 0 "Entire Section".
Unconverged Results
A nonlinear analysis may fail to converge due to a number of reasons. Some examples may be initially
open contact surfaces causing rigid body motion, large load increments, material instabilities, or large
deformations that distort the mesh resulting in element shape errors.
In the Mechanical application, you can review this unconverged result as well as any converged results
at previous time points. These results are marked in the legend of contour/vector plots as Unconverged
indicating that these results must be used only for debugging purposes. Note that a plot of NewtonRaphson residuals is a very useful tool to identify regions of your structure that led to the convergence
difficulty.
Note
Results in Solution Combination objects that use partial solutions will not be solved. You can
view partial results but cannot use them in further post/solution work.
876
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Structural Results
Newton-Raphson residuals is a very useful tool to identify regions of your structure that led to
the convergence difficulty.
The handling of unconverged solutions is the same for both probes and results, with the following exception: reaction probes scoped to a Compression Only boundary condition cannot
display results if the solver did not converge.
The degenerate quad element (above, right) contains three distinct nodes and four distinct integration
(Gauss) points. MAPDL's solver calculates element nodal results (like stress and strain and flux, et. al.)
at each of the integration points. Hence, element nodal results in the MAPDL result file are stored as
though an element is not degenerate (even when it is degenerate). For the element (above, right), the
file would contain stress and strain and flux listings for four nodes, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
At nodes that share the same (x,y,z) in an element, it is not necessarily true that the element nodal
results are equal for each coincident node. Depending upon the analysis, the element nodal results for
the element (above, right) at node 3 may not equal the element nodal results at node 4. During the
post processing phase, Mechanical drops the values of all but the first duplicate node at an (x,y,z). The
element (above, right) would display the stress and strain and flux contours for nodes 1, 2, and 3 (but
not 4).
Structural Results
The following structural result topics are addressed in this section:
Deformation
Stress and Strain
Stabilization Energy
Strain Energy
Linearized Stress
Damage Results
Contact Results
Frequency Response and Phase Response
Stress Tools
Fatigue (Fatigue Tool)
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877
Using Results
Fracture Results
Contact Tool
Beam Tool
Beam Results
Structural Probes
Gasket Results
Campbell Diagram Chart Results
Stress Tools (p. 904) are used to determine the following results:
Maximum Equivalent Stress Safety Tool (p. 905)
Maximum Shear Stress Safety Tool (p. 907)
Mohr-Coulomb Stress Safety Tool (p. 908)
Maximum Tensile Stress Safety Tool (p. 910)
Structural Probes (p. 926) can be used to determine the following results:
Deformation
Strain
Position
Velocity
Angular Velocity
Acceleration
Angular Acceleration
Energy
Force Reaction
Moment Reaction
Joint
Response PSD
Spring
Bearings
Beam
Bolt Pretension
Generalized Plane Strain
878
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Structural Results
Deformation
Physical deformations can be calculated on and inside a part or an assembly. Fixed supports prevent
deformation; locations without a fixed support usually experience deformation relative to the original
location. Deformations are calculated relative to the part or assembly world coordinate system.
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879
Using Results
6. Click the Generate button. The Geometry field in the Details view displays the number of nodes that
meet the criteria defined in the Worksheet.
7. After applying loads and supports to the model, add a Total Deformation result object, highlight the
object, set Scoping Method to Named Selection, and set Named Selection to the Selection object
defined above that includes the mesh node criteria. Before solving, annotations are displayed at each
selected node as shown below.
8. Solve the analysis. Any element containing a selected node will display a contour color at the node. If
all nodes on the element are selected, the element will display contour colors on all facets. Element facets
that contain unselected nodes will be transparent. An example is shown below.
880
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Structural Results
Note that all element facets are drawn, not just the facets on the surface or skin of the model.
To possibly reduce clutter for complex models, the size of the dots representing the nodes can be
changed by choosing View> Large Vertex Contours.
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Using Results
Reference - Read-only reference indication that depends on the directional result. Possible indications
are:
Relative to base motion for a Directional Deformation result.
Absolute (including base motion) for a Directional Velocity or Directional Acceleration result.
Scale Factor - A multiple of standard deviation values (with zero mean value) that you can enter which
determines the probability of the time the response will be less than the standard deviation value. By
default, the results output by the solver are 1 Sigma, or one standard deviation value. You can set the
Scale Factor to 2 Sigma, 3 Sigma, or to User Input, in which case you can enter a custom scale factor
in the Scale Factor Value field.
Probability - Read-only indication of the percentage of the time the response will be less than the
standard deviation value as determined by your entry in the Scale Factor field. A Scale Factor of 1 Sigma
= a Probability of 68.3 %. 2 Sigma = 95.951 %. 3 Sigma = 99.737 %.
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Structural Results
Considerations
The degree of uncertainty in the numerical calculation of Stress answers depends on your accuracy
preference. See Adaptive Convergence (p. 1065) for information on available options and their effect on
Stress answers.
For your convenience and future reference, Report can include stress, strain, and deformations value,
convergence histories, and any alerts for these values.
Equivalent stress (also called von Mises stress) is often used in design work because it allows any arbitrary
three-dimensional stress state to be represented as a single positive stress value. Equivalent stress is
part of the maximum equivalent stress failure theory used to predict yielding in a ductile material.
The von Mises or equivalent strain e is computed as:
=
+
+ +
where:
' = effective Poisson's ratio, which is defined as follows:
Material Poisson's ratio for elastic and thermal strains computed at the reference temperature of the
body.
0.5 for plastic strains.
Note
Currently, for Linked MSUP analyses with the Expand Results From detail under Output
Controls set to Modal Solution, the MAPDL solver does not calculate equivalent strains. If
you choose to display equivalent strain results, you will see zero contours.
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Using Results
The principal stresses are always ordered such that 1 > 2 > 3.
Maximum Shear
The maximum shear stress max, also referred to as the maximum shear stress, is found by plotting
Mohr's circles using the principal stresses:
or mathematically through:
=
For elastic strain, the maximum shear elastic strain max is found through:
max = 1 - 3
since the shear elastic strain reported is an engineering shear elastic strain.
Intensity
Stress intensity is defined as the largest of the absolute values of 1 - 2, 2 - 3, or 3 - 1:
=
( )
884
( )
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Structural Results
Elastic Strain intensity is equal to the maximum shear elastic strain:
I = max
Equivalent Stress (and Equivalent Elastic Strain) and Stress Intensity are available as individual results.
Note
Computation of Equivalent Elastic Strain uses Poissons ratio. If Poissons ratio is temperature
dependent then the Poissons ratio value at the reference temperature of the body is used
to compute the Equivalent Elastic Strain.
Vector Principals
A Vector Principals plot provides a three-dimensional display of the relative size of the principal
quantities (stresses or elastic strains), and the directions along which they occur. Positive principals
point outwards and negative ones inwards.
Plots of Vector Principals help depict the directions that experience the greatest amount of normal
stress or elastic strain at any point in the body in response to the loading condition. The locus of directions of maximum principal stresses, for example, suggests paths of maximum load transfer throughout
a body.
Request a Vector Principals plot in the same way that you would request any other result. Scoping is
also possible. Numerical data for these plots can be obtained by exporting the result values to an .XLS
file. These files have 6 fields. The first three correspond to the maximum, middle, and minimum principal
quantities (stresses or elastic strains). The last three correspond to the Mechanical APDL application
Euler angle sequence (CLOCAL command in the ANSYS environment) required to produce a coordinate
system whose X, Y and Z-axis are the directions of maximum, middle and minimum principal quantities,
respectively. This Euler angle sequence is ThetaXY, ThetaYZ, and ThetaZX and orients the principal coordinate system relative to the global system. These results can be viewed using the Graphics button,
so that you can use the Vector Display toolbar.
Error (Structural)
You can insert an Error result based on stresses to help you identify regions of high error and thus
show where the model would benefit from a more refined mesh in order to get a more accurate answer.
You can also use the Error result to help determine where Mechanical will be refining elements if
Convergence is active. The Error result is based on the same errors used in adaptive refinement. Information on how these errors are calculated is included in POST1 - Error Approximation Technique, in the
Theory Reference for ANSYS and ANSYS Workbench.
Note
The Error result is based on linear stresses and as such may be inaccurate in certain nonlinear
analyses (for example, when plasticity is active). Furthermore, the Error result is currently
restricted to isotropic materials. You may wish to refer to the Structural Material Properties
section of the Engineering Data help for additional information.
Presented below are example applications of using the Error result in a Structural simulation.
3D Model:
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Thermal Strain
Thermal strain is computed when coefficient of thermal expansion is specified and a temperature load
is applied in a structural analysis. To specify the coefficient of thermal expansion, you must set Thermal
Strain Effects to Yes in the Details view of the part or body objects before initiating a solve.
Each of the components of thermal strain are computed as:
Where:
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- thermal strain in one of the directions x, y, or z.
- Secant coefficient of thermal expansion defined as a material property in Engineering Data (see
Chapter 2.4 Linear Material Properties in the Element Reference of the Mechanical APDL application
Help for more information about the secant function).
- reference temperature or the "stress-free" temperature. This can be specified globally for the
model using the Reference Temperature field of Static Structural or Transient Structural analysis types.
Optionally you can also specify the reference temperature as a material property for cases such as the
analysis for cooling of a weld or solder joint where each material has a different stress-free temperature.
rrt t
tr
st tr
In order to develop plastic strain, plastic material properties must be defined. You may define plastic
material properties by defining either of the following in the Engineering Data:
Bilinear Stress/Strain curve.
Multilinear Stress/Strain curve.
Note
Yield stresses defined under the Stress Limits section in the Engineering Data are used for
the post tools only (that is, Stress Safety Tools and Fatigue tools), and do not imply plastic
behavior.
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Membrane Stress
Membrane stress calculates the stresses along the thickness of the shell in longitudinal direction, in
transverse direction, and in plane shear. The result is available only for shell bodies and solids that are
meshed using the thin-solid meshing option. Each element of the body can display individual stress
values and give a checkboard appearance to the result contours. The results are calculated in the element
coordinate system.
Shell membrane stress tensor (s11m, s22m, s12m) is the average of the in-plane stress tensor (s11(z),
s22(z), s12(z)) along the shell thickness direction:
Where:
t is the total shell thickness,
z is the thickness location where the in-plane stress is evaluated.
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Unlike linearized stress in other elements, a pre-defined path through the shell thickness is not required
in order to compute shell membrane stress.
Note
Make sure that the Output Control, General Miscellaneous is set to Yes or your results may
be under-defined.
Bending Stress
The result is available only for shell bodies and solids that are meshed using the thin-solid meshing
option and are calculated in the element coordinate system. Each element of the body can display individual stress values and give a checkboard appearance to the result contours.
Shell bending stress tensor (s11b, s22b, s12b) represents the linear variation portion of the in-plane
stress tensor (s11(z), s22(z), s12(z)) along the shell thickness direction:
Where:
t is the total shell thickness,
z is the thickness location where the in-plane stress is evaluated.
Note
Make sure that the Output Control, General Miscellaneous is set to Yes or your results may
be under-defined.
Stabilization Energy
Stabilization can help with convergence problems, but it can also affect accuracy if the stabilization
energy or forces are too large. Although ANSYS automatically reports the stabilization force norms and
compares them to internal force norms, it is still very important to check the stabilization energy and
forces to determine whether or not they are excessive. If the stabilization energy is much less than the
potential energy (for example, within a 1.0 percent tolerance), the result should be acceptable. Stabilization energy is not available to the Samcef solver.
When stabilization energy is large, check the stabilization forces at each DOF for all substeps. If the
stabilization forces are much smaller than the applied loads and reaction forces (for example, within a
0.5 percent tolerance), the results are still acceptable. Such a case could occur when an elastic system
is loaded first, then unloaded significantly. It is possible that the final element potential energy is small
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and stabilization energy is relatively large, but all stabilization forces are small. Currently, stabilization
forces are accessible in the .OUT file.
Even when both stabilization energy and forces are too large, the results could still be valid. Such a
scenario is possible when a large part of an elastic structure undergoes large rigid body motion (as in
a snap-through simulation). In such a case, the stabilization energy could be large as well as the stabilization force for some DOFs at some substeps, but the results could still be acceptably accurate. Nevertheless, consider the results along with other support data and use your own discretion.
To insert a Stabilization Energy result, highlight the Solution object in the tree, then select Stabilization
Energy from the Solution Context Toolbar (p. 59) or right-mouse click on the object and choose Insert>
Energy> Stabilization Energy.
The following figure shows an example stabilization energy contour plot:
Strain Energy
Energy stored in bodies due to deformation. This value is computed from stress and strain results. It
includes plastic strain energy as a result of material plasticity.
To insert a Stabilization Energy result, highlight the Solution object in the tree, then select Stabilization
Energy from the Solution Context Toolbar (p. 59) or right-mouse click on the object and choose Insert>
Energy> Strain Energy.
Linearized Stress
The Linearized Stress results calculate membrane, bending, peak, and total stress along a straight line
path in the Mechanical application. To calculate linearized stress, you must first define a straight line
path object using Construction Geometry under Model. A path you define for linearized stress can
be of type Two Points or of type X axis Intersection and should have at least 47 sample points. The
number of points must be an odd number; otherwise the result will not solve and an error message
will be issued. The path must be straight and entirely within the models elements. The X axis Intersection option is recommend as it ensures that the start and end points are inside the mesh and that the
path is straight. Note that the Two Points method obtains the points from the tessellation of the geometric model, and if the geometry faces are curved, the points might not be inside the mesh. For these
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situations, you can use the Snap to mesh nodes feature (see Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453)) to
ensure that the two points are contained within the mesh.
Linearized stress does not support the Edge path type. To calculate linearized stresses:
1.
In the object tree, select Solution to make the Solution toolbar available.
2.
On the Solution toolbar, click Linearized Stress, and then click the stress you want to calculate.
3.
In the Details view, select the Path you have defined to calculate the linearized stress.
4.
Select the coordinate system you have used for the model.
5.
Geometry
Path
Type
Coordinate System
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Include Using Y Dir. Formula: Include the thickness-direction bending stress using the same formula as
the Y (axial direction ) bending stress. Also use the same formula for the shear stress.
If the Average Radius of Curvature is non-zero, Mechanical reports the linearized stresses in the section
coordinates (SX along the path, SY normal to the path, and SZ hoop direction). In this case, the
choice of Coordinate System in the Details view is ignored.
If the Average Radius of Curvature is zero, Mechanical reports the linearized stresses in the active
results coordinate system.
Damage Results
Mechanical supports a number of damage results using non-linear material models, including the Mullins
Effect, Progressive Damage, and Physical Failure Criteria.
Mullins Effect
The Mullins effect is a phenomenon resulting from load-induced changes to constitutive response exhibited by some hyper elastic materials, especially filled polymers. The effect is most evident during
cyclic loading, where the unloading response is more compliant than the loading behavior. During the
process of cyclic loading, stress-strain curve for these materials is dependent on the maximum previous
load, where the load is the strain energy of the virgin hyper elastic material. As the maximum previous
load increases, changes to the virgin hyper elastic constitutive model also increase, due to the Mullins
effect. Below the maximum previous load, the Mullins effect changes are not evolving; however, the
Mullins effect still modifies the hyper elastic constitutive response based on the maximum previous
load. If the load increases beyond the maximum previous all time value, the result is an irreversible and
instantaneous softening of the material, which causes a hysteresis in the stress-strain response.
The Mullins effect is modeled with the modified Ogden-Roxburgh pseudo-elastic model (TB,CDM,,,,PSE2)
and is applicable to any nearly or purely incompressible hyperelastic model (TB,HYPER). For more information on the Mullins effect, see Mullins Effect Material Model.
Mechanical supports two results for the Mullins Effect: Mullins Damage Variable and Mullins Max. Previous
Strain Energy.
The Mullins Damage Variable is a unitless scale range from 0, at which the material is completely damaged
without any stiffness, to 1, at which the material is intact, without any loss of stiffness.
At a given time step, the Mullins Max. Previous Strain Energy result is the maximum value of strain energy
of the virgin material in the time interval [0, t0], where t0 is the beginning of a time step. Depending
on the unit system you choose, this result chooses the appropriate unit of energy. A typical unit is the
Joules (J) unit.
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Progressive Damage
Progressive Damage is associated with the damage phenomenon that occurs in composite materials.
When a composite material is subjected to loading, the matrix and fiber controlled types of failure can
occur both separately or sequentially. After a certain point, the material experiences enough damage
in the form of the local failures that the material can no longer sustain the load. These local failures
govern the ultimate load that the material can withstand.
Progressive Damage uses material damage initiation (TB, DMGI) and evolution criteria (TB, DMGE) to
analyze the progressive damage in composites. While Physical Failure Criteria analyzes the failure criteria,
Progressive Damage analyzes the progression of the damage.
Damage Initiation Criteria defines the criteria type for determining the onset of material damage under
loading. Depending upon the failure mode selected here, the respective failure criteria will be computed
for Physical Failure Criteria. The available failure modes for damage are:
Maximum Strain
Maximum Stress
Puck
Hashin
LaRc03
LaRc04
The Damage Evolution Law defines the material damage evolution law (or the way a material degrades)
following the initiation of damage. The stiffness reduction takes a value of 0 to 1, where 0 is no damage
and 1 is completely damaged.
For more information, see Damage Evolution Law and Damage Initiation Criteria in the Mechanical
APDL documentation.
The Progressive Damage model supports the following results:
Result
Description
Damage Status
The Fiber Tensile Damage Variable result value will be in the range
of 0 to the Tensile Fiber Stiffness Reduction value set in the
Damage Evolution Law. In other words, if you set the Tensile Fiber
Stiffness Reduction to 0.6, the range of Fiber Tensile damage
variable result will be in the range of 0 to 0.6.
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Result
Description
A value of 0 for this result means undamaged and a value of 1
means completely damaged. The result has no units.
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Result
Description
The Fiber Tensile Failure Criterion result value will be a positive integer.
A value of 0 indicates no failure, while 1 is a complete failure. A value
above 1 indicates the material has completely failed. The higher this
number, the higher the load above the prescribed limits, although
specifics are dependent on the stress limits you set and the amount
of loading applied.
The Matrix Tensile Failure Criterion result value will be a positive integer.
A value of 0 indicates no failure, while 1 is a complete failure. A value
above 1 indicates the material has completely failed. The higher this
number, the higher the load above the prescribed limits, although
specifics are dependent on the stress limits you set and the amount
of loading applied.
Contact Results
If your model contains Contact Regions, you can define the contact results as listed below under the
Solution object by inserting a Contact Tool. See the Reviewing the Results section of the Contact
Technology Guide for additional information.
Gap
Penetration
Pressure
Frictional Stress - available only for evaluating contact conditions after solution.
Note
To reflect total contact pressures or frictional stress, you must either set the Behavior option
to Asymmetric or Auto Asymmetric, or manually create an asymmetric contact pair.
For node-to-surface contact, Pressure will display zero results. To display the associated
contact force, you must insert a user defined result called CONTFORC.
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Sliding Distance - available only for evaluating contact conditions after solution. The total sliding distance
(SLIDE) is the amplitude of total accumulated slip increments (a geometrical measurement) when the
contact status is sticking or sliding (STAT = 2, 3). It contains contributions from the elastic slip and the
frictional slip. Elastic slip due to sticking represents the reversible tangential motion from the point of
zero tangential stresses. Ideally, the equivalent elastic slip does not exceed the user-defined absolute
limit. The higher the tangent stiffness, the smaller the resulting elastic slip. The pair-based elastic slip can
be monitored using the Contact Result Tracker (p. 1052).
Fluid Pressure - Fluid penetration pressure (surface-to-surface contact only). Note that command snippets
are required to apply the loading to create this result. For more information, see Applying Fluid PressurePenetration Loads in the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide.
Status. Status codes include:
-3 - MPC bonded contact.
-2 - MPC no-separation contact.
0 - open and not near contact.
1 - open but near contact.
2 - closed and sliding.
3 - closed and sticking.
Note
MPC-based contact definitions use negative values. They indicate the intentional removal
of one or more contact constraints to prevent over-constraint.
The labels Far, Near, Sliding, and Sticking are included in the legend for Status.
Note
Contact that has been deactivated via Auto Asymmetric behavior will be displayed with
a status of Far-Open. Results for deactivated pairs can be suppressed in the Contact Tool
by changing Both to either Contact or Target as necessary.
If you choose to display contact results with a display option other than Unaveraged, then Mechanical
uses all elements in the selected regions to calculate the result. That is, Mechanical averages contact
across regions regardless of whether you scoped the result via Geometry Selection or via the Worksheet.
For example, if you set the display option to Averaged, then the displayed result for a node is the
average of all values (from all selected elements) at that node. Contact elements can be coincident,
which may be difficult to discern visually, and Mechanical does not display unaveraged contact results
if it detects coincident elements in the scoping. However, Mechanical calculates and displays averaged
contact results for coincident elements.
The images below illustrate how contact results are affected by the different scoping types. The model
consists of two blocks contacting a third block.
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Using the Worksheet method, one Contact Tool was scoped to the contact pair on the left, and another
one was scoped to the contact pair on the right. This allows you to view the contact results for each
contact pair individually. The contact status for the contact pair on the left is shown below.
The contact status for the contact pair on the right is shown below.
A third Contact Tool scoped to the surface of the large block (using the Geometry Selection method)
allows you view the contact status averaged over that surface, as shown below.
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Note
Be aware of the following restrictions regarding contact results:
When a contact result is scoped to a face of an assembly, a contact result may not be obtained
in certain cases, especially if the scoped face is not a part of any contact region.
Contour contact results are not reported for 3D edge contact.
Frequency Response
The following equations describe how frequency graphs are defined and plotted.
Stress and Strain Results
The strain result is calculated using the displacement result. Using the Youngs Modulus and strain result,
the stress result can be evaluated. Because of this reason, the stress and strain results are in phase with
the displacement result.
Results displayed on a graph can be scoped using the graphical selection tools (vertex, face, edge,
or nodes) or using Named Selections, and can be viewed as a value graphed along a specified frequency range. These include the frequency results for stress, elastic strain, deformation, velocity, or
acceleration (frequency only) plotted as a graph. The plot will include all the frequency points at
which a solution was obtained. When you generate frequency response results, the default plot
(Bode) shows the amplitude and phase angle.
Note
Direct graphical node selection requires you to generate the mesh and have the Select
Mesh (see Graphics Options Toolbar Help) tool chosen.
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Displacement Result
The displacement vector on a structure subjected to harmonic loading may be expressed as:
EQUATION 1
}={
The Frequency Response chart for Displacement is calculated by expressing Equation (1) in time
domain as follows:
EQUATION 2
}={
{}
where:
Velocity Result
The equation for velocity u can be obtained by taking a time derivative of Equation (1). The frequency
response for velocity in time domain is calculated as follows:
EQUATION 3
{ } ={
{}
where:
)=
Acceleration Result
The equation for acceleration u can be obtained by taking a double time derivative of Equation (1). The
frequency response for acceleration in time domain is calculated as follows:
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EQUATION 4
t = {r }
t {}
where:
=
=
+
=
Optionally, you can plot the following results values for graphs:
Real
Imaginary
Real and Imaginary
Amplitude
Phase Angle
You can select any of these from a drop-down list in the Details view for the results. For edges, faces,
surface bodies, and multiple vertex selections (which contain multiple nodes), the results can be scoped
as minimum, maximum, or average using the Spatial Resolution option. This option is also available
for frequency and phase response results scoped on a single vertex.
Note
The Spatial Resolution option is especially important for results scoped to a shell vertex,
where the default option, Use Average, may yield unexpected results.
The Use Minimum and Use Maximum settings of the Spatial Resolution option are based on the
amplitude and thus are reported from the location with either the largest or smallest amplitude. The
Use Average setting calculates the average by calculating the real and imaginary components separately.
Note
You cannot use the Mechanical application convergence capabilities for any results item
under a harmonic analysis. Instead, you can first do a convergence study on a modal analysis
and reuse the mesh from that analysis.
Presented below is an example of a Frequency Response plot:
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The average, minimum, or maximum value can be chosen for selected entities. Stress, Strain, Deformation, Velocity, and Acceleration components vary sinusoidally, so these are the only result types that
can be reviewed in this manner. (Note that items such as Principal Stress or Equivalent Stress do not
behave in a sinusoidal manner since these are derived quantities.)
Phase Response
Similarly, Phase Response plots show the minimum, average, or maximum Stress, Strain, or Deformation
for selected graphical entities (vertex, face, edge, or nodes) or a Named Selection. An example of a
Phase Response plot is illustrated below.
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However, unlike Frequency Response plots that show a response amplitude over a frequency range,
Phase Response plots show a response over a phase period, so you can determine how much a response
lags behind the applied load.
The following functions outline the relationships of response amplitude, phase response graphs, and
result contours (with associated caveats):
Response Amplitude
Response Amplitude is defined as the maximum value of the following expression:
value = sqrt(real*real + imag*imag)
Where real and imag represent all real and imaginary result values from the result file for the selected
frequency.
Phase Response Graph
The graph is the image of the following function, where Sweeping Phase is allowed to vary across a user
specified Duration:
value = AMPLITUDE * sin(phase)
Note
Take caution when comparing the values in the Output column of the Tabular Data
for a Phase Response against maximum values of contour displays.
Result Contour
Drawing contour displays in a Harmonic Response analysis, Mechanical uses the phase specified by the
Sweeping Phase property defined by the user to evaluate the expression:
value = real*cos(phase) - imag*sin(phase)
Where real and imag represent all real and imaginary result values from the result file for the selected
frequency.
Because the formula for the Phase Response graph differs from the formula for the contour, an Output
value for the graph does not necessarily equal a maximum for a contour result at the same frequency.
General approach to harmonic analysis postprocessing
Generally speaking, you would look at Frequency Response plots at critical regions to ascertain what
the frequency of interest may be. In conjunction with Phase Response plots, the phase of interest is
also determined. Then, you can request Stress, Strain, or Deformation contour plots to evaluate the
response of the entire structure at that frequency and phase of interest.
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1. Select and right-click on the desired Harmonic result in the solution tree.
2. Choose Create Contour Result.
As illustrated here, you can see how the feature automatically scopes the Type, Orientation, Frequency,
and Sweeping Phase.
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The Reported Frequency in the Information category is the frequency at which contour results were
found and plotted. This frequency can be potentially different from the frequency you requested.
Stress Tools
You can insert any of the following stress tools in a Solution object by choosing Stress Tool under
Tools in the Solution context toolbar, or by using a right mouse button click on a Solution object and
choosing Stress Tool:
Maximum Equivalent Stress Safety Tool (p. 905)
Maximum Shear Stress Safety Tool (p. 907)
Mohr-Coulomb Stress Safety Tool (p. 908)
Maximum Tensile Stress Safety Tool (p. 910)
After adding a Stress Tool object to the tree, you can change the specific stress tool under Theory in
the Details view.
The Stress Tools make use of the following material properties:
Tensile Yield Strength
Compressive Yield Strength
Tensile Ultimate Strength
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Compressive Ultimate Strength
<
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If failure is defined by material yielding, it follows that the design goal is to limit the maximum equivalent
stress to be less than the yield strength of the material:
<
An alternate but less common definition states that fracturing occurs when the maximum equivalent
stress reaches or exceeds the ultimate strength of the material:
<
Options
Define the stress limit in the Details view under Stress Limit Type. Use either Tensile Yield Per Material, or Tensile Ultimate Per Material, or enter a Custom Value. By default, Stress Limit Type equals
Tensile Yield Per Material.
Choose a specific result from the Stress Tool context toolbar or by inserting a stress tool result using
a right mouse button click on Stress Tool:
Safety Factor
s=
Safety Margin
= =
Stress Ratio
=
Notes
The reliability of this failure theory depends on the accuracy of calculated results and the representation
of stress risers (peak stresses). Stress risers play an important role if, for example, yielding at local discontinuities (e.g., notches, holes, fillets) and fatigue loading are of concern. If calculated results are suspect,
consider the calculated stresses to be nominal stresses, and amplify the nominal stresses by an appropriate
stress concentration factor Kt. Values for Kt are available in many strength of materials handbooks.
If fatigue is not a concern, localized yielding will lead to a slight redistribution of stress, and no real failure
will occur. According to J. E. Shigley (Mechanical Engineering Design, McGraw-Hill, 1973), "We conclude,
then, that yielding in the vicinity of a stress riser is beneficial in improving the strength of a part and that
stress-concentration factors need not be employed when the material is ductile and the loads are static."
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Alternatively, localized yielding is potentially important if the material is marginally ductile, or if low
temperatures or other environmental conditions induce brittle behavior.
Yielding of ductile materials may also be important if the yielding is widespread. For example, failure is
most often declared if yielding occurs across a complete section.
The proper selection and use of a failure theory relies on your engineering judgment. Refer to engineering
texts such as Engineering Considerations of Stress, Strain, and Strength by R. C. Juvinall (McGraw-Hill) and
Mechanical Engineering Design by J. E. Shigley (McGraw-Hill) for in-depth discussions on the applied theories.
where the limit strength is generally the yield or ultimate strength of the material. In other words, the
shear strength of the material is typically defined as a fraction (f < 1) of the yield or ultimate strength:
In a strict application of the theory, f = 0.5. Expressing the theory as a design goal:
<
If failure is defined by material yielding, it follows that the design goal is to limit the shear stress to be
less than a fraction of the yield strength of the material:
<
An alternate but less common definition states that fracturing occurs when the shear stress reaches or
exceeds a fraction of the ultimate strength of the material:
<
Options
Define the stress limit in the Details view under Stress Limit Type. Use either Tensile Yield Per Material, or Tensile Ultimate Per Material, or enter a Custom Value. By default, Stress Limit Type equals
Tensile Yield Per Material.
Define coefficient f under Factor in the Details view. By default, the coefficient f equals 0.5.
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Choose a specific result from the Stress Tool context toolbar or by inserting a stress tool result using
a right mouse button click on Stress Tool:
Safety Factor
s
Safety Margin
= =
Stress Ratio
Notes
The reliability of this failure theory depends on the accuracy of calculated results and the representation
of stress risers (peak stresses). Stress risers play an important role if, for example, yielding at local discontinuities (e.g., notches, holes, fillets) and fatigue loading are of concern. If calculated results are suspect,
consider the calculated stresses to be nominal stresses, and amplify the nominal stresses by an appropriate
stress concentration factor Kt. Values for Kt are available in many strength of materials handbooks.
If fatigue is not a concern, localized yielding will lead to a slight redistribution of stress, and no real failure
will occur. According to J. E. Shigley (Mechanical Engineering Design, McGraw-Hill, 1973), "We conclude,
then, that yielding in the vicinity of a stress riser is beneficial in improving the strength of the part and
that stress-concentration factors need not be employed when the material is ductile and the loads are
static."
Alternatively, localized yielding is potentially important if the material is marginally ductile, or if low
temperatures or other environmental conditions induce brittle behavior.
Yielding of ductile materials may also be important if the yielding is widespread. For example, failure is
most often declared if yielding occurs across a complete section.
The proper selection and use of a failure theory relies on your engineering judgment. Refer to engineering
texts such as Engineering Considerations of Stress, Strain, and Strength by R. C. Juvinall (McGraw-Hill) and
Mechanical Engineering Design by J. E. Shigley (McGraw-Hill) for in-depth discussions on the applied theories.
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ts t
rss t
<
where 1 > 2 > 3; 3 and the compressive strength limit assume negative values even though you
must actually enter positive values for these quantities. Also, a given term is only used if it includes the
correct sign. For example, 1 must be positive and 3 must be negative. Otherwise, the invalid term is
assumed to be negligible.
Note that the Mohr-Coulomb Stress Safety tool evaluates maximum and minimum principal stresses at
the same locations. In other words, this tool does not base its calculations on the absolute maximum
principal stress and the absolute minimum principal stress occurring (most likely) at two different locations
in the body. The tool bases its calculations on the independent distributions of maximum and minimum
principal stress. Consequently, this tool provides a distribution of factor or margin of safety throughout
the part or assembly. The minimum factor or margin of safety is the minimum value found in this distribution.
For common brittle materials such as glass, cast iron, concrete and certain types of hardened steels,
the compressive strength is usually much greater than the tensile strength, of which this theory takes
direct account.
The design goal is to limit the maximum and minimum principal stresses to their ultimate strength
values by means of the brittle failure relationship:
<
An alternative but less common definition compares the greatest principal stresses to the yield strengths
of the material:
<
The theory is known to be more accurate than the maximum tensile stress failure theory used in the
Maximum Tensile Stress Safety tool, and when properly applied with a reasonable factor of safety the
theory is often considered to be conservative.
Options
Define the tensile stress limit in the Details view under Tensile Limit Type. Use either Tensile Yield
Per Material, or Tensile Ultimate Per Material, or enter a Custom Value. By default, Tensile Limit
Type equals Tensile Yield Per Material.
Define the compressive stress limit in the Details view under Compressive Limit Type. Use either Comp.
Yield Per Material, or Comp. Ultimate Per Material, or enter a Custom Value. By default, Compressive
Limit Type equals Comp. Yield Per Material.
Choose a specific result from the Stress Tool context toolbar or by inserting a stress tool result using
a right mouse button click on Stress Tool:
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Safety Factor
s =
ts t
rss t
Safety Margin
= =
Stress Ratio
Notes
The use of a yield strength limit with brittle materials is not recommended since most brittle materials
do not exhibit a well-defined yield strength.
For ductile and some other types of materials, experiments have shown that brittle failure theories may
be inaccurate and unsafe to use. The brittle failure theories may also be inaccurate for certain brittle materials. Potential inaccuracies are of particular concern if the accuracy of calculated answers is suspect.
The reliability of this failure criterion is directly related to treatment of stress risers (peak stresses). For
brittle homogeneous materials such as glass, stress risers are very important, and it follows that the calculated stresses should have the highest possible accuracy or significant factors of safety should be expected
or employed. If the calculated results are suspect, consider the calculated stresses to be nominal stresses,
and amplify the nominal stresses by an appropriate stress concentration factor Kt. Values for Kt are available
in many strength of materials handbooks. For brittle nonhomogeneous materials such as gray cast iron,
stress risers may be of minimal importance.
If a part or structure is known or suspected to contain cracks, flaws, or is designed with sharp notches or
re-entrant corners, a more advanced analysis may be required to confirm its structural integrity. Such
discontinuities are known to produce singular (i.e., infinite) elastic stresses; if the possibility exists that the
material might behave in a brittle manner, a more rigorous fracture mechanics evaluation needs to be
performed. An analyst skilled in fracture analysis can use the Mechanical APDL application to determine
fracture mechanics information.
The proper selection and use of a failure theory relies on your engineering judgment. Refer to engineering
texts such as Engineering Considerations of Stress, Strain, and Strength by R. C. Juvinall (McGraw-Hill) and
Mechanical Engineering Design by J. E. Shigley (McGraw-Hill) for in-depth discussions on the applied theories.
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The theory states that failure occurs when the maximum principal stress equals or exceeds a tensile
stress limit. Expressing the theory as a design goal:
<
The maximum tensile stress failure theory is typically used to predict fracture in brittle materials with
static loads. Brittle materials include glass, cast iron, concrete, porcelain and certain hardened steels.
The design goal is to limit the greatest principal stress to be less than the material's ultimate strength
in tension:
<
An alternate definition compares the greatest principal stress to the yield strength of the material:
<
For many materials (usually ductile materials), strength in compression and in tension are roughly equal.
For brittle materials, the compressive strength is usually much greater than the tensile strength.
The Mohr-Coulomb theory used in the Mohr-Coulomb Stress Safety tool is generally regarded as more
reliable for a broader range of brittle materials. However, as pointed out by R. C. Juvinall (Engineering
Considerations of Stress, Strain, and Strength, McGraw-Hill, 1967), "There is some evidence to support its
use with porcelain and concrete. Also, it has been used in the design of guns, as some test results on
thick-walled cylinders tend to agree with this theory."
Options
Define the stress limit in the Details view under Stress Limit Type. Use either Tensile Yield Per Material, or Tensile Ultimate Per Material, or enter a Custom Value. By default, Stress Limit Type equals
Tensile Yield Per Material.
Choose a specific result from the Stress Tool context toolbar or by inserting a stress tool result using
a right mouse button click on Stress Tool:
Safety Factor
s=
Safety Margin
= =
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Stress Ratio
=
Notes
The use of a yield strength limit with brittle materials is not recommended since most brittle materials
do not exhibit a well-defined yield strength.
For ductile and some other types of materials, experiments have shown that brittle failure theories may
be inaccurate and unsafe to use. The brittle failure theories may also be inaccurate for certain brittle materials. Potential inaccuracies are of particular concern if the accuracy of calculated answers is suspect.
The reliability of this failure criterion is directly related to treatment of stress risers (peak stresses). For
brittle homogeneous materials such as glass, stress risers are very important, and it follows that the calculated stresses should have the highest possible accuracy or significant factors of safety should be expected
or employed. If the calculated results are suspect, consider the calculated stresses to be nominal stresses,
and amplify the nominal stresses by an appropriate stress concentration factor Kt. Values for Kt are available
in many strength of materials handbooks. For brittle nonhomogeneous materials such as gray cast iron,
stress risers may be of minimal importance.
If a part or structure is known or suspected to contain cracks, flaws, or is designed with sharp notches or
re-entrant corners, a more advanced analysis may be required to confirm its structural integrity. Such
discontinuities are known to produce singular (i.e., infinite) elastic stresses; if the possibility exists that the
material might behave in a brittle manner, a more rigorous fracture mechanics evaluation needs to be
performed. An analyst skilled in fracture analysis can use the Mechanical APDL application program to
determine fracture mechanics information.
The proper selection and use of a failure theory relies on your engineering judgment. Refer to engineering
texts such as Engineering Considerations of Stress, Strain, and Strength by R. C. Juvinall (McGraw-Hill) and
Mechanical Engineering Design by J. E. Shigley (McGraw-Hill) for in-depth discussions on the applied theories.
Fracture Results
To review fracture results in Mechanical, you insert a Fracture Tool under the Solution folder, and then
add Fracture Results under the Fracture Tool.
Fracture Results are of three types: SIFS Results, J-Integral and VCCT Results. Mechanical computes the
fracture parameter result based on the type and subtype of the result definition. The type is based on
a SIFS, JINT, and VCCT based result. The subtype for SIFS result is the mode of the stress intensity factor,
or Mode I (K1), Mode II (K2) or Mode III (K3) of the SIFS result. The subtype for the VCCT based result is
Mode I Energy Release rate (G1), Mode II Energy Release rate (G2), Mode III Energy Release rate (G3),
and Total Energy Release rate (GT). The JINT result is the mixed mode result, and has no subtype associated with it.
For more information about Fracture Results, see:
Fracture Tool
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Defining a Fracture Result
The Active Contour in the Details view indicates the contour number for which the results are shown
under the Results parameter. The Graphics window displays the graphical result for the active contour.
The 1 in the Graphics window indicates the start of the crack front, while 2 indicates the end of the
crack front.
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The results are plotted in the Graph window for all contours, starting from the Contour Start value and
ending at the Contour End value. The X axis in the Graph window indicates the distance along the
crack front. The start of the crack front has a value of zero, and the end of the crack front has the
maximum value. The Tabular Data window displays the data points in a table format.
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Fracture Tool
The Fracture Tool allows you to group together all of the different types of fracture results associated
with one single Crack or Pre-Meshed Crack object defined in the Fracture folder.
To define a Fracture Tool:
1.
2.
Note
By default, a Fracture Result of type Mode I Stress Intensity Factor is inserted under the
Fracture Tool.
3.
In the Details View, for the Crack option, select the Crack or Pre-Meshed Crack object for which you
want to group results.
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1.
2.
From the Fracture Tool context toolbar, select any results you want to add.
SIFS Results>SIFS(K1) inserts a Mode 1 Stress Intensity Factor result.
SIFS Results>SIFS(K2) inserts Mode 2 Stress Intensity Factor result.
SIFS Results>SIFS(K3) inserts Mode 3 Stress Intensity Factor result.
VCCT Results>VCCT(G1) inserts Mode 1 Energy Release Rate result.
VCCT Results>VCCT(G2) inserts Mode 2 Energy Release Rate result.
VCCT Results>VCCT(G3) inserts Mode 3 Energy Release Rate result.
VCCT Results>VCCT(GT) inserts Total Energy Release Rate result.
J-Integral (JINT) inserts a J-Integral result.
Tip
In the Details View, you can change the type of fracture result to SIFS, J-Integral(JINT)
or VCCT, change the SIFS result subtype to K1, K2 and K3, and change the VCCT result
subtype to G1, G2, G3 and GT.
3.
Define each Fracture Result in the Details view. Options specific to fracture results include:
Contour Start: Specifies the first contour number for which the result will be plotted in the graph
and displayed in the tabular data. The value must not be greater than the value of Contour End.
This option applies only to the SIFS and JINT types of result.
Contour End: Specifies the last contour number for which the result will be plotted in the graph and
displayed in the tabular data. The value must not be greater than value of the Solution Contours
option specified for the associated crack object. Since the maximum of 10 contours can be plotted
in Graph window at one point of time, the difference between Contour End and Contour Start
must not be greater than 9. The option applies only to the SIFS and JINT types of result.
Active Contour: Specifies the contour number for which the results are plotted in the Graphics
window and are shown in the Details view. By default, it takes the Last value which is the contour
number specified for Contour End. This option applies only to the SIFS and JINT types of result.
For information on other Details view options, see Results and Result Tools (Group) (p. 1385).
Contact Tool
The Contact Tool allows you to examine contact conditions on an assembly both before loading, and
as part of the final solution to verify the transfer of loads (forces and moments) across the various
contact regions. The Contact Tool is an object you can insert under a Connections branch object for
examining initial contact conditions, or under a Solution or Solution Combination branch object for
examining the effects of contact as part of the solution. The Contact Tool allows you to conveniently
scope contact results to a common selection of geometry or contact regions. In this way, all applicable
contact results can be investigated at once for a given scoping.
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A Contact Tool is scoped to a given topology, and there exist two methods for achieving this: the
Worksheet method and the Geometry Selection method. Under the Worksheet method, the Contact
Tool is scoped to one or more contact regions. Under the Geometry Selection method, the Contact
Tool can be scoped to any geometry on the model. Regardless of the method, the scoping on the tool
is applied to all results grouped under it.
To use a Contact Tool, prepare a structural analysis for an assembly with contacts. You then use either
the Geometry Selection or Worksheet scoping method for results.
Insert a Contact Tool in the Connections folder (Contact Tool from the Connections context toolbar,
or right mouse button click on Connections, then Insert> Contact Tool). You will see a Contact Tool
inserted that includes a default Initial Information object.
2.
In the Details view of the Contact Tool, ensure that Worksheet (the default) is selected in the Scoping
Method field. The Worksheet appears. Scoped contact regions are those that are checked in the table.
3.
You can modify your selection of contact regions in the Worksheet using the following procedures:
To add or remove pre-selected groups of contact regions (All Contacts, Nonlinear Contacts, or
Linear Contacts), use the drop-down menu and the corresponding buttons.
To add any number of contact regions, you can also drag-drop or copy-paste any number of contact
regions from the Connections folder into the Contact Tool in the Tree View. Also, one or more
contact regions can be deleted from the Contact Tool worksheet by selecting them in the table and
pressing the Delete key.
To change the Contact Side of all contact regions, choose the option in the drop-down menu (Both,
Contact, or Target from the drop-down menu and click the Apply button).
To change an individual Contact Side, click in the particular cell and choose Both, Contact, or Target
from the drop-down menu.
4.
Add contact result objects of interest under the Contact Tool folder (Contact> Penetration or Gap or
Status from the Contact Tool context toolbar, or right mouse button click on Contact Tool, then Insert>
Penetration or Gap or Status). The specific contact result objects are inserted.
5.
Obtain the initial contact results using a right mouse button click on the Contact object, or Contact
Tool object, or any object under the Contact Tool object, then choosing Generate Initial Contact
Results from the context menu. Results are displayed as follows:
When you highlight the Initial Information object, a table appears in the Worksheet that includes
initial contact information for the contact regions that you specified in step 2 above. You can display
or hide the various columns in the table. The table rows display in various colors that indicate the
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detected contact conditions. A brief explanation of each color is provided in the legend that is displayed beneath the table. Copies of the legend explanations are presented below in quotes, followed
by more detailed explanations.
Red: "The contact status is open but the type of contact is meant to be closed. This applies to
bonded and no separation contact types."
Workbench has detected an open contact Status condition, which is invalid based on the
definitions of Bonded and No Separation contact types. It is very likely that the model will
not be held together as expected. The geometry of the contact may be too far apart for the
closed condition to be satisfied. Review of the Contact Region definition is strongly recommended.
Yellow: "The contact status is open. This may be acceptable."
Workbench has detected an open contact Status condition on a nonlinear contact type,
Frictionless, Rough, or Frictional, which is probably acceptable under certain conditions as
stated in their descriptions.
If the Status is Far Open, the Penetration and the Gap will be set to zero even though the
Resulting Pinball is non-zero.
Note
Currently, contact results are not saved to results (.rst) file for all contact elements
that are outside the pinball region to optimize the file size. Results for far field
contact elements were reported as zero in prior releases.
Orange: "The contact status is closed but has a large amount of gap or penetration. Check penetration and gap compared to pinball and depth.
Workbench has detected that any of the following contact results are greater than 1/2 of the
Resulting Pinball, or greater than 1/2 of the Contact Depth: Gap, Penetration, maximum
closed Gap, maximum closed Penetration. This could lead to poor results in terms of stiffness
of the contacting interface. It is recommended that you alter the geometry to reduce the gap
or penetration.
Gray: "Contact is inactive. This can occur for MPC and Normal Lagrange formulations. It can also
occur for auto asymmetric behavior."
Refer to the individual descriptions for the MPC and Normal Lagrange formulations, and the
description for Auto Asymmetric behavior.
Note
The not applicable designation, N/A appears in the following locations and situations:
All result columns when the contact pair is inactive (row is gray, or Inactive appears under
the Status column).
The Geometric Gap column for Frictionless, Rough, or Frictional contact Types and an
Interface Treatment set to Add Offset, Ramped Effects.
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When you highlight any of the contact result objects, the Geometry tab appears and displays the
graphical result for the contact regions that you specified in step 2 above.
To evaluate initial contact conditions using the Geometry Selection method:
1.
2.
Insert a Contact Tool in the Connections folder (Contact Tool from the Connections context toolbar,
or right mouse button click on Connections, then Insert> Contact Tool). You will see a Contact Tool
inserted that includes a default Initial Information object.
Note
The scoping of the Initial Information object is only available using the Worksheet
method. Selecting bodies as in step 1 above has no effect on Initial Information results.
3.
In the Details view of the Contact Tool, select Geometry Selection in the Scoping Method field. The
bodies that you selected in step 1 are highlighted in the Geometry tab.
4.
Add contact result objects of interest under the Contact Tool folder (Contact> Penetration or Gap or
Status from the Contact Tool context toolbar, or right mouse button click on Contact Tool, then Insert>
Penetration or Gap or Status). The specific contact result objects are inserted.
5.
Obtain the initial contact results using a right mouse button click on the Contact object, or Contact
Tool object, or any object under the Contact Tool object, then choosing Generate Initial Contact
Results from the context menu. When you highlight any of the contact result objects, the Geometry
tab appears and displays the graphical result for the bodies that you selected in step 1.
Insert a Contact Tool in the Solution folder (Tools> Contact Tool from the Solution context toolbar,
or right mouse button click on Solution, then Insert> Contact Tool> Contact Tool). You will see a
Contact Tool inserted with a default contact result.
2.
In the Details view, select Worksheet in the Scoping Method field. The Worksheet appears. Scoped
contact regions are those that are checked in the table.
3.
You can modify your selection of contact regions in the Worksheet using the following procedures:
To add or remove pre-selected groups of contact regions (All Contacts, Nonlinear Contacts, or
Linear Contacts), use the drop-down menu and the corresponding buttons.
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To add any number of contact regions, you can also drag-drop or copy-paste any number of contact
regions from the Contact folder into the Contact Tool in the Tree View. Also, one or more contact
regions can be deleted from the Contact Tool worksheet by selecting them in the table and pressing
the Delete key.
To change the Contact Side of all contact regions, choose the option in the drop-down menu (Both,
Contact, or Target from the drop-down menu and click the Apply button).
To change an individual Contact Side, click in the particular cell and choose Both, Contact, or Target
from the drop-down menu.
4.
Add more contact results as needed in the Contact Tool folder (Contact> [Contact Result, for example,
Pressure] from the Contact Tool context toolbar, or right mouse button click on Contact Tool, then
Insert> [Contact Result, for example, Pressure]).
5.
Solve database. Upon completion, you will see contact results with the common scoping of the Contact
Tool.
To evaluate contact conditions after solution using the Geometry Selection method:
1.
2.
Insert a Contact Tool in the Solution folder (Tools> Contact Tool from the Solution context toolbar,
or right mouse button click on Solution, then Insert> Contact Tool> Contact Tool). You will see a
Contact Tool inserted with a default contact result. Because you have already selected one or more
bodies, Geometry Selection is automatically set in the Scoping Method field within the Details view.
3.
Add more contact results as needed in the Contact Tool folder (Contact> [Contact Result, for example,
Pressure] from the Contact Tool context toolbar, or right mouse button click on Contact Tool, then
Insert> [Contact Result, for example, Pressure]).
4.
Solve database. Upon completion, you will see contact results with the common scoping of the Contact
Tool.
The configuration of the Contact Tool, in particular the location (Solution vs Solution Combination)
and the scoping method, affects the availability of results. A Contact Tool in the Solution Combination
folder has the limitation that it supports only pressure, frictional stress, penetration and distance.
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Gap: the resulting gap.
Geometric Penetration: the penetration that initially exists between the Contact and Target surfaces.
Geometric Gap: the gap that initially exists between the Contact and Target surfaces. For Frictional or
Frictionless contact, this is the minimum gap. For Bonded or No Separation contact, this is the maximum
closed gap detected.
Resulting Pinball: user specified or the Mechanical APDL application calculated pinball radius.
Contact Depth: average contact depth of elements.
Normal Stiffness: the calculated maximum normal stiffness value.
Tangential Stiffness: the calculated maximum tangential stiffness value.
Real Constant: the contact Real Constant number.
The following table outlines how to interpret the Gap and Penetration columns in the Initial Contact
Information when there is a true initial geometric gap at the contact interface.
Contact Type
Interface
Treatment
Offset
Status
Penetration
Gap
Geometric
Penetration
Geometric Gap
Bonded or No
Separation
NA
NA
Closed
True Geometric
Gap
Bonded or No
Separation
NA
NA
Far
Open
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset, No
Ramping
Far
Open
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset,
Ramped Effects
Far
Open
NA
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset, No
Ramping
< True
Geometric
Gap
Near
Open
True
Geometric Gap
- Offset
True Geometric
Gap
Add Offset,
Ramped Effects
< True
Geometric
Gap
Near
Open
True
Geometric Gap
- Offset
NA
Add Offset, No
Ramping
> True
Geometric
Gap
Closed
Offset True
Geometric Gap
True Geometric
Gap
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
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Contact Type
Interface
Treatment
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Offset
Add Offset,
Ramped Effects
Status
> True
Geometric
Gap
Penetration
Gap
Offset True
Geometric Gap
Closed
Geometric
Penetration
Geometric Gap
NA
The following table outlines how to interpret the Gap and Penetration columns in the Initial Contact
Information when there is a true initial geometric penetration at the contact interface.
Contact Type
Interface
Treatment
Offset
Status
Penetration
Gap
Geometric
Penetration
Geometric
Gap
Bonded or No
Separation
NA
NA
Closed
Bonded or No
Separation
NA
NA
Far
Open
Closed
Offset +
True Geometric
Penetration
Closed
Offset +
True Geometric
Penetration
NA
| Offset
| - True
Geometric Penetration
| Offset
| - True
Geometric Penetration
NA
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset,
No Ramping
| Offset | <
Geometric
Penetration
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset,
Ramped Effects
| Offset | <
Geometric
Penetration
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset,
No Ramping
| Offset | >
Geometric
Penetration
Frictionless,
Rough, or Frictional
Add Offset,
Ramped Effects
| Offset | >
Geometric
Penetration
Near
Open
Near
Open
Beam Tool
You can apply a Beam Tool to any assembly in order to view the linearized stresses on beam bodies.
It is customary in beam design to employ components of axial stress that contribute to axial loads and
bending in each direction separately. Therefore, the stress outputs (which are linearized stresses) asso-
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ciated with beam bodies have been focused toward that design goal. The Beam Tool is not available
to the Samcef solver.
The Beam Tool is similar to the Contact Tool in that the tool, not the results themselves control the
scoping. By default, the scoping is to all beam bodies. You can change the scoping in the Details view,
if desired.
To insert a Beam Tool, highlight the Solution object then choose Tools> Beam Tool from the Solution
context toolbar. Three beam stress results are included under the Beam Tool object: Direct Stress,
Minimum Combined Stress, and Maximum Combined Stress. You can add additional beam stress
results or deformation results by highlighting the Beam Tool object and choosing the particular result
from the Beam Tool context toolbar. As an alternative, you can right mouse button click on the Beam
Tool object and, from the context menu, choose Insert> Beam Tool> Stress or Deformation.
Presented below are definitions of the beam stress results that are available:
Direct Stress: The stress component due to the axial load encountered in a beam element.
Minimum Bending Stress: From any bending loads a bending moment in both the local Y and Z directions
will arise. This leads to the following four bending stresses: Y bending stress on top/bottom and Z bending
stress the top/bottom. Minimum Bending Stress is the minimum of these four bending stresses.
Maximum Bending Stress: The maximum of the four bending stresses described under Minimum
Bending Stress.
Minimum Combined Stress: The linear combination of the Direct Stress and the Minimum Bending
Stress.
Maximum Combined Stress: The linear combination of the Direct Stress and the Maximum Bending
Stress.
Caution
Be cautious when adding Beam Tool results to the Solutions Combination feature. As stated
above, Beam Tool minimum and maximum results can originate from one of four different
physical locations. As a result, the application could add solution results from different
physical locations together. For this reason, carefully review stress results used with the
Solutions Combination feature.
Beam Results
Beam results can be applied only to line body edges and are defined as follows in reference to the
solution coordinate system of each beam or pipe element:
Axial Force: the force along a beam element axis (X component).
Bending Moment: the moment in the plane perpendicular to the beam element axis (Y and Z components).
Torsional Moment: the moment about the beam element axis (X component).
Shear Force: the force perpendicular to the beam element axis (Y and Z components).
Shear-Moment Diagram: simultaneously illustrates the distribution of shear forces, bending moments
and displacements, as a function of arc length along a path consisting of line bodies.
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To apply a beam result, define a path by using edges, on the line body edges as described in Defining
a Path using an Edge in Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453). For Shear-Moment Diagrams, the defined
line body edges must be contiguous.
Beam results are not available to the Samcef solver.
Note
User Defined Result equivalents of the above results are BEAM_AXIAL_F, BEAM_BENDING_M,
BEAM_TORSION_M, and BEAM_SHEAR_F.
An Axial Force display will not include an arrow (that is, a vector). The force consists of only
the X component. A positive force denotes tension; a negative force denotes compression.
If a path is coincident with an edge, beam results from scoping to the path may not match
beam results from scoping to the edge. The path for beams only allows contributions from
beam elements with both endpoints in the path. An edge can allow contributions from elements
that have only one node on the edge.
Shear-Moment Diagram
A shear-moment diagram is a beam result that you can apply only to paths, which simultaneously illustrates the distribution of shear forces, bending moments and displacements, as a function of arc length
along the path consisting of line bodies.
These three quantities are included in a shear-moment diagram because they are so closely related.
For example, the derivative of the moment is the shear:
dM/dx = V(x)
You can pre-define the path by selecting a contiguous set of line body edges, then inserting a ShearMoment Diagram object in the tree. Insert from the Beam Results drop down menu on the Solution
context toolbar, or by a right-click on the Solution folder and choosing Insert> Beam Results from
the context menu.
With the Shear-Moment Diagram object highlighted, the Path, Type and Graphics Display settings
in the Details view control the curves you can display in the Worksheet or the Graph window. Descriptions are presented below. When the X, Y, or Z component is indicated, they are in the local coordinate
system whose X axis is directed instantaneously along the beam. The Y and Z axes can be inspected
using an Element Triad result. All Type and Graphics Display directions are referenced to this axis.
Path: The specific path to which the shear-moment diagram is to apply. For ease of use, before inserting
the Shear-Moment Diagram object, you can define the path by selecting a contiguous set of line body
edges. You can choose to use this path or any other pre-defined paths that you have created for other
path results.
Type: The shear-moment diagram to display. Choices are:
Total Shear-Moment Diagram
Directional Shear-Moment Diagram (VY-MZ-UY)
Directional Shear-Moment Diagram (VZ-MZ-UZ)
924
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Structural Results
Graphics Display: Controls which quantity is plotted in the Graph window and reported as Minimum
and Maximum values in the Details view.
Example in Worksheet:
You can toggle the display of all the Max and Min annotation labels by right-clicking anywhere in the
top diagram and choosing Hide/Show Annotation Labels.
Example in Graph and Tabular Data Windows:
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925
Using Results
Structural Probes
The following structural probe types are available.
Probe Type
Output
Deformation
Cha
ics
Scop
flexi
or ri
bod
Scop
by: b
ies
(sing
bod
only
gid)
tion
926
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Structural Results
Probe Type
Output
Strain
Stress
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927
Using Results
Probe Type
Output
Cha
ics
any;
fault
Glob
Cart
Position
Scop
rigid
bod
only
Scop
by: b
ies, c
ordi
syste
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
any;
fault
Glob
Cart
Velocity
Scop
flexi
or ri
bod
Scop
by: b
ies
(sing
bod
only
gid)
ordi
syste
(rigi
bod
only
ation
only
tex,
edge
face
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
928
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Structural Results
Probe Type
Output
Angular Velocity
Acceleration
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929
Using Results
Probe Type
Output
Cha
ics
Glob
Cart
Angular Acceleration
Scop
rigid
bod
only
Scop
by: b
ies.
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
any;
fault
Glob
Cart
Energy
Scop
flexi
or ri
bod
Scop
by:
Fo
en
al
ic
al
or
fo
Po
an
Fo
en
gi
or
fo
an
tia
Sy
on
te
To
930
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Structural Results
Probe Type
Output
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931
Using Results
Probe Type
Output
Cha
ics
Vibr
and
spon
Spec
trum
Moment Reaction2 (p. 935)
Scop
flexi
bod
only
can
scop
a se
plan
a bo
by s
cifyi
Surf
as th
Loca
Met
Scop
by:
Bou
Con
tion
tact
gion
mot
Poin
Beam
Mes
Con
tion
Sur-
face
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
any
Cart
defa
to G
Cart
Only
Solu
Coo
932
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Structural Results
Probe Type
Output
Joint
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933
Using Results
Probe Type
Output
Cha
ics
Sum
tion
poin
way
joint
Mom
Response
PSD1 (p. 935)
Random Vibration
Scop
flexi
bod
only
Scop
by: l
tion
and
tex.
Orie
tion
ordi
Syst
Only
Solu
Coo
ate S
tem
valid
Rand
Vibr
Spring
Scop
sprin
only
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
sprin
is on
Bearing
Scop
bear
only
Orie
tion
ordi
syst
bear
934
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Structural Results
Probe Type
Output
Beam
Bolt Pretension
Generalized
Plane Strain
1 - The Response PSD Probe provides an excitation response plot across the frequency domain of an
input PSD load. It also evaluates the root mean square (RMS) of a response PSD. It is assumed that the
excitations are stationary random processes from the input PSD values.
2 - The Force and Moment Reactions for Mesh Connections are not supported for Modal and Harmonic
Response analyses.
3 - Remote Points must be constrained and Beams and Springs must be grounded.
4 - For reactions on cutting planes, you must explicitly select the bodies to be sliced. You cannot apply
this to all bodies. You then specify for the Extraction detail whether you want to study nodes in front
or behind the plane. The probe will only operate on elements cut by the plane (and only nodes on
those elements which are on the selected side of the plane).
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935
Using Results
Need not be represented by any node Results at the single node represent
in the mesh. The Mechanical application the displacement, velocity, etc. at
computes the part centroid by averthe centroid of the part.
aging the element centroids. Each element centroid is the average of the
element's nodes.
936
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Structural Results
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy due to the motion of parts in a transient analysis is calculated
as *mass* velocity2 for translations and *omegaT*Inertia*omega for rotations.
Potential Energy: This energy is the sum of the potential energy due to gravity and the elastic
energy stored in springs. The potential energy due to gravity is proportional to the height of
the body with respect to a reference ground. The reference used in a Rigid Dynamics analysis
is the origin of the global coordinate system. Because of this, it is possible to have a negative
potential energy (and negative total energy) depending on your model coordinates. The
elastic energy includes only energy due to deformation of spring(s) in a rigid body dynamic
analysis and is calculated as * Stiffness * elongation2.
External Energy: This is all the energy the loads and joints bring to a system.
Total Energy: This is the sum of potential, kinetic and external energies in a Rigid Dynamics
analysis.
Note
Energy results are not available for Rigid Dynamics analysis on a body per-body basis.
An energy probe scoped on a body will return the energy of the whole part to which
body belongs.
937
Using Results
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output Controls.
If results are expanded from a modal solution, then the output of these options are controlled by both the RSOL and NLOAD options of the OUTRES
command. You must set both Calculate Reactions and Nodal Forces to
either Yes or Constrained Nodes in the Output Controls.
Note
Transient Mode-Superposition
Remote Displacement
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Modal
938
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
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Structural Results
Reaction
Type
Harmonic
Response Full
RS
Output Controlled By
To enable the output, set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output Controls.
If results are expanded from a modal solution, then the output of these options are controlled by both the RSOL and NLOAD options of the OUTRES
command. You must set both Calculate Reactions and Nodal Forces to
either Yes or Constrained Nodes in the Output Controls.
Note
Transient Mode-Superposition
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command. Reaction probes scoped to a Compression Only boundary
condition cannot display results if the solver did not converge.
Elastic Support
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the NLOAD option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Nodal Forces = Yes in the Output Controls.
Imported Displacement
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
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939
Using Results
Weak Springs
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
Grounded Beam
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient
Full
Modal
Harmonic
Response Full
Harmonic
Response Mode-Superposition
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output Controls.
If results are expanded from a modal solution, then the output of these options are controlled by both the RSOL and NLOAD options of the OUTRES
command. You must set both Calculate Reactions and Nodal Forces to
either Yes or Constrained Nodes in the Output Controls.
Note
Transient Mode-Superposition
Contact
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Modal
Standalone
Harmonic
940
Output Controlled By
The underlying element options are controlled by the NLOAD option of the
OUTRES command. To enable the output, set Nodal Forces = Yes in the
Output Controls.
The contact element options are governed by the MISC option of the
OUTRES command. To enable the output, set Contact Miscellaneous = Yes
in the Output Controls.
These analysis types do not support contact reactions using the contact
element option. They only support contact reactions using the underlying
element option.
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Structural Results
Reaction
Type
Output Controlled By
Response Full
Standalone
Harmonic
Response Mode-Superposition
Harmonic
Response
Analysis
Linked to
Modal Analysis
You control the underlying element options using the NLOAD option of the
OUTRES command. To enable the output, set the Nodal Forces property
to Yes in the Output Controls category.
Transient Linked to
Modal Analysis
Remote Point
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Modal
Harmonic
Response Full
Harmonic
Response Mode-Superposition
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output Controls.
If results are expanded from a modal solution, then the output of these options are controlled by both the RSOL and NLOAD options of the OUTRES
command. You must set both Calculate Reactions and Nodal Forces to
either Yes or Constrained Nodes in the Output Controls.
Note
Transient Mode-Superposition
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941
Using Results
Grounded Spring
Reaction
Type
Static
Transient Full
Modal
Harmonic
Response Full
Harmonic
Response Mode-Superposition
Output Controlled By
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
The output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output Controls.
If results are expanded from a modal solution, then the output of these options are controlled by both the RSOL and NLOAD options of the OUTRES
command. You must set both Calculate Reactions and Nodal Forces to
either Yes or Constrained Nodes in the Output Controls.
Note
Constrained Nodes is the preferred option, as the results
file size will be smaller and the process time shorter.
Transient Mode-Superposition
Otherwise, the output of these options are controlled by the RSOL option
of the OUTRES command. Set Calculate Reactions = Yes in the Output
Controls.
Mesh Connection
Reaction
Type
Output Controlled By
Static
Transient Full
Modal
Transient Mode-Superposition
The output of these options are controlled by the NLOAD option of the
OUTRES command.
To enable the output, set Nodal Forces = Yes in the Output Controls.
Surface
Reaction
Type
Output Controlled By
Static
Transient Full
The output of these options are controlled by the NLOAD option of the
OUTRES command.
Transient Mode-Superposi- To enable the output, set Nodal Forces = Yes in the Output Controls.
tion
942
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Structural Results
943
Using Results
For a force reaction scoped to a contact region, if you set Extraction = Contact (Contact Element), the
reaction calculations come directly from the contact elements themselves. This results in accurate force
reactions even when the contact region overlaps with other boundary conditions, such as other contact
regions, supports, etc. Characteristics of the Contact (Contact Element) setting are that MPC contact is
not supported, nor are reactions from the Target (Underlying Element) side. This feature should only
be used with Asymmetric contact and requires that Contact Miscellaneous be set to Yes in the Output
Controls. A limitation of the Contact (Contact Element) setting is when you use linear contact (that is,
either Bonded or No Separation contact types) with loads that are unrealistically very high or very low in
magnitude. These situations can produce inaccurate force reactions.
When a probe is scoped to a Mesh Connection, the Mechanical application reports the following reactions:
Forces and Moments summed from the element nodal forces and moments in the result file.
The Extraction detail determines which elements (Master or Slave) contribute to the force or moment
sum.
The Surface probe type enables you to study reactions on cutting planes. You can extract generated
member forces and reactions through a model by using a reaction probe scoped to a surface. For this
probe type, you must explicitly select the bodies to be sliced. You cannot apply this to all bodies. You
then specify for the Extraction detail whether you want to study nodes in front or behind the plane. The
probe operates on elements cut by the plane (and only nodes on those elements which are on the selected
side of the plane). Currently, surface probes cannot intersect a plane strain or an axisymmetric model and
consequently no results display for this scoping.
Joint Probes
The joint type determines the available result types. Refer to the Joint Types (p. 545) section for a discussion of joint types and the free degrees of freedom. The following table presents each of the joint probe
results available through the Result Type drop down menu in the Details view.
Joint Probe Result Type
Total Force
All
Total Moment
Relative Displacement
Relative Velocity
Relative Acceleration
Relative Rotation
Damping Force
Bushing
Damping Moment
Constraint Force
Constraint Moment
Elastic Moment
Elastic Force
Bushing
944
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Structural Results
For spherical and general joints the output of relative rotations is characterized by the Cardan (or Bryant)
angles; the rotation around the joint Y axis is limited to between -90 degrees to +90 degrees. When this
rotation magnitude value reaches 90 degrees, the output may jump to the opposite sign.
The convention for the deformations differs for joints in a Rigid Dynamics analysis vs. those in a Transient
Structural analysis. For the Rigid Dynamics type, the reference of zero deformation is taken after the
model has been assembled, and the initial conditions have been applied. For the Transient Structural
analysis type, the initial location of bodies is used as reference, before applying initial conditions.
When you request a force or moment at a specific time point by setting Display time = time value in
the Details view of a Joint probe, the force or moment will be displayed by an arrow in the Geometry
window. Force will use a single arrowhead and moment will use double arrowhead.
Joints compute no reactions forces or moments for the free degrees of freedom of the joint. However,
Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, Rotation, Rotational Velocity and Rotational Acceleration conditions
- generate forces and moments, that are reported in the constraint force and moment.
Joint forces and moment conditions are not reported in the joint force and moment probe.
Joint force and moment are by definition the action of the moving body on the reference body. For the
ANSYS solver, the joint constraint forces and moments are reported in the joint reference coordinate
system. The elastic forces/moments and damping forces/moments in the joints are reported in the reference
and mobile axes of the joint which follow the displacements and rotations of the underlying nodes of the
joint element. When using the ANSYS Rigid Dynamics solver, the joint forces and moments components
are always reported in the joint reference coordinate system.
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945
Using Results
Joint force and moment probes are not supported for Body-Body fixed joints that are scoped to rigid
bodies in analyses that use the MAPDL solver. If these outputs are important, consider using a general
joint.
Control
Description
Definition
Type
Location
Method
The response PSD is a point based result. The location of the point can
be provided using geometry selection or coordinate system. For the
geometry selection, only vertex is allowed for the selection. For the coordinate system, a local/customized coordinate system defining a certain
location can be used for evaluation of the response PSD. It can also be
scoped to a Remote Point if there is one defined in geometry.
Geometry
Orientation
Location
X Coordinate
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Reference
Two options are available for the response PSD result evaluation; Relative
to base motion (or relative motion) and Absolute (including base motion). For the Relative to base motion, the response of any location in
a structural component is calculated in term of a relative motion between
the base and the structural component, and vice versa.
Remote
Points
Suppressed
Result Type
Result Type: The result types include three basic motion characteristics (Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration), Stress (including
normal and shear) and Strain (including normal and shear).
Result Selection
Defines the direction, in Solution Coordinate System, in which response specified in the result type is calculated.
RMS Value
Options
Results
946
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Structural Results
Spring Probes
You can use a probe to display the following longitudinal result items from a spring.
Elastic Force: The force is calculated as (Spring Stiffness * Elongation). The force acts along the
length of the spring.
Damping Force: Damping force is calculated as (Damping Factor * velocity) and acts to resist motion.
Elongation: The elongation is the relative displacement between the two ends of the springs. The
elongation could be positive (stretching the spring) or negative (compressing the spring).
Velocity: Velocity is the rate of stretch (or compression) of the spring. This quantity is only calculated
in a Transient Structural or Rigid Dynamics analysis.
Bearing Probes
A Bearing is essentially a two-spring-damper system that is aligned in any two coordinate axes of a
coordinate system; primarily a rotating plane.
For rotations in the X-Y plane, the result items for the first axis are in X direction and the results for the
second axis are in Y direction. The application adds a suffix (number 1 and 2) to each result item. The
X-Z and Y-Z rotation planes also use this convention.
You can use a Bearing probe to display the following result items.
Elastic Force 1
The force is calculated as (Spring Stiffness * Elongation). The force acts along the length of the spring
along the first axis.
Elastic Force 2
The force is calculated as (Spring Stiffness * Elongation). The force acts along the length of the spring
along the second axis.
Damping Force 1
Damping force is calculated as (Damping Factor * Velocity) and acts to resist motion along the first axis.
Damping Force 2
Damping force is calculated as (Damping Factor * Velocity) and acts to resist motion along the second
axis.
Elongation 1
The elongation is the relative displacement between the two ends of the spring in the first axis. The
elongation could be positive (stretching the spring) or negative (compressing the spring).
Elongation 2
The elongation is the relative displacement between the two ends of the spring in the second axis. The
elongation could be positive (stretching the spring) or negative (compressing the spring).
Velocity 1
Velocity is the rate of stretch (or compression) of the spring in the first axis. This quantity is only calculated
in a Transient Structural analysis.
Velocity 2
Velocity is the rate of stretch (or compression) of the spring in the second axis. This quantity is only
calculated in a Transient Structural analysis.
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947
Using Results
Beam Probes
The Beam Probe results provide you the forces and moments in the beam from your analysis. Using
the Beam Probe you can determine the Axial Force, Torque, Shear Force at I, Shear Force at J, Moment
at I, Moment at J. You can also add the Force reaction and Moment Reaction probes to view reaction
force moment for the beam. To add beam probes:
1.
In the Project Tree, click Solution to make the Solution toolbar available.
2.
On the Solution toolbar, click Probe, and then click Beam to add the Beam Probe under Solution.
3.
In the Details view, under Definition, click the Boundary Condition list and click the beam you want to
analyze.
4.
Under Options, in the Result Selection list, click the result you want to calculate.
Gasket Results
Gasket results are structural results associated with ANSYS interface elements. When used with ANSYS
structural elements, interface elements simulate an interface between two materials. The behavior at
these interfaces is highly nonlinear.
To mesh a body using interface elements, highlight the Body object in the tree and set Stiffness Behavior to Gasket.
948
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Structural Results
The following gasket results are available in the Mechanical Application:
Normal Gasket Pressure - corresponding to Mechanical APDL command PLNSOL,GKS,X
Shear Gasket Pressure - corresponding to Mechanical APDL commands PLNSOL,GKS,XY and
PLNSOL,GKS,XZ
Normal Gasket Total Closure - corresponding to Mechanical APDL command PLNSOL,GKD,X
Shear Gasket Total Closure - corresponding to Mechanical APDL commands PLNSOL,GKD,XY and
PLNSOL,GKD,XZ
These results are only available in the solution coordinate system.
Prerequisites
In addition to being applicable to only Modal analyses, you must ensure that the following Analysis
Settings are activated in order to properly apply a Campbell Diagram. Select the Analysis Settings
object in your Modal Analysis and perform the following settings:
Under Solver Controls, Damped = On.
Under Rotordynamics Controls:
Coriolis Effect = On
Campbell Diagram = On
In addition, a Rotational Velocity boundary condition must be created in order to properly scope the
Campbell Diagram.
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949
Using Results
In this chart, each line represents a frequency evolution of a whirl mode with respect to increased rotational velocities. The whirl frequency value of an eigenmode at each rotational velocity is also listed in
the table. For each whirl mode, it is either labeled as forward (FW) or backward (BW) whirl direction. In
some cases, when there is no evident whirl direction, the whirl frequency is labeled as UNDETERMINED.
If a whirl mode is identified as FW, the rotating structural component whirls the same direction as the
rotation direction, and vice versa. If a whirl mode is evaluated to be unstable (marked as UNSTABLE),
the whirl orbit will evolve into a divergent trajectory, instead of an elliptical trajectory.
In addition to whirl modes, a line (black color) of any ratio between whirl frequency and rotational velocity is plotted. The intersection between this line and each whirl mode is indicated with a red triangular
marker. The rotational velocity corresponding to this intersection is called critical speed. At critical speed,
the rotating structural component will experience a peak as the rotating frequency resonates with the
natural whirl frequency.
The Campbell diagram chart result can be customized in Details of Campbell Diagram as follows:
Scope
Rotational Velocity Selection: This field displays the user-defined Rotational Velocity of the analysis for
which the Campbell diagram chart result is evaluated. If one is not defined, the field is highlighted in
yellow and displays the value None.
950
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Structural Results
Note
Any change made in these fields requires a result re-evaluation.
Axis
Note
Two different unit types, rad/s and RPM, are available to define rotational velocity in the
chart. The selection can be made in Units toolbar.
X Axis Label: Allows users to provide a customized label for rotational velocity.
X Axis Range: There are two options to display the rotational velocity data range; Program Controlled
and Specified. The default is Program Controlled, which uses minimum and maximum determined by the
system. The option of Specified allows users to provide a customized range to be used in the chart. The
minimum and maximum values are displayed in the X Axis Minimum and X Axis Maximum fields below
after result evaluation is done.
X Axis Minimum: Minimum rotational velocity value is displayed according to the selection made in X
Axis Range.
X Axis Maximum: Maximum rotational velocity value is displayed according to the selection made in X
Axis Range.
Y Axis Label: Allows users to provide a customized label for frequency, stability or logarithmic decrement
depending on the selection made in Y Axis Data.
Y Axis Range: There are two options, Program Controlled and Specified, to display the frequency, stability
or logarithmic value range depending on the selection made in Y Axis Data. The default is Program Controlled, which uses minimum and maximum determined by the system. The option of Specified allows
users to provide a customized range to be used in the chart. The minimum and maximum values are
displayed in the Y Axis Minimum and Y Axis Maximum fields below after result evaluation is done.
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951
Using Results
Y Axis Minimum: Minimum frequency, stability or logarithmic decrement value is displayed according to
the selection made in Y Axis Range.
Y Axis Maximum: Maximum frequency, stability or logarithmic decrement value is displayed according
to the selection made in Y Axis Range.
Thermal Results
The following thermal result topics are addressed in this section:
Temperature
Heat Flux
Heat Reaction
Error (Thermal)
Thermal Probes
Thermal Probes (p. 953) can be used to determine the following results:
Temperature
Heat Flux
Heat Reaction
Note
Currently, thermal analyses do not support the Contact Tool.
Temperature
In a steady-state or transient thermal analysis, temperature distribution throughout the structure is
calculated. This is a scalar quantity.
Scoping allows you to limit the temperature display to particular geometric entities. Similarly scoping
allows you to get reactions at specific boundary condition objects. Temperature results can be displayed
as a contour plot. You can also capture the variation of these results with time by using a probe.
Heat Flux
The Mechanical application calculates the heat flux (q/A, energy per unit time per unit area) throughout
the body. Heat flux can be output as individual vector components X, Y or Z.
You can display the X, Y, and Z components of heat flux in different coordinate systems.
952
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Thermal Results
Scoping allows you to limit the heat flux display to particular geometric entities. Similarly scoping allows
you to get reactions at specific boundary condition objects. Heat flux results can be displayed as a
contour plot. You can also capture the variation of these results with time by using a probe.
Request Vector Heat Flux plots in the same way that you would request any other result. After inserting
the result object in the tree and solving, click the Graphics button in the Result context toolbar.
Heat Reaction
You can obtain heat reaction (q, energy per unit time) at locations where a temperature, imported
temperature, convection, or radiation boundary condition is specified. Heat reaction is a scalar.
To obtain a heat reaction result, insert a Reaction probe and specify an existing Boundary Condition.
See Thermal Probes (p. 953) for more information.
Error (Thermal)
The description of this result is the same as Error (Structural) except that heat flux is the basis for the
errors instead of stresses.
Thermal Probes
The following thermal probe types are available.
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Using Results
Probe Type
Characteristics
Temperature
Steady-state
thermal, transient
thermal
Temperature: overall
Scope to:
body.
Steady-state
thermal, transient
thermal
Heat Flux
Steady-state
thermal, transient
thermal
Heat: overall
Scope to:
body.
Scope by:
boundary condition.
Not available to
the Samcef
solver.
Steady-state
thermal, transient
thermal
1 - For 2D plane stress models the Radiosity Solver method assumes an infinite third dimension so the
Radiation Probe results will be proportional to the Workbench model thickness.
See the Probes (p. 1001) section for further information.
954
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Magnetostatic Results
Magnetostatic Results
A magnetostatic analysis offers several results items for viewing. Results may be scoped to bodies and,
by default, all bodies will compute results for display. You can use the Details view to view vector results
in several ways. Magnetic Flux Density, Magnetic Field Intensity, and Force represent the magnitude of
the results vector and can be viewed as a contour or as a directional vector. Any directional solution
represents direction vector components (X, Y, Z) of the vector. They may be displayed as a contour.
The following electromagnetic result topics are addressed in this section:
Electric Potential
Total Magnetic Flux Density
Directional Magnetic Flux Density
Total Magnetic Field Intensity
Directional Magnetic Field Intensity
Total Force
Directional Force
Current Density
Inductance
Flux Linkage
Error (Magnetic)
Magnetostatic Probes
Magnetostatic Probes (p. 958) can be used to determine the following results:
Flux Density
Field Intensity
Force Summation
Torque
Energy
Magnetic Flux
Electric Potential
Electric potential represents contours of constant electric potential (voltage) in conductor bodies. This
is a scalar quantity.
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Using Results
Total Force
Total Force results represent electromagnetic forces on bodies. This is a vector quantity. Selecting this
option allows you to view the magnitude of the vector as a contour or as a directional vector.
Directional Force
Vector components of force and torque are computed throughout the simulation domain. They are
meaningful only on non-air bodies. Selecting this option allows you to view individual vector force
components (X, Y, Z) as a contour. The total summed forces and torque are available in the Details view.
For example, requesting the z component of directional force/torque will report the net force acting in
the z direction and the net torque acting about the z axis of the specified coordinate system.
Current Density
Current density can be computed for any solid conductor body. It is displayed as a vector and is best
viewed in wireframe mode. You can use the Vector toolbar to adjust the vector arrow viewing options.
You can use the element-aligned option in the Vector toolbar for current density vectors, but not the
grid-aligned option.
Inductance
Inductance can be computed for conductor bodies. It is defined as a measure of the differential change
in flux linkage to the differential change in current. This is represented by the equation below, where
d is the differential change in flux linking conductor j produced by a differential change in current
for conductor i. Note that this is valid for linear and nonlinear systems, the inductance will be a function
of current.
Inductance is often used as a parameter in electric machine design and in circuit simulators.
A conductor body must have a current load to be considered in inductance calculations. Inductance
results are presented in the Worksheet View. The results are presented in table form. The example below
shows inductance results for a two-conductor system. The diagonal terms represent self-inductance,
while the off-diagonal terms represent mutual inductance. In this case, L11 = 1e - 4, L22 = 8e - 4, L12 =
L21 = 4e - 4 Henries.
Cond1
(H)
Cond1 1e-4
956
Cond2
(H)
4e-4
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Magnetostatic Results
Cond2 4e-4
8e-4
The Details view for inductance allows you to define a Symmetry Multiplier. Use this if your simulation
model represents only a fraction of the full geometry. The multiplier should be set to compensate for
the symmetry model. For example, if you create a half-symmetry model of the geometry for simulation,
set the Multiplier to '2.' Changing the multiplier will update the Worksheet results.
Note
Computing inductance can be time-consuming and should only be used if needed.
Loads (Voltage, and Current) must be constant when Inductance is specified. Tabular and
function loads are not supported.
Inductance can only be used with a single step, single substep solution. User settings to the
contrary will be overridden.
Inductance requires the Direct solver setting (default) for the Solver Type property of Analysis
Settings. User settings to the contrary will be overridden.
Flux Linkage
Flux linkage can be computed for any system incorporating a conductor. Solving for flux linkage calculates
the flux, , linking a conductor. This is commonly referred to as the "flux linkage." For nonlinear systems,
the flux linkage will be a function of current. Flux linkage is also a function of stroke (e.g., displacement
of an armature).
Flux linkage is often used to compute the emf (electromotive force) in a conductor, defined using the
equation below, where V is the electromotive force, typically expressed in volts.
=
Conductor bodies must have defined current loads to be considered in flux linkage calculations. Flux
linkage results are presented in the Worksheet View. The results are presented in table form. The example
below shows flux linkage results for a two-conductor system.
Flux Linkages
(Wb)
Cond1 5e-4
Cond2 10e-4
The Details view for flux linkage allows you to define a Symmetry Multiplier. Use this if your simulation
model represents only a fraction of the full geometry. The multiplier should be set to compensate for
the symmetry model. For example, if you create a half-symmetry model of the geometry for simulation,
set the Multiplier to '2.' Changing the multiplier will update the Worksheet results.
Note
Computing flux linkage can be time-consuming and should only be used if needed.
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Using Results
Loads (Voltage, and Current) must be constant when flux linkage is specified. Tabular and
function loads are not supported.
Flux linkage can only be used with a single step, single substep solution. User settings to the
contrary will be overridden.
Flux linkage requires the Direct solver setting (default) for the Solver Type property of Analysis Settings. User settings to the contrary will be overridden.
Error (Magnetic)
The description of this result is similar to Error (Structural) except that flux density is the basis for the
errors instead of stresses.
When all materials are linear, Workbench uses relative permeability (MURX, MURY, MURZ) values which
are available in the material properties.
When nonlinear materials are present, Workbench does not extract relative permeability from the material properties. Instead, for a given element, Workbench first sums the flux density vectors of the result
nodes to form a vector called B. Workbench next sums the field intensity vectors of the result nodes
to form a vector called H.
MURX, MURY, and MURZ are all assigned the value ( |B|/|H| ) / MUZERO, where:
|B| is the length of the B vector,
|H| is the length of the H vector,
MUZERO is free space permeability.
If the H vector has a zero length, the contribution of this element to the energy error will be set to 0.
Magnetostatic Probes
The following magnetostatic probe types are available.
Probe Type
Characteristics
Flux Density
Magnetostatic
Scope to:
body.
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Magnetostatic Results
Probe Type
Field Intensity
Magnetostatic
Characteristics
Force Summation
Magnetostatic
Scope to:
body.
Scope by: bodies.
Orientation
coordinate
system: any;
defaults to
Global
Cartesian.
Torque
Magnetostatic
Scope to:
body.
Scope by: bodies.
Orientation
coordinate
system: any;
defaults to
Global
Cartesian.
Summation:
Orientation coordinate system.
Energy
Magnetostatic
Magnetic Co-energy
Scope to:
body.
Scope by: System or per
body.
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Using Results
Probe Type
Magnetic Flux
Magnetostatic
Magnetic
Flux2 (p. 960)
Characteristics
Scope to:
body.
Scope by:
edge.
1 - Torque results represent the torque on a body due to electromagnetic forces. Torque is specified
about the origin of a coordinate system. By default, the global coordinate system is used. To change
the specification point, create a local coordinate system and specify the results about the new origin.
The torque result is listed in the Details view.
2 - Magnetic Flux is computed along the edge scoping. The scoping should produce a single continuous
path along a model edge. Flux is reported as magnitude only.
See the Probes (p. 1001) section for further information.
Electric Results
The following electric result types are available:
Result Type
Description
Electric
Voltage
Total Electric
Field Intensity
Is computed throughout the simulation domain and is a vector sum quantity. Selecting
this option allows you to view the total magnitude of the vectors as a contour.
Directional
Electric Field
Intensity
Its vector components are computed throughout the simulation domain. This option allows you to view individual vector components (X, Y, Z) as contours.
Total Current
Density
Can be computed for any solid conductor body. It is displayed as a vector and is best
viewed in wireframe mode. You can use the Vector toolbar to adjust the vector arrow
viewing options. You can use the element-aligned option in the Vector toolbar for current
density vectors, but not the grid-aligned option.
Directional
Current
Density
Its vector components are computed throughout the simulation domain. This option allows you to view individual current density vector components (X, Y, Z) as contours.
Joule Heat
Occurs in a conductor carrying an electric current. Joule heat is proportional to the square
of the current, and is independent of the current direction.
Note
This result when generated by non-zero contact resistance is not supported.
Electric Probes (p. 961) can be used to determine the following results:
Electric Voltage
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Fatigue Results
Field Intensity
Current Density
Reaction
Electric Probes
The following electric probe types are available.
Probe Type
Applicable Analysis
Types
Output
Characteristics
Electric Voltage
Electric
Voltage
Field Intensity
Electric
Current Density
Electric
Reaction
Electric
Current: overall
Fatigue Results
Fatigue provides life, damage, and factor of safety information and uses a stress-life or strain-life approach,
with several options for handling mean stress and specifying loading conditions. Common uses for the
strain-life approach are in notched areas where, although the nominal response is elastic, the local response may become plastic. The three components to a fatigue analysis are:
Fatigue Material Properties (p. 962)
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961
Using Results
Fatigue Analysis and Loading Options (p. 963)
Reviewing Fatigue Results (p. 966)
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Fatigue Results
Loading Type
Choose from the following:
Zero-Based (r=0)
Fully Reversed (r=-1)
Ratio
History Data
Non-proportional Loading (available only for stress-life applications)
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Using Results
The first three are all constant amplitude, proportional loading types and are illustrated with a graph
in the Geometry window.
The fourth type, history data, allows you to navigate to a file containing the data points. This option is
a non-constant amplitude proportional loading type. This data is depicted in a graph on the Worksheet.
You can specify the number of data points this graph will display in the Maximum Data Points To Plot
field located in the Details view of the Fatigue Tool.
The fifth option is a non-proportional constant amplitude loading type for models that alternate between
two completely different stress states (for example, between bending and torsional loading). Problems
such as an alternating stress imposed on a static stress can be modeled with this feature. Non-proportional loading is applicable on fatigue tools under Solution Combination where exactly two environments
are selected.
Scale Factor
This setting scales the load magnitude. For example, if you set this to 3, the amplitude (and mean) of
a zero-based loading will be 1.5 times the stress in the body. The graph in the Worksheet window will
update to reflect this setting. This option is useful to see the effects of different finite element loading
magnitudes without having to run the complete structural analysis repeatedly. Note that this scale
factor is applied after the stresses have been collapsed from a tensor into a scalar. Thus any multiaxial
stress collapse methods that are sensitive to the sign (Von-Mises, Maximum Shear, Maximum Principal)
may not give the same answer had the scale factor been applied to the environment load itself.
Analysis Type
Choose either Stress Life or Strain Life.
Note
A sample plot of each of these theories is shown at the bottom of the Worksheet view. This
plot does not use live data, but is rather a generic representation of each theory. For more
information on these theories, see "Metal Fatigue In Engineering" by Ralph I. Stephens, et.
al.
Stress Component
Because stresses are multiaxial but experimental fatigue data is usually uniaxial, the stress must be
converted from a multiaxial stress state to a uniaxial one. A value of 2 times the maximum shear stress
is used. You can choose from several types, including component stresses, von Mises, and a signed von
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Fatigue Results
Mises, which takes the sign of the absolute maximum principal stress. The signed von Mises is useful
for accounting for any compressive mean stresses.
Units Name
This field allows you to specify the name for the Life Units. The unit options include:
cycles
hours
blocks
days
seconds
months
minutes
User Defined
User Defined
Selecting the User Defined option displays the Custom Units Name field. Enter the name for your
customized unit name in this field. The specified unit is reflected in the Details view for all applicable
fatigue settings.
1 Unit is Equal To
Where "unit" is either cycle or block based on the Units Name selection. Modify the fields value based
on the desired number of cycles or blocks for the units.
Bin Size
This option appears only if Type is set to History Data (non-constant amplitude loading). This setting
defines how many divisions the cycle counting history should be organized into for the history data
loading type. Strictly speaking, this is number specifies the dimensions of the rainflow matrix. A larger
bin size has greater precision but will take longer to solve and use more memory.
Infinite Life
Stress Life Analysis
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Using Results
This option appears only if Type is set to History Data (non-constant amplitude loading) and defines
what life will be used if the stress amplitude is lower than the lowest stress on the SN curve. It may be
important in how damaging small stress amplitudes from the rainflow matrix are.
Strain Life Analysis
Since the strain-life method is equation based it has no built-in limit, unlike stress-life for which the
Fatigue Tool uses a maximum life equal to the last point on the SN curve. Thus to avoid skewed contour
plots showing very high lives, you can specify Infinite Life in a strain-life analysis. For example, if you
set a value of 1e9 cycles as the Infinite Life, the maximum life reported is 1e9.
Life
This result contour plot shows the available life for the given fatigue analysis. If loading is of constant
amplitude, this represents the number of cycles until the part will fail due to fatigue. If loading is nonconstant, this represents the number of loading blocks until failure. Thus if the given load history represents one month of loading and the life was found to be 120, the expected model life would be 120
months.
In a constant amplitude analysis, if the alternating stress is lower than the lowest alternating stress
defined in the S-N curve, the life at that point will be used.
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Fatigue Results
Damage
Fatigue damage is defined as the design life divided by the available life. The default design life may
be set through the Options dialog box. A damage of greater than 1 indicates the part will fail from fatigue
before the design life is reached.
Safety Factor
This result is a contour plot of the factor of safety (FS) with respect to a fatigue failure at a given design
life. The maximum FS reported is 15.
Biaxiality Indication
This result is a stress biaxiality contour plot over the model that gives a qualitative measure of the stress
state throughout the body. A biaxiality of 0 corresponds to uniaxial stress, a value of -1 corresponds to
pure shear, and a value of 1 corresponds to a pure biaxial state.
For Non-proportional loading, you can choose between average biaxiality and standard deviation of
biaxiality in the Details view.
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Using Results
Fatigue Sensitivity
This plot shows how the fatigue results change as a function of the loading at the critical location on
the scoped region. Sensitivity may be found for life, damage, or factory of safety. For instance, if you
set the lower and upper fatigue sensitivity limits to 50% and 150% respectively, and your scale factor
to 3, this result will plot the data points along a scale ranging from a 1.5 to a 4.5 scale factor. You can
specify the number of fill points in the curve, as well as choose from several chart viewing options (such
as linear or log-log).
The Navigational Control at the bottom right hand corner of the graph can be used to zoom and pan
the graph. You can use the double-sided arrow at any corner of the control to zoom in or out. When
you place the mouse in the center of the Navigational Control, you can drag the four-sided arrow to
move the chart points within the chart.
To specify a result item, you must be under a Solution object.
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Fatigue Results
Hysteresis
In a strain-life fatigue analysis, although the finite element response may be linear, the local elastic/plastic
response may not be linear. The Neuber correction is used to determine the local elastic/plastic response
given a linear elastic input. Repeated loading will form close hysteresis loops as a result of this nonlinear
local response. In a constant amplitude analysis a single hysteresis loop is created although numerous
loops may be created via rainflow counting in a non-constant amplitude analysis. The Hysteresis result
plots the local elastic-plastic response at the critical location of the scoped result (the Hysteresis result
can be scoped, similar to all result items). Hysteresis is a good result to help you understand the true
local response that may not be easy to infer. Notice in the example below, that although the loading/elastic result is tensile, the local response does venture into the compressive region.
Loading/Elastic Response:
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969
Using Results
Overview
The User Defined Result feature allows you to derive user defined result values by performing mathematical operations on results obtained following a solution.
Mechanical can generate user defined results, based on the analysis type. The user defined results can
be derived from any number of fundamental results stored on the result file. You display these results
using the Solution Worksheet. Using this feature, most of the results stored in the result file display
in the worksheet as illustrated in this example.
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Characteristics
General:
All analysis types and solver targets can produce User Defined Results. A User Defined Result may be
unique to a particular solver and analysis. After clicking on the Solution object, you must click on the
Worksheet to produce the complete listing of the results that are applicable to the analysis type and
solver being used.
All result types can be combined except for results which have different dimensions. For example, displacement vectors, which contain 3 items, cannot be added to stress tensors, which contain 6 items.
User Defined Results which are elemental (such as stress or strain results) can be displayed as averaged
or unaveraged results. It takes Mechanical longer to display a result which is not averaged.
Like most result types that display using contours, user defined results:
Are scoped to a geometry (vertex, edge, face, body), named selection, path, or surface. However, you
cannot scope user defined results based on Contacts to a path or surface.
Require a set, time, and frequency/phase, to be fully specified (depending on the analysis type).
Display minimum/maximum values and a Graph.
Display nodal averaged data.
Can be added to a Chart
Can be examined using probe annotations, slice planes, isosurface, etc.
Can be cleared.
Can be duplicated.
Unlike other contour results, user defined results:
Can be duplicated or copy/pasted except for identifiers.
Can have a variable unit category assigned to its contour.
Become obsolete if a user defined result is dependent upon another user defined result that has been
modified, cleared, or deleted. In this instance, the graphic of the geometry displays without results.
User defined results cannot employ Probes.
User defined results cannot link to multiple environments and cannot employ the Solution Combination
feature.
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Using Results
Application
Apply a User Defined Result using one of the following methods:
Select the User Defined Result toolbar button.
Right-click the Solution object and the select the User Defined Result option.
Display the Solution Worksheet following a Solve, right-click the mouse on the desired row of the table,
and then select Create User Defined Result.
Until you become familiar with this feature, it is recommended that you insert user defined results using
the worksheet. This makes sure that results are valid and applicable for the particular analysis type and
solver being used. As illustrated below, right-clicking the mouse on a row of the worksheet displays an
option to create a user defined result.
Note
NMISCxxx and SMISCxxx results are not displayed in the worksheet and can only be accessed
by typing in the keyword directly. See User Defined Results for the Mechanical APDL Solver (p. 979) for details.
Selecting this option places a User Defined Result object for the specified result in the tree as a child
of the Solution object, as shown in the example below. Compared to the other two methods for inserting
a User Defined Result, this technique automatically completes field data in the Details view. Note that
the new result objects name appears in the Expression field of the Details view. Except for an Identifier, all remaining details are also automatically generated based on the information provided by the
result type, such as Input Unit System (U.S. Custom) and Output Unit (Displacement).
If you create a user defined result and do not use the worksheet as the origin, you need to manually
enter an Expression and also define the Output Unit. These fields display with a yellow highlight to
indicate the required entries. See the User Defined Result Expressions and Unit Description sections for
more information.
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Once a user defined result is created, the advantage of the feature is your ability to further define expressions using mathematical operators. For example, you can enter the mathematical combination
UX+UY in the Expression field and then retrieve a new result.
Node-Based Scoping
In regard to usage, suppose two user defined results (with identifiers A and B, respectively) are scoped
to ScopeA and ScopeB. The algorithm to draw the contours for C = A + B (scoped to ScopeC) proceeds
as follows:
The results A and B are combined on all common bodies (determined from ScopeA and ScopeB and
referred to as CommonBodies).
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Using Results
The scope (ScopeC) of the newly defined result C is then employed: the contours of C are drawn on
the intersection of ScopeC and CommonBodies.
Note, each of ScopeA, ScopeB, and ScopeC can be any set of geometric entities: vertices, edges, faces,
bodies, or named selections (consisting of geometric entities or even nodes in the mesh).
Example 5: Nodal Scoping
Assumptions: A is scoped to bodies 1 and 2 and B is scoped to two faces , one in body 2 and one in
body 3. The combination C = A+B is scoped to two vertices, one in body 2, and the other in body 3.
Result: A+B will be computed on nodes common to the underlying bodies of A and B; these nodes will
exist only in body 2. Then the combination C = A + B will be displayed only on the vertex belonging
to body 2 (the one belonging to body 3 is not in the intersection of the two original scoping bodies).
Note
You can use user defined result expressions across multiple combinations of environments
with limited functionality by using a Design Assessment system. However, you can not use
it within standard Solution Combinations.
The example of the Solution Worksheet shown below highlights the Expression column.
When a User Defined Result is applied, the content of the above column populates the Expression
field of the user defined result's Detail View. In this case, UX.
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The content of the Expression field can be modified using mathematical operators to further define
the expression. As shown below, you can combine the X, Y, and Z components and then retrieve a new
customized result.
Expression Syntax
Expressions support the following syntax:
Operands: ( +, -,*, /, ^)
Functions: (sqrt(), min()) - always use lower case
Numbers: (scalar quantities such as 1.0, 25, -314.23, or 2.5e12)
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Using Results
Identifiers: unique user defined names
Note
The current expression list does not allow input parameters from the Parameter Workspace.
Only output parameters are allowed for Min and Max values of a user defined result.
All operations involving two vector arrays must have the same dimensionality.
976
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Using Results
User Defined Result 2: C = 2 * A - 1
Correspond to an array over all nodes (or all elements):
Length = number of nodes (or elements)
Width = 1, 3, or 6 columns
An Identifier, together with Expression content (UX, UY, etc.), can be used in combination with other
user defined results. For example, using the Identifier MyResult, you could create the Expression:
sqrt(MyResult+UX+UY). In addition, if an Identifier is used in an expression, it must be scoped to
the same geometry.
It is recommended that when you assign an identifier to the expression of a user defined result, that
you rename the tree object with the same name/identifier.
Unit Description
The units of a user defined result are defined by the following Detail view settings:
Input Unit System: A read-only field that displays the active Mechanical application unit system. To
evaluate an expression, a user defined result's units must be converted to the Input Unit System. As a
result, the expression is most easily verified when the intervening data is viewed in the Input Unit System.
Output Unit: The physical dimension assigned to a user defined result. It determines which factors are
used to convert the result from its Input Unit System to the current unit system selection.
Units are defined in a two step process.
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Expression
Output Units
FORCE_MKS
FSUM
Force
STRESS_MKS
SEQV
Stress
DISPL_MKS
USUM
Displacement
VOLUME_CGS
FSUM+SEQV+USUM
Volume
The expression VOLUME_CGS is easy to verify for its Input Unit System, CGS. If FSUM=3 dyne, SEQV=17
dyne/cm and USUM=2 cm, (as seen in when CGS is selected in the Mechanical application),
VOLUME_CGS produces the value 22 cm. Any subsequent changes to the unit system in the Mechanical application cause each of the user defined results to convert based on their required factors. In this
manner, VOLUME_CGS will use a factor of 1000 to convert from Metric CGS to Metric mm, because it
represents a Volume. FORCE_MKS, STRESS_MKS and DISPL_MKS will convert differently, based on the
selected Output Units.
Description
OMG
DOMG
MVP_AZ
LOC
979
Using Results
Name
Description
CSG
HEAT
AMPS
NDIR
Nodal THXY, THYZ, and THZX values. The NDIRVECTORS display consists of triads.
1 - When user defined results FX, FY, FZ, FSUM, and FVECTORS (and MX, MY, MZ, MSUM, and MVECTORS)
are scoped to a path, then it is possible that no contours will be displayed. The reason is that these
types of forces/moments are solved only at constrained nodes. The result value at a path point is interpolated from the nodal values of the elements that contain the path point. If a path point touches an
element in which some nodes have undefined reactions, then Mechanical cannot properly interpolate
the nodal values for the path point. No contour color is displayed at such a path point.
Elemental Results
Elemental results can exist at the nodes (like stress and strain) or can exist at the centroid (like volume).
Name
Description
SPSD
EPELEQV_RST
EPPLEQV_RST
EPCREQV_RST
EPTOEQV_RST
Element nodal equivalent total strain as calculated by the solver, that is, EPTOEQV_RST is
total mechanical strain: EPTOEQV_RST = EPELEQV_RST + EPPLEQV_RST + EPCREQV_RST.
EPTTEQV_RST Element nodal equivalent total strain (plus thermal strain) as calculated by the solver, that
is, EPTTEQV_RST is total mechanical and thermal strain: EPTTEQV_RST = EPELEQV_RST +
EPPLEQV_RST + EPCREQV_RST + EPTHEQV_RST.
ETOP
BEAM
Element nodal beam stresses: direct, minimum bending, maximum bending, minimum
combined, maximum combined.
SVAR
CONTJHEA
CONTFORC
BEAM_AXIAL_F
980
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Description
BEAM_SHEAR_F
Element nodal shear force vectors for BEAM188/189.
ENFO
EHEAT
CURRENTSEG
VOLUME
Element volumes.
ENERGY
RIGID_ANG
Element Euler angles for MASS21 elements (rotation about x-axis, rotation about y-axis,
rotation about z-axis).
CONTSMISC
CONTNMISC
EDIR
Elemental THXY, THYZ, and THZX values: (1) currently only angles of first node in solution
record are employed; (2) the EDIRVECTORS display consists of triads.
PNUMTYPE
PNUMREAL
PNUMMAT
PNUMSEC
Section numbers.
PNUMESYS
Element coordinate system numbers (note: a 0 value corresponds to the global Cartesian
system).
PNUMELEM
SMISC
NMISC
EFFNU_ZERO_EPElement nodal equivalent total strain (EPEL + EPPL + EPCR) as calculated by the postTOEQV
processor.
For average results, the solver averages the element nodal component strains at
common nodes and performs a Von Mises calculation with effective Poisson's Ratio
set to ZERO.
EFFNU_ZERO_EPTTEQV
Element nodal equivalent total strain plus thermal strain (EPEL + EPPL + EPCR + EPTH)
as calculated by the post-processor.
For average results, the solver averages the element nodal component strains at
common nodes and performs a Von Mises calculation with effective Poisson's Ratio
set to ZERO.
Using this data, you can explicitly define your user defined result, such as total deformation by using
the component deformations across all of the nodes in the model, identified by UX, UY, and UZ. You
can use these component values to mathematically produce a user defined result for total deformation:
SQRT(UX^2+UY^2+UZ^2).
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981
Using Results
Notes
If the Display Option is set to Averaged, then for the results ENFO, EHEAT, and CURRENTSEG, the result
at each node represents the sum (or contributions) of all the elements that contain the node.
If the Display Option is set to Unveraged, the ENFO result is analogous to PLES,FORCE.
SPSD is a User Defined Result that is unique to the Mechanical APDL result file. For any element that
supports stresses, the SPSD result represents the equivalent stress, for each corner node in the element,
as stored on the result file. Hence, SPSD is the equivalent stress as calculated by the Mechanical APDL
solver for the corner nodes. For this result, SPSD is the expression displayed in the Type column and
Stress is displayed in the Output Unit column. Prior to release 13.0, SPSD represented the equivalent
stress as calculated from component stresses during postprocessing, that is, it was not calculated by
the Mechanical APDL solver.
By default, Contact Results (accessible through User Defined Results via CONTSTAT or CONTFLUX see
the User Defined Results for the Mechanical APDL Solver section.) are not written to the result file in a
thermal analysis. To write them, issue the RSTSUPPRESS,NONE command via a Command object at
the /SOLU level.
Displays of PNUM results are analogous to EPLOTs with the following commands in MAPDL:
/PNUM,TYPE,1
/PNUM,REAL,1
/PNUM,MAT,1
/PNUM,SEC,1
/PNUM,ESYS,1
/PNUM,ELEM,1
For example, the range of the values of the PNUMTYPE result vary from the smallest element type to
the largest element type, as created by ANSYS ET commands.
Note
PNUM results are available for all analyses supported by MAPDL.
For non-linear analyses, user defined results corresponding to MAPDL PLES commands with NL as an
Item are available with the following components:
SEPL, SRAT, HPRE, EPEQ, PSV, PLWK, CRWK, ELWK, SGYT, and PEQT
Although there are no user defined results with SEND in Mechanical, you can use the following:
Use This
For This
NLPLWK
PLES,SEND,PLASTIC
NLCRWK
PLES,SEND,CREEP
NLELWK
PLES,SEND,ELASTIC
982
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Description
Type
BEAM_LEN
Beam length
BOND_STATUS
C_S_AREA
Element
Nodal
COMPRESS
Material compression
Element
Nodal
Compression, = /0
Element
Nodal
CROSS_SECTION
Elemental
DAMAGE
Material Damage
Element
Nodal
0 intact material
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983
Using Results
Variable
Description
Type
1- fully fractured
DENSITY
Material Density
Element
Nodal
EFF_STN
Element
Nodal
EFF_PL_STN
ENERGY_DAM
EROSION
Erosion Status
Elemental
0 - no erosion
>0 - eroded. (will not be displayed)
EPS_RATE
Element
Nodal
F_AXIAL
Element
Nodal
INT_ENERGY
Element
Nodal
MASS
Element
Nodal
MATERIAL
Elemental
Element
Nodal
POROSITY
Material porosity
Elemental
Porosity, = Solid/
PRESSURE
Pressure
Element
Nodal
PRES_BULK
Elemental
SOUNDSPEED
Material soundspeed
Element
Nodal
STATUS
Material Status
Elemental
1 elastic
984
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Description
Type
STRAIN_XX
Total strain XX
Element
Nodal
STRAIN_YY
Total strain YY
Element
Nodal
STRAIN_ZZ
Total strain ZZ
Element
Nodal
STRAIN_XY
Total strain XY. These are tensor shear strains, and not engineer- Element
ing shear strains.
Nodal
STRAIN_YZ
Total strain YZ. These are tensor shear strains, and not engineer- Element
ing shear strains.
Nodal
STRAIN_ZX
Total strain ZX. These are tensor shear strains, and not engineer- Element
ing shear strains.
Nodal
SUB_STN_X_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain XX, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
SUB_STN_Y_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain YY, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
SUB_STN_Z_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain ZZ, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
SUB_STN_XY_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain XY, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
SUB_STN_YZ_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain YZ, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
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985
Using Results
Variable
Description
Type
SUB_STN_ZX_SHELL_LAY- Shell total strain ZX, sub-layer #. These are tensor shear strains,
ER__#
and not engineering shear strains.
Element
Nodal
SUBL_EPS_SHELL_LAYER_#
Element
Nodal
TEMPERATURE
Material Temperature
Element
Nodal
THICKNESS
Shell Thickness
Element
Nodal
TYPE
Elemental
HEX: 100-101
PENTA: 102
TET: 103-104,106
PYRAMID: 105
QUAD: 107
TRI: 108
SHL: 200-202, 204
BEAM: 203
VISC_PRES
Element
Nodal
VTXX
Viscoelastic stress XX
Element
Nodal
VTYY
Viscoelastic stress YY
Element
Nodal
VTZZ
Viscoelastic stress ZZ
Element
Nodal
VTXY
Viscoelastic stress XY
Element
Nodal
VTYZ
Viscoelastic stress YZ
Element
Nodal
VTZX
Viscoelastic stress ZX
Element
Nodal
986
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In the User Defined Result Expression Worksheet, there are three components available for the multimaterial results, named SOLID, SOLID_2, and ALL.
Note
It may be necessary to delete and reinsert multi-material results in order to view result for
databases created prior to Release 13.0
987
Using Results
SOUNDSPEED
DENSITY
COMPRESS
STRAINS (NORMAL AND SHEAR)
EFF_PL_STN
TIMESTEP
INT_ENERGY
The following variables are available as calculated directly from the solver in the element:
EFF_STN
Result Outputs
The following topics related to result outputs are covered in this section.
Chart and Table
Contour Results
Coordinate Systems Results
Eroded Nodes in Explicit Dynamics Analyses
Euler Domain in Explicit Dynamics Analyses
Path Results
Probes
Surface Results
Vector Plots
Result Summary Worksheet
988
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Result Outputs
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989
Using Results
Log-Log - X-Axis and Y-Axis are plotted logarithmically. If negative axis values exist, this option
has no effect.
Gridlines: Show gridlines for plotting 2D X-Y curves.
Both - The gridlines for both the X-axis and Y-axis are shown.
X Axis - The gridline for the X-axis is shown.
Y Axis - The gridline for the Y-axis is shown.
None - No gridlines are shown.
Axis Labels:
X-Axis and Y-Axis: You can enter appropriate labels for the X and Y axes. In doing so, note that:
The X and Y axes always show the units of the item(s) being charted. These units are appended
to any label that you enter.
When multiple items are plotted on the Y-axis the units are determined as follows: If all the items
plotted on the Y-axis have the same units then the unit is displayed. For example, if all items
are of type deformation and the active unit system is British Inch unit system then the unit is
displayed as Inch. If the items plotted on the Y-axis are of different types for example, stress and
strain then Normalized is displayed for unit.
When determining pairs of points to plot on the chart when X-axis is not time be aware that
time is still used to determine the pairs of points to plot when an item other than time is used
for the x-axis. Both the X-axis quantity and the Y-axis quantity must share a common time point
to be considered a valid pair.
Report:
Content: By default both the chart as well as the data listing of the objects gets added to reports.
Instead you may choose to only add the chart or only add the data listing or exclude the chart
from report. Note that only tabular data or chart data with two or more points is displayed in the
report.
Caption: You may enter a caption for the chart. The caption will be included in the report.
Input Quantities:
Input Quantities: Any valid load object added to the chart gets displayed under Input Quantities.
If a load has multiple components then each component will get a line in this details group.
Output Quantities: Any valid result object added to the chart gets displayed under Output
Quantities. If a result has multiple components then each component will get a line in this details
group.
In using Input and Output Quantities, note that:
Naming and legend: Each object added to a chart is assigned a name and a legend label. The
name is simply the object name in the tree if there are no components associated with the object.
An example would be a Y displacement probe. For objects that have multiple components the
component direction or name will get added to the object name. For example adding Equivalent
990
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Result Outputs
Stress result item to a chart will result in two items getting added Equivalent Stress (min) and
Equivalent Stress (max).
Each name is preceded by a one letter label such as [A] or [B]. This label is also displayed on the
corresponding curve in the chart and is used to associate the object name with the curve.
The default setting is to display the item in the chart and data grid. You can exclude an item by
setting this field to Omit. Omitting an item removes the corresponding data from both data grid
and chart. Be aware that an item chosen for X-axis cannot be omitted and this field will be reset
to Display for that item.
Chart Display
Legend: You can use Show Legend /Hide Legend option via the right mouse button context menu to
display or hide legends in the charts, the following limitations withstanding.
A maximum of 10 items will get displayed due to space limitations.
If more than 10 items are displayed in a chart then the curves will show all the prefixes even though
the legend is limited to 10 items. You can refer to the details of the chart for the description of the
items that corresponds to a prefix.
Normalization: Scaling of Y-axis is determined as follows.
Single item on Y-axis : Scaling is based on the minimum and maximum values of the item plotted
Multiple items on Y-axis that have same unit type: Scaling is based on the minimum and maximum
values of the items plotted. For example, plot applied pressure load and a stress result against time.
Multiple items on Y-axis that have different unit types: In this case each curve is normalized to lie
between 0 and 1, that is the minimum value is treated as zero and the maximum value as one. The label
of the Y-axis reflects this by appending Normalized to any user specified label. Note that the data grid
displays the actual values always.
Datagrid Display
It is read-only.
Contour Results
Most result types can be displayed using contours or vectors. The Result context toolbar applies to
Solution level objects that display contour or vector results.
991
Using Results
resulting coordinate system will typically not be aligned with the global Cartesian coordinate system.
Using this feature, you can display nodal result rotations either as Euler rotated triads at each node
location, or as contours that represent an Euler rotation angle about an individual nodal axis. Boundary
conditions are highly dependent upon Euler angles.
To display nodal coordinate systems results:
Highlight the Solution object, and choose one of the following options from the Coordinate Systems
drop down menu in the toolbar. A corresponding object will be inserted in the tree.
Nodal Triads: Displays an XYZ triad at each node representing the resulting rotation of the node's coordinate system compared to the global Cartesian coordinate system. See Rotational Order of Coordinate System
Results (p. 993) for details.
Nodal Euler XY Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler angle
rotation at each node about the Z axis.
Nodal Euler YZ Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler angle
rotation at each node about the X axis.
Nodal Euler XZ Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler angle
rotation at each node about the Y axis.
Note
For the ANSYS solver, nodal coordinate systems will not vary from time step to time step.
Note
You may need to use the Wireframe viewing mode to see a particular triad in an element.
Elemental Euler XY Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler
angle rotation at each element centroid about the Z axis.
992
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Result Outputs
Elemental Euler YZ Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler
angle rotation at each element centroid about the X axis.
Elemental Euler XZ Angle: Displays a contour plot representing the magnitude of the resulting Euler
angle rotation at each element centroid about the Y axis.
Note
For the ANSYS solver, it is possible for elemental coordinate systems to vary from time step
to time step.
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993
Using Results
The View> Eroded Nodes toggle from the Main Menu allows you to remove the eroded nodes from
the display, as shown below.
994
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Result Outputs
When plotting results on Eulerian bodies, the results calculated in the Eulerian domain are then interpolated onto this isosurface.
If the Euler Tracking By Body option is selected in the Analysis Settings Details view, results may be
scoped to Eulerian bodies in the same way as for Lagrangian bodies, and body trackers are available
for Eulerian parts.
Additional considerations:
Displacement, strain, and BOND_STATUS results are not available for scoped results.
Probes and path plots are not supported for Eulerian bodies.
External Force and Contact Force trackers will return zero for Eulerian bodies.
Point trackers for Strain are not supported.
Deformation scaling (i.e. Undeformed, .5 Auto, AutoScaling, 2x Auto, 5x Auto ) is not available for Eulerian
bodies.
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995
Using Results
Show undeformed wireframe is not available for Eulerian bodies.
Show undeformed model is not available for Eulerian bodies.
Although it is not possible to view the Eulerian domain directly within the Mechanical application, the
size and resolution of the domain are indicated in the graphics window when Analysis Settings are selected
in the outline view; if required, the model may be transferred to an AUTODYN component system where
the Euler mesh can be displayed.
There may be issues with solver efficiency for analyses containing more than ten Eulerian bodies.
Further discussion of the Eulerian solver used by Explicit Dynamics Analyses, including a description of
the theory, can be found in Key Concepts of Euler (Virtual) Solutions in the ANSYS Mechanical User's
Guide.
Path Results
If you have already defined a path, you can view the path results by highlighting the result object, and
in the Details view, setting Scoping Method to Path, then choosing the name of the particular path
that you defined.
Note
Path results are not supported for models using periodic or cyclic symmetry.
An example path result plot is shown below.
In this example, the Number of Sampling Points for the Path object was set to 47. Results were calculated for each of these 47 points as shown in the Graph below.
996
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Result Outputs
For each point in a path or in a surface, Mechanical chooses precisely one body from which to calculate
the results. If multiple bodies are scoped, Mechanical calculates the results from the body with the
highest identifier (typically the latest one in the geometry tree). No averaging is done of a path result
across bodies.
If a path or a surface traverses multiple shell or solid bodies and if a path (or surface) point lies on the
interface between distinct bodies, it may not be clear which body was employed in the creation of
contour colors for the point. To avoid this situation, select the bodies from which to obtain the results.
For example, a path can be defined by the edge between two shell bodies. If both bodies are scoped,
the result contours on the path can be based on either body.
In the following three figures, a path lies along the interface of two shell bodies. In the first two figures,
a body is selected on one side of the path.
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997
Using Results
However, the stresses in the first figure differ from the stresses in the second figure.
998
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Result Outputs
In the third figure, the result is scoped to both bodies which touch the path.
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999
Using Results
Note that the stresses displayed in the third figure match those of the second image.
1000
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Result Outputs
Probes
Probes allow you to find results at a point on the model, or minimum or maximum results on a body,
face, edge, or vertex; to find results on objects in the tree, such as elastic support or weak springs; or
to obtain reaction forces and moments at supports.
This section examines the general function of the probe tool in Mechanical as well as the specific probe
types that are available in the Mechanical application. It also describes the Details view options associated
with the Probe object.
Overview and Probe Types
Probe Details View
Note
You cannot turn off the time history for result probe.
Scoping
Since probes are customized for the particular result type, different probes allow different scoping
mechanisms. For example a reaction probe allows scoping to a boundary condition while a stress probe
will allow scoping to an x, y, z location on the geometry. Refer to the Characteristics column of the
tables in the linked sections above for scoping. Use Location Method in the Details view of the probe
to scope to the desired entity.
When you create a probe by clicking on a location or by assigning a coordinate system, Mechanical
associates a small subset of nodes which reside near the probe. The value of this probe is interpolated
from the values at these neighboring (undeformed) nodes. The interpolation is based on the original
node locations and not a function of the displaced position of the probe or of the nodes. When picking
a specific x, y, z location, you can obtain the probe result directly at the closest corner node, without
extra interpolation, by right-clicking on the probe object in the tree and choosing Snap to mesh nodes
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1001
Using Results
from the context menu. The identification number of the closest corner node is displayed as the Node
ID in the Details view of the probe in the Results category.
Note
If you attempt to intersect such probes with a line body, Mechanical issues a warning
message. No results (such as stresses or displacements) will appear in the details view
of the probe.
Note
For surface bodies with expanded thickness, because the snapping location is located
on the expanded mesh, while other items such as the original x, y, z location and the
node ID are on the non-expanded mesh, you are advised to turn the visual expansion
off in order to best view these items.
When you create a probe by scoping a vertex, edge, face, or volume, the results reported for the probe
are for the undisplaced nodes and elements.
The displaced location of the probe (if any) is not used in any way to calculate results.
If the probe is scoped to any suppressed parts, then the probe will not solve or evaluate results. This
strategy exists to prevent numeric contributions from elements and nodes that are not scoped.
Results Output Coordinate System
Some probes such as the Directional Deformation probe allow the results to be calculated and displayed
in a coordinate system of your choice. Some other probes such as a Spring probe allow results to be
output only in a specific coordinate system. Refer to Orientation Coordinate System: entry under the
Characteristics column in the probe tables (see links above) regarding what coordinate systems are
allowed and what the default coordinate system is. You can use Orientation in the Details view of the
probe to change the output coordinate system.
Note
When the Orientation Coordinate System is Global Cartesian, the triad symbol is not displayed.
The exception is for Torque probes in magnetostatic analyses, where the global triad is displayed and the direction vector is placed at the global origin.
Scope
Deformation
Vertices,
Edges,
Faces, or
Volume
Stress
Strain
1002
Must be Scoped to
a rigid part
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Result Outputs
Thermal Flux1
Flux Density
Flux Intensity
X
1
Velocity
Acceleration
Position
X
1
Angular Acceleration1
Angular Velocity
Definition
Type
This read-only property displays the selected type of probe.
Location Method
Sets the probe location. Based upon the probe type, Location Method options
include:
Geometry Selection
Default setting, indicating that the probe is applied to a geometry or geometries (X, Y, Z points, edge/edges, vertex/vertices, face/faces, or
body/bodies), which are chosen using a graphical selection tools.
If you select a point using the Hit Point selection tool (see Graphics
Toolbar), the read-only X,Y, Z Coordinate properties display and show
the coordinate locations.
Geometry: visible when the Location Method is set to Geometry
Selection. Displays the type of geometry (Body, Face, etc.) and the
number of geometric entities (for example: 1 Body, 2 Edges) to
which the boundary has been applied using the selection tools.
Coordinate System
Use this property to set the location according to a user-defined coordinate
system. This choice displays a Location drop-down list where you pick the
particular coordinate system. The X,Y,Z Coordinates of the location are
also displayed.
Coordinate System: Visible when the Location Method is set to
Coordinate System. Provides a drop-down list of available coordinate systems.
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1003
Using Results
Category
1004
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Result Outputs
Category
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1005
Using Results
Category
Options
Result Selection
The options for this property vary based on the selected type of probe. See the
Overview and Probe Types section for additional information based on your
desired probe type.
Display Time
End Time or Time Step.
Spatial Resolution
When edges, vertices, faces, or bodies are selected as the Geometry, this property
displays. It allows you to calculate the maximum (Use Maximum) or minimum
(Use Minimum) result values across the given geometry selection.
Result Type
This property provides a list of available results for a Joint Probe.
Results
This category provides read-only properties of result you select in the Result
Selection or Result Type drop-down list. The Node ID is displayed if you used
the Snap to mesh nodes feature.
Maximum Value
Over Time
This category provides read-only properties that vary based on the probe type.
They display maximum values of the results you select over time in stepped
analysis.
Minimum Value
Over Time
This category provides read-only properties that vary based on the probe type.
They display minimum values of the results you select over time in stepped
analysis.
1006
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Result Outputs
Category
Information
Based on the probe type, the following read-only result-based properties may
be provided by this category.
Time
Load Step
Substep
Iteration Number
Surface Area
Note
When you set Location Method to Coordinate System, the probe traverses the primary axes
to determine where the hits occur on the model. The hit closest to the origin of the coordinate
system is used. This behavior is similar to placing a laser at the origin of the system and then
shooting the laser sequentially along positive and negative direction of x, y, z axis.
Probe objects scoped to x, y, z picking locations (using the Hit Point selection tool) are achieved
in such a way that a projection of the picked location in screen coordinates occurs onto the
model based on the current view orientation, in other words, normal to the display screen onto
the model at the picked location on the screen. If the geometry is updated, the update of the
projection will follow the original vector that was established behind the scenes when the x,
y, z pick was first made. Therefore the update of Probe objects scoped to x, y, z picking locations
may not appear to be logical since it follows a vector that was established dependent on a
view orientation when the original pick was made.
Probe animation for joints is only supported if there is at least one rigid body.
Probes are designed to work with geometry entities only. They are not intended to probe displacements on remote locations.
The details view of the probe shows either the maximum or the minimum result values but
not both.
Surface Results
If you have already defined a surface, you can view the surface results by first adding a standard result
or user defined result, and in the Details view of the result object, setting Scoping Method to Surface,
then choosing the name of the particular surface that you defined.
Note
Surface results are not supported for models using periodic or cyclic symmetry.
The Details view for a surface result contains an additional item called Average, which can be parametrized.
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1007
Using Results
For example, average stress over the surface is given by:
{ Stress(X, Y, Z) dAREA} / {TOTAL_AREA}
For some results, the Details view will also contain a Total quantity, such as Total Force, which also
can be parametrized.
The Total quantities are presented in the following table. Currently, if you desire a Total quantity for
Heat Flux, Magnetic Flux Density, Current Density, or Electric Flux Density, you must choose a
vector user defined result. Total Force (as integrated from principal stress vectors) is available to both
standard and user defined results.
Identifier
Result
Surface Integral
TFVECTORS
Heat Flux
Heat Rate
BVECTORS
Magnetic Flux
DVECTORS
Charge
JTVECTORS, JCVECTORS
Current Density
Current
Stress Tensor
Force
For example, you request a normal x-axis stress result on the surface (that is, SX). For a given interpolation point (x,y,z) lying on an edge of an element, Mechanical finds the natural (or normalized) coordinates of the point within the element. Mechanical then interpolates the corner values of SX, using
the natural coordinates and shape functions, to find a value for SX at (x,y,z).
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Result Outputs
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Using Results
Vector Plots
Certain result items can be displayed using vectors such as the vector principal stresses or vector principal strain results. Similarly total deformation, total velocity and total acceleration can also be displayed
using vectors. Using the Graphics button, you can display results as vectors with various options for
controlling the display. See the Vector Display Context Toolbar (p. 64) section for more information.
For the results displayed by the List Result Summary option, each table entry provides the right-click
option, Go To Selected Items In Tree, to select and then graphically display the corresponding result
object.
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Result Utilities
If a result is included in the tree but not yet evaluated, indicated by a yellow thunder bolt icon, the
Worksheet displays a value of zero (note table entries above).
Result types supported by this feature include:
Normal Contour/Vector type results such as Stress, Temperature, and Deformation.
User Defined Results.
Force and Moment Reaction Probes.
Joint Probes reporting Force or Moment.
Spring Probes.
Bolt Pretension Probes.
Result Utilities
The following topics related to result utilities are covered in this section.
Adaptive Convergence
Animation
Capped Isosurfaces
Dynamic Legend
Exporting Results
Generating Reports
Renaming Results Based on Definition
Results Legend
Results Toolbar
Solution Combinations
Adaptive Convergence
See the Adaptive Convergence (p. 1065) topic in the Understanding Solving section of the ANSYS Mechanical User's Guide.
Animation
The Animation feature displays in the Graph window when you select a result object in the Mechanical
application. Here is an example of the Graph window with a result object selected.
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1011
Using Results
Description
Play: Initiates a new animation.
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Result Utilities
Control
Description
Export Video File: Saves animation as an AVI file.
Note
When exporting an AVI file, make sure that you
keep the Mechanical module window in front of
other windows until the exporting is complete.
Opening other windows in front of the module
window before the exporting is complete may
cause those windows to be included in the AVI
file capture.
Caution
The Aero Theme display mode in Windows 7 is
incompatible with the screen capture used in
Mechanical. If you are running Windows 7, select
a Basic Theme display mode to restore this capability.
Damped Modal Animation: Turns on time decay animation of
complex modes in a Modal Analysis (p. 196) that has damping
applied. This button is not available (grayed out) for any of the
following:
Any analysis type other than modal.
Any modal analysis whose Damped setting (under Solver
Controls) is set to No.
Any modal analysis whose Damped setting is set to Yes, and
whose Solver Type is set to Reduced Damped, and Store
Complex Solution is set to No.
Zoom to Fit Animation: When turned on, Mechanical loops
through all the time steps to compute an auto scale factor
that will accommodate the displacement for a full range of
time steps and ensure that they will fit nicely in the screen.
For more information on auto scale factors, see Result Context Toolbar (p. 59).
When turned off, Mechanical uses the current result scale
factor for animation. While this option results in increased
animation speed, you may experience some distortion if the
current display time has a displacement that is much smaller
than the peak displacement through which the animation
occurs.
1 - For stepped and transient simulations, as you move the cursor across the graph, the cursor's appearance changes to a scope icon for solved solution points.
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1013
Using Results
Animation Behavior
Depending upon the type of simulation that you perform, the behavior of the resulting animation varies.
For a static simulation, the progression of an animation occurs in a linear forward/backward manner.
The color contours begin with the initial condition, advance to the solution state, and then rewinds
to the initial conditions.
For transient and stepped simulations that have an associated time or step range, the animation begins
at the initial time or step value, progresses to the final set, and then stops and starts at zero again. It
does not traverse backward as it does for static simulations.
As illustrated below, you may also select a specific time period to animate that is a subset of the total
time. To do so, drag the mouse through the time period in the graph. The selected time period turns
blue. Click the Play button to animate only through that period. While that specific period is playing,
you can right-click the mouse to receive the options to Pause, Stop, or to Zoom To Range, which expands the defined period across the entire graph.
The following demo is presented as an animated GIF. Please view online if you are reading the PDF version
of the help. Interface names and other components shown in the demo may differ from those in the released
product.
Note
In a dynamic analysis, probe animation for joints is only supported if there is at least one rigid
body. See Probes.
Capped Isosurfaces
Capped Isosurface mode displays surface bodies through the geometry that correspond to a given
value within the calculated range for a selected result. To view a capped isosurface, display the Capped
Isosurface toolbar from the Mechanical application.
The value for the isosurface is set by the slider or textbox in the toolbar. The slider represents the range
from min to max for the selected result.
The three radio buttons control if any solid geometry remains visible on either side of the isosurface.
The leftmost button displays the isosurface only, the center button displays the surface body and geometry with values below the surface body, the right button displays the surface body and values above.
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Result Utilities
Dynamic Legend
The dynamic legend feature helps you display the result range and contour colors associated with the
visible elements. You can use the dynamic legend feature when you slice a body or hide bodies in an
assembly. When you apply the dynamic legend feature to a sliced body, Mechanical repositions the
Min and Max annotations to the lowest and highest result values in the sliced body. For models that
include multiple bodies the maximum and minimum result values can occur at the joined surfaces even
if these surfaces are not visible.
To update the legend and view the result range for the visible elements:
Right-click the legend, and then click Adjust to Visible
Note
The dynamic legend behavior is not applicable for Probe annotation. Adjusting the legend
to visible elements updates the legend colors, values, and adds a Custom tag to the legend
information.
To restore the legend display for the entire body after you disable the slice or hide command:
Right-click the legend, and then click Reset All to view the result range for the entire body
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1015
Using Results
Note
If you do not reset the legend to show result range for the entire body after disabling the
slice or hide command, Mechanical displays the out of range values with colors not included
in the legend.
Exporting Results
The data associated with result objects can be exported in Text (.txt) and Excel (.xls) file format by
right-clicking on the desired result object and selecting the Export option. Once executed, you define
a filename and then select the file type. An Excel file automatically opens providing the node numbers
and the corresponding result data.
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Result Utilities
5. In the graphics window, right-click the mouse and select Export Node Results. You are prompted to
save the data in .txt format. You may also select to save the data as an Excel file. Once you save the
file, an Excel file automatically opens providing the node numbers and the corresponding result data.
Note
Path Results, Surface Results, and Crack-based results do not support this feature.
Results scoped to elements or element-based named selections do not support this feature.
Generating Reports
See the Report Preview (p. 22) section.
Results Legend
By default the results legend displays the following information:
Object Title
This is the name of the selected tree object. Place your cursor over the legend and right-click the
mouse to display the following options:
Named Legends: a name can represent the following data:
Number of contours
Color scheme
Color overrides per band
Value break per break, either automatic or numeric
Use the Named Legends option to create new named legends or to manage existing ones that
can be edited independently. See the steps shown below.
Vertical: view the result contours color spectrum vertically (default).
Horizontal: view the result contours color spectrum horizontally.
Date and Time: toggle Date and Time on and off.
Max, Min on Color Bar: shows extremes when checked. If unchecked, they appear in the title
book.
Logarithmic Scale: displays result values.
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Using Results
All Scientific Notation: displays result values.
Digits: specifies the number if significant digits for result values. The default is 3. Options include
2 through 8.
Independent Bands: Use to set the alarm color representing the maximum/minimum contour
range. The following choices are available:
None (default)
Top
Bottom
Top and Bottom
Color Scheme: used to change the color spectrum. The choices available are:
Rainbow (default)
Reverse Rainbow
Grayscale
Reverse Grayscale
Reset Colors
Semi transparency
Adjust to Visible
Reset All
Type
The result type of the selected tree object.
Units
A display of the current Unit system
Time
The current solution time step for the result.
Time Stamp
The time that the result was solved.
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Result Utilities
Import
Export
Rename
Delete
Checked named legends appear in the legend context menu by default for new databases only.
Note
When the distance between adjacent bands is very small (thousandth of the entire range),
the contour colors may not correctly reflect the ranges in the legend.
Results Toolbar
Refer to the Result Context Toolbar (p. 59) section under Context Toolbar (p. 53).
Solution Combinations
You can create solutions that are calculated from other solutions. These are derived from the addition
of results coming from one or more environments, each of which can include a multiplication coefficient
that you supply. Included are nonlinear results, which are a simple addition of values. The calculated
values cannot be parameterized.
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1019
Using Results
The Design Assessment system provides a more powerful Solution Selection capability, allowing you
to combine results from a greater variety of upstream analysis systems and perform additional post
processing functions using external scripts.
Note
Choosing Update Project from the Project Schematic will not solve a Solution Combination
in the Mechanical application.
To Create a Solution Combination Object You can insert one or more Solution Combination objects
under the Model object. Under the Solution Combination object, you can add the following results
types:
Stress Tool
Fatigue Tool
Contact Tool (for the following contact results: Frictional Stress, Penetration, Pressure, and Sliding
Distance)
Beam Tool
Beam Results
Stresses
Elastic Strains
Deformations
Each solution object contains its own configuration spreadsheet, available through the Worksheet
View.
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Result Utilities
When setting up a Solution Combination, you select the Environment Objects you wish to add together
from a drop-down list of all available environments. At least one environment must be checked. Enter
the multiplication coefficient you wish for each environment.
The results values shown for these objects are derived from the same results objects in the referenced
environments, including any defined multiplication coefficients. The basic formula for calculating the
results is:
(multiplication coefficient 1 X value from environment 1) + (multiplication coefficient 2
X value from environment 2) + etc.
Note
You can specify a coordinate system in the Details view of the Solution item for which you
request a solution combination. The default is the Global Cartesian Coordinate system. The
solution item at each result set identified in the Worksheet view is calculated in the specified
coordinate system and then solution combination is carried out.
If you request solution combination for derived quantities such as equivalent/principal stresses
as well as total displacement, the following two step procedure is used:
1. Solution combination is carried out to compute component results first.
2. The requested result items are then derived from the components.
In addition:
Equivalent strains (including elastic, thermal, plastic, creep, total, and total plus thermal
equivalent strains) are read from the result file and are used directly in the linear combination formulation. The component strains (X, Y, Z, XY, YZ, XZ) are not used. This procedure
is similar to using the MAPDL SUMTYPE,PRIN command.
Using the equivalent strains from the result file may lead to unexpected (or even negative)
results.
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1021
1022
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Understanding Solving
The overall procedure for obtaining a solution in the Mechanical application is as follows:
1. Specify the solver type and other settings as applicable in the Details view of the Analysis Settings object.
2. For background solving capabilities other than My Computer, Background, use RSM Administration to
configure servers and queue. This step may be done for you by a person designated as the RSM administrator.
3. For solving capabilities other than standard My Computer options, create solve process settings to utilize
the queue created in step 2. The appropriate solve process settings (for example Solve Manager and
Queue) for your computing environment may be provided by your RSM administrator.
4. Initiate the solve. You can simply click on the Solve button to use the default solve process settings or
display the drop down menu to select specific solve process settings.
To solve all analyses, highlight the Project object, then choose Solve.
To solve all analyses for a model, highlight the Model object, then choose Solve.
To solve a particular analysis, highlight any of the following objects, then choose Solve:
The particular analysis object (for example, Static Structural).
The Solution object.
Child objects of the Solution object.
If you initiate a background solve, and the project has not been initially saved, you will be prompted
to save the project first.
Note
For a background solve process setting, you still see the Meshing dialog box because
meshing will first be run locally and in synchronous mode before the solve is sent to the
queue. Meshing locally allows the same mesh to be used in each solve if multiple Solutions
are being solved simultaneously under a single Model, rather than re-meshing for each solve.
For both synchronous and background solves, you can check your mesh before solving
through a right mouse click on the Mesh object and selecting Preview Mesh in the context
menu.
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1023
Understanding Solving
A Solution Status window in the Mechanical application monitors solution progress for synchronous
solutions. Conventional progress bars are displayed in this window along with a Stop Solution button
and an Interrupt Solution button. You have two choices when halting the progress of the Mechanical
APDL solver in the Solution Status window. If you would like the solver to halt immediately and forego
writing any outstanding restart points, click the Stop Solution button. If, instead, you would like to allow
the solver to complete its current iteration and record outstanding restart points, click the Interrupt
Solution button (available for static structural and transient structural analyses). Neither case affects
previous restart points.
Note
When running a solution in the background, the RMB option Disconnect Job from RSM is
available from the Solution folder. The option becomes visible once you submit the job to
the RSM. This option disconnects mechanical from the RSM job and the application returns
to the beginning of the solution process. You cannot disconnect the job while it is running.
Note
If you are familiar with Mechanical APDL functionality, clicking the Interrupt Solution button
places a file named file.abt in the working directory.
Any error messages are displayed in the Messages window immediately after attempting the solution.
If you interrupt the solution, a confirmation message is displayed in the Messages window.
When a solution is in progress in the Mechanical application, you can freely access the Engineering
Data tab and review data. The engineering data used in the solution will be in read-only mode as indicated by a lock icon.
The following characteristics apply to background configurations where the RSM user interface is used
to monitor solutions:
While a background solution is in progress for a branch, that branch will be in a read-only state with the
exception that result objects can be deleted during this time. Other branches can be edited freely.
You can cancel a running job and reset the state of the tree by selecting Solution in the tree and choosing
Stop Solution in the context menu (right mouse button click). Note that this will immediately kill the job
and not attempt to bring back any solver files (if solving on a compute server). Use Evaluate Results or
Retrieve first if you wish to bring back any files from the server.
An alternative to canceling a job is to choose Interrupt Solution in the context menu. As in a synchronous
solution, this will allow the solver to complete its current iteration and record outstanding restart points.
A green down arrow status symbol indicates that a solution is ready for download and/or loading into
the Mechanical application. This does not indicate the success or failure of a solve.
When the green down arrow is displayed to indicate results are ready for download, choose Get Results
from the context menu to perform the download, if necessary, and load results into the Mechanical application.
In the event of a network connection loss to the Remote Solve Manager, the Get Results function
prompts you with a warning message to address the connection issue. You can perform the Get
Results operation and retrieve your results information once the you re-establish a connection.
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Note
When using a Local solve process setting and a solve is in progress, do not reboot or log
off the Windows client machine. If you reboot or log off, the connection to the Linux job will
be lost and results will not be retrievable. If the Linux job has completed, then rebooting or
logging off is safe.
The mathematical model is applied and the results are evaluated. When the compute server is a remote
machine, the model is applied and results are evaluated on that machine.
You can rename Solution or Solution Information objects and items under these objects using a right
mouse button click and choosing Rename. You then type a new name for the object (similar to renaming
a file in Windows Explorer).
If you are using a The Mechanical Wizard (p. 123), you must be sure that all the tasks in the wizard are
complete (
To view your solution, select View Results from the The Mechanical Wizard (p. 123). Or, click the result
and the solution appears in the Geometry Window (p. 20) window.
You can use the postprocessing features during solve when the solve process is on a remote computer
or as a background process.
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1025
Understanding Solving
Solve Start
Mode
Solve Monitor
Mode
Recommended
Usage
In Process - The
solve starts and
finishes on your
computer in the
directory where
your project
resides.
Out of Process
- The solve
starts and finishes either on
another computer, or on
your computer
but in a directory that is separate from the
one where your
project resides.
Asynchronous
- The solve is
not restricted to
run and finalize
during any particular Workbench session.[2 (p. 1026)]
Yes
Yes
My Computer
Remote Solve
Manager (RSM)
Involvement
No[1 (p. 1026)]
[1] - Exceptions are the Rigid dynamics and Explicit Dynamics solvers. Both solvers user RSM for the In
Process mode.
[2] - When solving in asynchronous mode, you are free to continue working independently of the solve
job, or close the Workbench session and retrieve the solution results at a later time. You can even shut
down your computer when using a Solve Manager located on another computer (See RSM Administration
and Using Solve Process Settings (p. 1027)). An asynchronous solution is queued with other solutions and
can run either on your local machine or on a more powerful remote machine. Background solutions
are recommended for large models or simulations that require a large amount of processing time and
machine resources. Sending the Solve to a remote computer can increase productivity when a highend server is available on your network.
[3] - Though not recommended for a linked analysis using this solve mode combination, you can solve
a linked analysis or an analysis involving multiple convergence loops provided you solve each analysis
separately, that is, you must obtain the first solution, then choose Get Results from the context menu
in the first analysis before obtaining the solution in the second analysis. The Out of Process and Synchronous mode combination is recommended for these types of analyses because the solve can occur
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My Computer, Background: selecting this setting, solves on the local machine but is not restricted to
finalizing in a particular Workbench session. You need more than one solver license to use this setting.
However, you can perform Rigid Dynamics and Explicit Dynamics analyses with one solver license by
selecting the Use Shared License, if possible option on the Advanced Properties dialog box.
The solve process in red indicates that the process is selected as the default solve process and persists
across Workbench sessions.
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1027
Understanding Solving
Adds a new local Solve process. The solve manager for this type of solve
process is My Computer and cannot be changed.
Add Remote
Adds a new process, where you can specify the remote computer you want
to use.
Set As Default
Rename
Delete
Note
You must have a unique name for each Solve process.
Specifies the name of the Solution Manager machine. The manager machine
is configured with queues and compute servers.
Note
or local configurations, Solve Manager is automatically set to My
Computer and cannot be modified.
Queue
1028
Specifies the name of the queue configured using RSM Administration. If this
list does not contain any queues, check that RSM is installed for the computer
specified in the Solve Manager field.
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License
Note
You must specify a valid ANSYS product license (ANSYS Professional
or higher) because a separate instance of an ANSYS application is
being used.
The license from your current ANSYS Workbench client session cannot
be accessed from the remote ANSYS application executable.
Note
Computer Settings are not available when you select the built-in My Computer solve process.
Solve Manager and Queue fields are required for all local and remote background configurations.
Advanced Properties
Selecting the Advanced button on the Solve Process Settings dialog displays one of the following
Advanced Properties dialog boxes. The available options are based on whether you select My Computer
or My Computer, Background.
My Computer
My Computer, Background
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1029
Understanding Solving
Distribute Solution (if possible)
Note
Supported only for static, buckling, transient, modal, full
harmonic, and explicit dynamic analyses.
Max number of utilized processors
Note
Available only for Mechanical APDL and Explicit Dynamics
solver.
You need an ANSYS Mechanical HPC license for each processor after the first two.
For Explicit Dynamics analyses, this setting is used to determine the number of processors unless this has been
specified in the Additional Command Line Arguments.
Manually specify Mechanical Helps you specify the amount of system memory, in MB, used for
APDL solver memory settings the ANSYS application workspace and database.
Note
Applicable to Mechanical APDL solver only.
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Enter a valid User Name and Working Folder to override the RSM
compute server proxy settings.
Note
You must have write access to this folder on all potential
compute proxies in the queue.
To use the RSM settings, leave this field blank.
Note
This option works only for Explicit Dynamics and Rigid
Dynamics analysis. For more information, see Shared Licensing
License sharing is only possible within a single Workbench
session with the solver running on the same machine. A
remote solve on another machine via RSM will require a
license for the Workbench session and a license for the
remote solve.
Note
Applicable only for Mechanical APDL solver.
Requires an additional license.
1031
Understanding Solving
multiple convergence loops automatically on a single click of the
Solve button. This is the default and allows the user to close the
Mechanical editor or solve an unrelated analysis. See the Understanding Solving help section for additional information.
OK - Commits all changes in the Solve Process Settings dialog box and closes the dialog box. You
must choose OK for the Solve Process Setting configurations to be used when you initiate the solve.
Cancel - Closes the dialog box and ignores all changes.
Note
In order to run a distributed Explicit Dynamics solution on Linux, you must add the MPI_ROOT
environment variable and set it to the location of the MPI software installation. It should be
of the form:
{ANSYS installation}/commonfiles/MPI/Platform/{version}/{platform}
For example: usr/ansys_inc/v150/commonfiles/MPI/Platform/9.1/linx64
Solution Restarts
Note
Solution Restarts are supported in Static Structural and Transient Structural analyses only.
However, they are not supported in a Static Structural analysis when computing fracture
parameters. See the Computation of Fracture Parameters discussion in the Solving a
Fracture Analysis section for more information.
The solution process is composed of a sequence of calculations that predict a structures response when
applied to a specific analysis type and loading condition. Restarts provide the ability to continue an
initial or existing solution which can save time during the solve phase. This feature facilitates a variety
of workflows, which include:
1. Pausing or stopping a job to review results and then restarting the job.
2. Review and correction of a non-converging solution. Solution parameters in the analysis settings could
be fine-tuned or adjusted allowing the solution to proceed while retaining prior solution progress. Similarly a load history can be modified to aid in the convergence.
3. Extending a solution that has already completed, for example, to allow system transients to progress
further into time.
4. Submitting post processing instructions into Mechanical APDL after the model has been fully solved (see
below).
The following topics are covered in this section:
Restart Points (p. 1033)
Generating Restart Points (p. 1033)
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Solution Restarts
Retaining Restart Points (p. 1033)
Viewing Restart Points (p. 1034)
Using Restart Points (p. 1034)
Deleting Restart Points (p. 1035)
Modifications Affecting Restart Points (p. 1035)
Loads Supported for Restarts (p. 1039)
Solution Information Files During Restart (p. 1039)
Restart Points
Solution restarts are based on the concept of a restart point. Each restart point can be considered as a
snapshot of the system solution state at a discrete point along the sequence of calculations. The solver
stores this state of the solution in a restart file on disk. Every restart file on disk will have a corresponding
restart point in the Mechanical GUI. See Viewing Restart Points (p. 1034) below.
A solution can only be restarted from an available restart point. It is thus important to understand how
to work with these restart points.
Note
You can manually interrupt a solution and preserve any restart points that may have been
produced from a converged iteration by clicking the Interrupt Solution button on the Solution
Status window.
A stand-alone linear analysis will not produce any restart points with the program controlled
option. It has to be explicitly turned on using the manual setting. However, if the analysis is
linked to a follow on modal analysis, it will generate restart points by default.
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1033
Understanding Solving
Note
The Initial Restart Point does not represent a restart file on disk. It is only a place holder to
facilitate selection to run the solution from the beginning even when other restart points
are available.
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Solution Restarts
The Current Restart Point in the Restart Analysis group of the Analysis Settings object will indicate
which restart point will be used the next time a solution is attempted. The current restart point in the
graph/timeline window will be denoted with a double triangle in the timeline.
The program controlled setting takes a conservative approach to guarantee a replayable solution and
will always select the last replayable restart point. In manual mode, the software will not automatically
change the current restart point and has to be selected explicitly. Picking a non-replayable restart point
in manual mode is only recommended for experienced users who understand the implications of the
results produced.
Mechanical automatically tracks how restart points are affected as you work and modify your model.
So they may get flagged as non-replayable (red triangle) or be removed altogether depending on the
operation. See Modifications Affecting Restart Points (p. 1035) for details.
Also see Restart Analysis (p. 644) under "Configuring Analysis Settings" (p. 635).
Note
An analysis should use the same units (set at the beginning of a solve) throughout the solve
including all restarts. If the units are changed at any restart point, the solve is aborted and an
error message is displayed.
Named Selections created/modified following the solution process are not recognized during
a restart. For example, you may wish to list the nodes of a newly created Named Selection using
the Command feature. Because the Named Selections geometric data was not defined during
the initial solution process, no data is available for the command to process.
Note
The Clear Generated Data option in the context menu from either the Solution, Environment, Model or Project objects also deletes all restart points.
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1035
Understanding Solving
If a change is made to one of the following Controls
Then...
All Restart
Points
are Deleted
Current
Restart
Point is
Set to
Initial
Non-replayable
Restart
Points
may be
Available2
Define By
Time Integration
Step Controls
Solver Controls
Rotordynamics
Controls
Restart
Points
are Unaffected
Restart Controls
Restart Analysis
Output Controls4
Stress
Strain
Nodal Force
Contact Miscellaneous
General Miscellaneous
Store Results At
Damping Controls
Save MAPDL dB
X
X
The following table summarizes the effects of step modifications on restart points.
If a change is made to
one of the following
Controls
Then...
Activate/Deactivate
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Solution Restarts
Delete Step
A solution can be restarted after modification to the load history. However, any other changes to the
definition delete all of the Restart Points.
Note
Displacements, Remote Displacements, and Nodal Displacements only support Tabular
data modifications. See the Loads Supported for Restarts (p. 1039) topic for a detailed list.
Changing a Displacement boundary condition may cause the program to return to the initial
restart point, depending upon the change you make. The restart point where the change occurred is maintained - not deleted. For example, changing the magnitude of either of these
loads from a zero value to a non-zero value, or vice versa, prompts the application to return
to the beginning of the solution process. Similarly, if you change the independent time value
of either load, the solution process restarts from the beginning.
Then...
Constant
Current Restart
Point is set to the
Beginning of the
Modified Load Step
Tabular
Function
Change Load
Type (Constant, Tabular,
Function)
Non-replayable Restart
Points may be Available2
The following table summarizes the effects of adding/modifying/deleting a Commands object. When
Restart Points are available, adding a new Commands object defaults to the last step so as to preserve
the Restart Points. Adding a Commands object without Restart Points defaults to first step.
If a change is made to one of
the following Controls
Then
All Restart
Points are Deleted
Add/Modify/Delete Command
Snippets
Under Environment
Non-replayable
Restart Points
may be Available2
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Restart Points
are Unaffected
1037
Understanding Solving
If a change is made to one of
the following Controls
Then
All Restart
Points are Deleted
Non-replayable
Restart Points
may be Available2
Restart Points
are Unaffected
Under
Solution/Results
Under
Model/Trunk
Objects
Modifications such as adding or changing boundary conditions (for example, scoping changes), constraints, initial conditions, or editing model level objects (Geometry, Contact Region, Joint, Mesh) invalidates and deletes existing Restart Points. The exception is Direct FE loads with a zero magnitude Restart Points are retained.
If a change is made to one of the following Controls
Then
All Restart Points are Deleted
X
Force (zero)
Displacement
When the Step End Time option in the Step Controls category is changed, the restart point is deleted
as well as all the steps after this modified restart points are deleted and are not available, not even for
manual restarts. Exception is the case when Fluid Solid Interface load exists and all the restart points
are retained.
4
It is recommended that you not change Output Controls settings during a solution restart. Modifying
Output Controls settings changes the availability of the respective result type in the results file. Consequently, result calculations cannot be guaranteed for the entire solution. In addition, result file values
1038
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Solution Restarts
may not correspond to GUI settings in this scenario. Settings turned off during a restart generate results
equal to zero and may affect post processing of results and are therefore unreliable.
Note
Restart is not supported for an analysis with Adaptive Convergence. So the presence of an
adaptive convergence will not retain any restart points.
Constant
Tabular
Function
Pressure
Line Pressure
Force
Remote Force
Moment
Displacement
N/A
Remote Displacement
N/A
Rotational Velocity
Bolt Pretension
N/A
Acceleration
Earth Gravity
N/A
N/A
N/A
Hydrostatic Pressure
N/A
N/A
Bearing Load
N/A
Joint Load
Pipe Temperature
Pipe Pressure
Thermal Condition
Imported Load
N/A
N//A
N/A
Nodal Force
Nodal Pressure
Nodal Displacement
N/A
1039
Understanding Solving
Files from the initial solve will be named ds_0_0.dat and solve_0_0.dat. Based on the restart
point, Mechanical will ensure that obsolete and invalid solution files are cleaned up.
Solving Scenarios
This section describes the various configuration steps involved for the following solving scenarios:
Solve on the Local Machine within the Workbench process (synchronous) (p. 1040)
Solve on My Computer in the Background (asynchronous) (p. 1040)
Solve Directly from My Computer to a Remote Windows Computer (p. 1040)
Solve Directly from My Computer to a Remote Linux Computer (p. 1041)
Solve to a Windows Compute Server via a Solve Manager Running on Another Computer (p. 1041)
Solve to a Linux Compute Server via a Solve Manager Running on Another Computer (p. 1042)
Solve to LSF Cluster with Remote Solve Manager (p. 1042)
Solve to Microsoft HPC Cluster with Remote Solve Manager (p. 1042)
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Solving Scenarios
2. Create a Remote solve process setting (see Using Solve Process Settings (p. 1027)). You will enter the same
machine name that you used in step 1. You will then be able to select the appropriate queue from the
drop down list.
3. Select the Solve Process Setting created in step 2 on the Solve drop down button on the Mechanical
application toolbar.
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1041
Understanding Solving
2. A Queue with a Server pointing to the target Linux machine must be configured in the Solve Manager
(See RSM Administration). Remember, in this case the Linux machine is a proxy for a Windows-based
computer. As far as RSM knows, the job is running on the Windows machine.
3. Create a Remote solve process setting (see Using Solve Process Settings (p. 1027)). You will enter the same
machine name that you used in step 1. You will then be able to select the appropriate queue from the
drop down list.
4. Select the solve process setting created in step 3 from the Solve drop down button on the Mechanical
application toolbar.
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Note
The frequency at which data is written can be specified as a time step frequency or a
physical time frequency. By default information is displayed for every 100 time steps.
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1043
Understanding Solving
1 - All convergence plots include designations where any bisections, converged substeps, or converged
steps occur. These designations are the red, green, and blue dotted lines shown in the example below
of a Force Convergence plot.
Note
For ease of viewing solutions with many substeps/iterations, the Substep Converged and
Load Step Converged lines are not displayed when the number of lines exceeds 1000.
Also, graphs are shown as lines only, rather than lines and points, when the number of
points exceeds 1000.
Newton-Raphson Residuals: [applicable only to Structural environments solved with the Mechanical
APDL application] Specifies the maximum number of Newton-Raphson residual forces to return. The default
is 0 (no residuals returned). You can request that the Newton-Raphson residual restoring forces be brought
back for nonlinear solutions that either do not converge or that you aborted during the solution. The
Newton-Raphson force is calculated at each Newton-Raphson iteration and can give you an idea where
the model is not satisfying equilibrium. If you select 10 residual forces and the solution doesn't converge,
those last 10 residual forces will be brought back. The following information is available in the Details
view of a returned Newton-Raphson Residual Force object:
Results - Minimum and Maximum residual forces across the model
Convergence - Global convergence Criterion and convergence Value
Information - Time based information
These results cannot be scoped and will automatically be deleted if another solution is run that either
succeeds or creates a new set of residual forces.
Update Interval: (appears only for synchronous solutions) Specifies how often any of the result tracking
items under a Solution Information object get updated while a solution is in progress. The default is 2.5
seconds.
Display Points: [not applicable to Connections object] Specifies the number of points to plot for a
graphical display determined by the Solution Output setting (described above).
Display Filter During Solve: [applicable only when using Result Tracker filtering in Explicit Dynamics
analyses] When set to Yes, displays filtered data from Result Trackers in the Worksheet at each refresh
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Note
If an error occurs during a solve when using the ANSYS solver, the Solution Information
worksheet may point you to files (for example, file.err) in temporary scratch folders
whose purpose is for solving only (this is the folder where ANSYS actually ran). After the
solution, these files are moved back to the project structure, so you may not find them in
the scratch folders (or sub-folders).
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1045
Understanding Solving
CE Based (As illustrated below, outlined or hollow nodes indicate use for calculation purposes only.)
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Beam Based
Weak Springs
None
This control is especially useful to separate the constraint equation connections from the beam
connections. The option None is available to assist in avoiding potential performance issues from
this feature.
Draw Connections Attached To: provides a drop-down list with the option All Nodes (Default) and it
will also list any existing node-based Named Selections.
Line Color: Assigns colors to allow you to differentiate connections. The options include:
Connection Type (Default): Displays a color legend that presents one color for constraint equation
connections and another color for beam connections.
Manual: Displays a color that you choose.
Color: Appears if Line Color is set to Manual. By clicking in this field, you can choose a color from the
color palette.
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1047
Understanding Solving
Visible on Results: When set to Yes (Default), the finite element connections are displayed with any result
plot (with the exception of a base mesh). When set to No, the connections are displayed only when the
Solution Information object is selected.
Line Thickness: Displays the thickness of finite element connection lines in your choice of Single (default),
Double, or Triple.
Display Type: allows you to view FE connections as Lines (Default) or as Points. If you wish to view the
Points of a specified Named Selection, the nodes belonging to the Named Selection display as solid colors.
Any other associated nodes not belonging to the Named Selection, display with an outline only.
You can export the finite element connection information described above by right-clicking on the
Solution Information object and choosing Export FE Connections from the context menu. The Display
control governs what information is exported. Information for constraint equation connections is exported
in terms of Mechanical APDL CE commands, while for beam and weak spring connections, a list of
material numbers is exported and written as a block of Mechanical APDL ESEL commands.
Note
Finite element connection information is not available for Response Spectrum analyses when
the Spectrum Type property is set to Single Point.
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Result Trackers
If you chose a specific time point that is not yet solved, the result of the most recent solved point
will be displayed in the output fields within the Details view.
Note
When using this feature, it is important that you allow adequate time after the solve for the
results files to be created and present before any postprocessing can be successful. Requesting
a postprocessing function too prematurely could generate an error message stating that the
result file could not be opened.
Result Trackers
In addition to the real time solution response graphs you can view from the Solution Information
object, you can also view graphs of specific displacement and contact results as a function of time using
Result Tracker objects. These objects are inserted as branch objects under a Solution Information
object.
You cannot add new Result Trackers to completed solutions. In order to add and solve a new result,
you must Clear the Solution, add a new Result Tracker, and then resolve the simulation.
Note
Result Trackers employ the instructions of the MAPDL command, NLHIST.
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1049
Understanding Solving
The graph can be zoomed by using the ALT key + left mouse button. Moving down and to the right
zooms in, and moving up and to the left zooms out.
A plot can be saved by using the Image Capture toolbar button.
Caution
Because nodes may be rotated in solutions obtained with the Mechanical APDL application,
deformation Result Trackers may not record the expected component of the deformation.
Should this occur, a warning message alerting you to this will appear after the solve in the
Details view of the Solution object, in the Solver Messages field. This situation can occur
when Result Trackers are adjacent to supported faces, lines, or vertices. One possible approach to avoid this situation is to add 3 deformation Result Trackers, one for each of the
x, y, and z directions. This will ensure that the tracker is showing all deformation of that
vertex of the model.
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Result Trackers
Note
You must right-mouse click on the selected object in the tree to use this Export feature. On
Windows platforms, if you have the Microsoft Office 2002 (or later) installed, you may see
an Export to Excel option if you right-mouse click in the Worksheet window. This is not
the Mechanical application Export feature but rather an option generated by Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Note
Direct graphical node selection requires you to generate the mesh and have the Show Mesh
tool chosen.
Deformation: displacement for one vertex only using the geometry picker or a geometry-based Named
Selection or a node-based Named Selection for a single node.
Scope
Scoping Method: options include Geometry Selection or Named Selection.
Geometry: visible when Geometry Selection is specified as the Scoping Method. This field allows you
to select and define a single vertex or a single node as the geometry.
Named Selection: visible when Named Selection is specified as the Scoping Method. This field provides
a list of user-defined Named Selections that are either geometry-based or node-based.
Definition
Type: Read-only field that displays the type of Results Tracker.
Orientation: Specifies X-Axis, Y-Axis, or Z-Axis.
Suppressed: Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is value
is No.
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Understanding Solving
Results
Minimum: Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result tracker type.
Maximum: Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result tracker type.
Contact: for contact outputs scoped to a given contact pair.
Definition
Type: Specifies the particular contact output. For each of these options, the result tracking is performed
on the Contact side of the pair. If you want to perform the result tracking on the Target side, you should
flip the source and target sides. If this occurs you can change the contact region to Asymmetric and
flip the source and target faces in order to specify the side of interest that is to be the contact side. If
Auto Asymmetric contact is active (either by the Behavior contact region setting equaling Auto
Asymmetric or by the Formulation setting equaling Augmented Lagrange (p. 516) or MPC (p. 516))
and the contact side is chosen by the program to be disabled, the Results Tracker will not contain any
results (as signified by a value of -2 for Number Contacting output). Contact results will be valid depending on the type of contact (for example, edge-edge) and the contact formulation.
Pressure: Maximum pressure.
Penetration: Maximum penetration.
Gap: Minimum gap. The values will be reported as negative numbers to signify a gap. A value of zero
is reported if the contact region is in contact (and thus has a penetration). Also, if the region is in
far-field contact (contact faces are outside the pinball radius), then the gap will be equal to the resulting pinball size for the region.
Frictional Stress: Maximum frictional stress.
Sliding Distance: Amplitude of total accumulated sliding when the contact status is sticking or sliding.
Number Sticking: Number of elements that are sticking.
Number Contacting (default): Number of elements in contact. A value of -1 means the contact pair
is in far field contact (meaning the faces lie outside the contact pinball region).
Chattering: Maximum chattering level.
Elastic Slip: Maximum elastic slip.
Normal Stiffness: Maximum normal stiffness.
Max Tangential Stiffness: Maximum tangential stiffness.
Min Tangential Stiffness: Minimum tangential stiffness.
Contacting Area: The total area of the elements that are in contact.
Max Damping Pressure: Maximum damping pressure.
Fluid Pressure: Maximum fluid penetration pressure.
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Result Trackers
Min Geometric Sliding Distance: Minimum total sliding distance, including sticking, sliding, and
near-field. For more information, see the GSLID output parameter in the Mechanical APDL Contact
Technology Guide.
Max Geometric Sliding Distance: Maximum total sliding distance, including sticking, sliding, and
near-field. For more information, see the GSLID output parameter in the Mechanical APDL Contact
Technology Guide.
Suppressed: Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is value
is No.
Scope
Contact Region: Specifies the particular contact region in the pair. Default names are Contact Region
and Contact Region 2.
Results
Minimum: Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result tracker type.
Maximum: Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result tracker type.
Kinetic Energy and Stiffness Energy
Definition
Type: Read-only field that displays the type of Results Tracker.
Suppressed: Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is value
is No.
Results
Minimum: Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result tracker type.
Maximum: Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result tracker type.
Note
Direct graphical node selection requires you to generate the mesh and have the Select Mesh
tool chosen.
The Details view properties and options for the Temperature Result Tracker are described below.
Definition
Type: Read-only field that displays the type of Results Tracker.
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Understanding Solving
Suppressed: Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is value
is No.
Scope:
Scoping Method: Specifies the option Geometry Selection, Named Selection, Global Minimum, or
Global Maximum for a solution point.
Geometry: visible when Geometry Selection is specified as the Scoping Method. This field allows you
to select and define a single vertex as the geometry or a single node.
Named Selection: visible when Named Selection is specified as the Scoping Method. This field provides
a list of user-defined Named Selections that are either geometry-based or node-based.
Global Minimum:
Global Maximum:
Results
Minimum: Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result tracker type.
Maximum: Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result tracker type.
Note
The point scoped trackers are only available for an explicit dynamics analysis. Point
scoped trackers may only be inserted prior to the analysis being solved.
You can specify the location of point scoped Explicit Dynamics result trackers in three ways:
Selecting a vertex on the geometry.
1. Set Location Method to Geometry Selection.
2. Select a vertex, click in the Geometry field, then click Apply.
Selecting a point using the Coordinate toolbar button.
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Result Trackers
1. Set Location Method to User Defined Location.
2. Choose Click to Change in the Location field.
3. Depress the Coordinate toolbar button.
4. Move the cursor across the model and notice that the coordinates display and update as you reposition the cursor.
5. Click at the desired location. A small cross hair appears at this location. You can click again at
another location, which changes the cross hair location.
6. Click Apply in the Location field. The location coordinates display in the X, Y, Z Coordinate
fields. You can change the location by repositioning the cursor, clicking at the new location, then
clicking Click to Change and Apply, or by editing the X, Y, Z Coordinate fields in the Details
view.
Selecting a point by entering coordinates directly in the Details view.
1. Set Location Method to User Defined Location.
2. Type the coordinates in the X, Y, Z Coordinate fields in the Details view.
Point scoped result trackers for explicit dynamics analyses are presented in the main bulleted items
below. The Details view settings for each are presented as sub-bulleted items. Included in the Details
view of all Explicit Dynamics result trackers is a low-pass filter option, not listed below.
Deformation
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Select deformation type.
Orientation Deformation along X, Y, or Z axis.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Position
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
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Understanding Solving
Location Select user defined location.
Orientation Position along X, Y, or Z axis.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Velocity
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Select velocity type.
Orientation Velocity along X, Y, or Z axis.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Acceleration
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Select acceleration type.
Orientation Acceleration along X, Y, or Z axis.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Internal Energy
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
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Result Trackers
Location Select user defined location.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Stress
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Select stress type.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Strain (Scoping: not available for Euler bodies)
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Select strain type.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Temperature
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Type Read only.
Geometry Select vertex.
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Understanding Solving
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Pressure
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Density
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Geometry Select vertex.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default is
value is No.
Note
Density is not calculated for shell and beam elements.
The first line, "cm" represents the units of the values in the file. Acceptable inputs for this are: "m", "cm",
"mm", "in", "ft", or "um".
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Result Trackers
The subsequent lines contain the data for each tracker to be inserted. The first three numbers are the
x,y,z location values. The fourth entry is the user given name - the one that will be seen in the tree. The
5th and 6th entries are type and subtype.
Acceptable entries for type and subtype are:
type = "velocity", "acceleration" or "deformation" with subtypes of "x","y","z" or "total"
type = "position", "temperature", "pressure", "energy" or "density" (no subtype used)
type = "stress" or "strain" with subtypes of "xx", "yy", "zz", "xy", "yz", "zx", "principal1", "principal2",
"principal3", "equivalent"
All values in each line should be separated by a semicolon. Any lines that are not properly formatted
will be skipped - no tracker will be inserted for them.
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Understanding Solving
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
Contact Force (Scoping: flexible or rigid bodies; not available for Euler bodies)
Definition
Type Read only.
Orientation Select X, Y, or Z axis.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
External Force (Scoping: flexible or rigid bodies; not available for Euler bodies)
Definition
Type Read only.
Orientation Select X, Y, or Z axis.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
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Result Trackers
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
Kinetic Energy (Scoping: flexible or rigid bodies)
Definition
Type Read only.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
Total Energy (Scoping: flexible or rigid bodies)
Definition
Type Read only.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
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Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
Internal Energy (Scoping: flexible bodies only)
Definition
Type Read only.
Location Method Select geometry or a user defined location.
Coordinate System Assigned to user defined location.
X, Y, Z Coordinate Position of the user defined location.
Location Select user defined location.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies for Location Method of Geometry Selection.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
Plastic Work (Scoping: flexible bodies only)
Definition
Type Read only.
Suppressed Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the result from the analysis. The default
is value is No.
Scope
Geometry Select bodies.
Results
Minimum Read-only indication of the minimum value of the result. tracker type.
Maximum Read-only indication of the maximum value of the result. tracker type.
Filter
Type Specify low-pass filtering option.
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Result Trackers
Note
The Force Reaction trackers are only available for an explicit dynamics analysis.
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If you right click on a Force Reaction tracker and select Rename Based on Definition, the
tracker is renamed based on its type, the direction it shows results for, and the object it is
scoped to. For example, if a Force Reaction tracker is selected to show results in the Y direction
and is scoped to a Velocity constraint boundary condition named "Velocity Fix", by selecting
Name Based on Definition it will be renamed to "Y Force Reaction at Velocity Fix". See Renaming
a Result Tracker (p. 1050) for more information on this renaming behavior.
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Adaptive Convergence
In determining a good cut frequency, sampling frequency plays a role. The sampling frequency
can be obtained by dividing the number of samples by the sampling duration. The cut frequency
should not exceed a quarter of this value. For example, if 15,000 samples occur in 0.015 seconds,
the sampling frequency will be 15,000/(0.015 s) = 1,000,000 Hz = 1 MHz. Consequently, the cut
frequency should not exceed 0.25 MHz.
The process of filtering pads the original signal with extrapolated data. This may produce unexpected
shapes in the filtered signal near the margins. The data away from the margins should reflect,
however, the proper trends and slow rate phenomena.
The signal is not filtered at all if it has less than 11 samples.
Under Filter, if Type is set to Butterworth, there are also read only indications for the Minimum
and Maximum values of the filtered data.
Adaptive Convergence
You can control the relative accuracy of a solution in two ways. You can use the meshing tools to refine
the mesh before solving, or you can use convergence tools as part of the solution process to refine
solution results on a particular area of the model. This section discusses the latter.
Through its convergence capabilities, the application can fully automate the solution process, internally
controlling the level of accuracy for selected results. You can seek approximate results or adapted/converged results.
This section explains how to interpret accuracy controls.
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Understanding Solving
on either the Minimum or Maximum value. Additionally, you can specify the Allowable Change
between convergence iterations.
Note
Convergence objects inserted under an environment that is referenced by an Initial Condition
object or a Thermal Condition load object, will invalidate either of these objects, and not allow
a solution to progress.
Results cannot be converged when you have a Mesh Connection object or a Pinch control
with Pinch Behavior set to Post.
To use Convergence, you must set Calculate Stress to Yes under Output Controls in the
Analysis Settings details panel. However, you can perform Modal and Buckling Analysis without
specifying this option.
You cannot use Convergence if you have an upstream or a downstream analysis link.
Convergence is not available when you import loads into the analysis.
Convergence is not supported for a model with Layered Sections.
Convergence is not supported for Design Assessment.
Convergence is not supported for Solution Combinations.
For an adaptive solution, a solution is first performed on the base mesh, and then the elements are
queried for their solution information (such as deflection, X-stress, Y-stress, etc.). If the element's results
have a high Zienkiewicz-Zhu, or ZZ error (see the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference for more information
on adaptivity theory), the element is placed in the queue to be refined. The application then continues
to refine the mesh and perform additional solutions. Adaptivity will be more robust if your initial mesh
is with tetrahedrons. Adaptive refinement starting from a hex-dominant mesh will automatically result
in a re-meshing of the structure with tetrahedrons. The face mesh given to the tet mesher is the initial
quad mesh split into triangles. That face mesh is then filled with tetrahedrons so it is recommended
that you insert an all tetrahedron mesh method before you start an adaptive solution.
You can control the aggressiveness of the adaptive refinement by adjusting the Refinement Depth
setting under Adaptive Mesh Refinement in the Details view of a Solution object. The default value
is 2 for structural analyses, and 0 for magnetostatic analyses. The range is from 0 to 3. By default, when
adaptive convergence occurs, the program will refine to a depth of 2 elements to help ensure smooth
transitions and avoid excessive element distortion for repeated refinement. However, you can adjust
this refinement depth to a value of 0 or 1 if for a particular problem, the deep refinement is not required
and problem size is a major concern. In general, for mechanical analyses, the default value of 2 is highly
recommended. However, you can lower the value if too much refinement is occurring and is overwhelming the solution in terms of size of solution time. If you use a value less than 2, be aware of the following:
Verify that false convergence is not occurring because of too little refinement.
More refinements may be required to achieve the desired tolerance, which may increase the total solution
time.
The following pictures show the effects of various settings of Refinement Depth on plots of Total Deformation.
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Adaptive Convergence
Refinement Depth = 1
Refinement Depth = 0
Refinement Depth = 2
For magnetostatic analyses, there are additional settings that allow you to change the percentage of
the element selected for adaptive refinement during solution. These settings use an Energy Based
percentage and an Error Based percentage. The internal selection process first uses the Energy Based
percentage to select the number of elements in the full model that have the highest values of magnetic
energy. From this number, it uses the Error Based percentage to select the number of elements with
the highest error in the particular body. Magnetic Error results are also available to display on the
geometry for verification.
These adaptive refinement settings for magnetostatic analyses are in the Refinement Controls group,
located in the Details view of the Solution object, provided you have a Convergence object inserted
under any magnetostatic result. An Element Selection setting in this group has the following options:
Program Controlled (default): The percentage of elements selected for adaptive refinement equals the
default values of 10% for the Energy Based percentage and 20% for the Error Based percentage.
Manual: The percentage of elements selected for adaptive refinement equals the values you enter in the
Energy Based and Error Based fields that appear only when you choose Manual.
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Understanding Solving
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Adaptive Convergence
where i denotes the iteration number. It should be clear that results are compared from iteration i to
iteration i+1. Iteration in this context includes a full analysis in which h-adaptive meshing and solving
are performed.
The ANSYS Workbench product uses two different criteria for its adaptive procedures. The first criterion
merely identifies the largest elements (LE), which are deleted and replaced with a finer finite element
representation. The second employs a Zienkiewicz-Zhu (ZZ) norm for stress in structural analysis and
heat flux in thermal analysis.
Table 4: ANSYS Workbench Product Adaptivity Methods
Result
Adaptive Criterion
ZZ norm
ZZ norm
ZZ norm
Heat flows
ZZ norm
Temperatures
ZZ norm
Deformations
ZZ norm
Mode frequencies
LE
As mentioned above, geometry plays a role in the ANSYS Workbench product adaptive method. In
general, accurate results and solutions can be devised for the entire assembly, a part or a collection of
parts, or a surface or a collection of surfaces. The user makes the decision as to which region of the
geometry applies. If accurate results on a certain surface are desired, the ANSYS Workbench product
ignores the aforementioned criterion and simply refines all elements on the surfaces that comprise the
defined region. The reasoning here is that the user restricts the region where accurate results are desired.
In addition, there is nothing limiting the user from having multiple accuracy specification. In other
words, specified accuracy in a selected region and results with specified accuracy over the entire model
can be achieved.
General Notes
Adaptive convergence is not supported for orthotropic materials.
Adaptive convergence is not supported for solid shell elements (the SOLSH190 series elements).
Adaptive convergence is not valid for linked environments where the result of one analysis is used as
input to another analysis. See the Define Initial Conditions (p. 136) section for details.
Low levels of accuracy are acceptable for demonstrations, training, and test runs. Allow for a significant
level of uncertainty in interpreting answers. Very low accuracy is never recommended for use in the final
validation of any critical design.
Moderate levels of accuracy are acceptable for many noncritical design applications. Moderate levels
of accuracy should not be used in a final validation of any critical part.
High levels of accuracy are appropriate for solutions contributing to critical design decisions.
When convergence is not sought, studies of problems with known answers yield the following behaviors
and approximated errors:
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Understanding Solving
At maximum accuracy, less than 20% error for peak stresses and strains, and minimum margins and
factors of safety.
At maximum accuracy, between 5% and 10% error for average (nominal) stresses and elastic strains,
and average heat flows.
At maximum accuracy, between 1% and 5% error for average stress-related displacements and average
calculated temperatures.
At maximum accuracy, 5% or less error for mode frequencies for a wide range of parts.
When seeking highly accurate, Converged Results, more computer time and resources will be required
than Manual control, except in some cases where the manual preference approaches highest accuracy.
Given the flexible nature of the solver engine, it is impossible to explicitly quantify the effect of a particular accuracy selection on the calculation of results for an arbitrary problem. Accuracy is related only
to the representation of geometry. Increasing the accuracy preference will not make the material
definition or environmental conditions more accurate. However, specified converged results are nearly
as accurate as the percentage criteria.
Critical components should always be analyzed by an experienced engineer or analyst prior to final
acceptance.
For magnetostatic analyses, Directional Force results allow seeking convergence based on Force
Summation or Torque as opposed to other results converging on Maximum or Minimum values.
Adaptive convergence is not valid if a Periodic Region or Cyclic Region symmetry object exists in the
model.
Adaptive convergence is not valid if an imported load object exists in the environment.
Note
The Analysis Settings Details view has an Analysis Data Management grouping that shows
the solution directory location for each analysis.
Solution Files
Default behavior: By default an analysis in the Mechanical application saves only the minimal files required for postprocessing. Typically these include results files (file.rst, file.rth, file.rmg,
file.psd, file.mcom), input file (ds.dat), output file (solve.out), and some other files that
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Solving Units
have valuable information about the solution ( file.BCS, file.nlh, file.gst). Of these only the
results file is generally of significant size.
For Windows users, the solution files folder can be displayed using the Open Solver Files Directory
feature.
Future Analysis: If the results of this analysis are to be used as a load or an initial condition in a subsequent analysis then additional files may need to be saved. Declaring your intent to use this in the
future will automatically save the required files and reuse them in the subsequent analysis. Refer to
Define Initial Conditions (p. 136) for details of these analyses.
Delete Unneeded Files: The solution process creates other files that are typically not needed for
postprocessing or are not used in subsequent analyses. By default, the Mechanical application deletes
these files at the end of solution. However, if for any reason, you want to keep all the files you could
choose to do so.
You can use the Output Controls on the analysis settings page to limit only desired types of results
be written to the rst file. (For example, if strains are not needed, you can turn them off which would
create a smaller result file). In addition, for advanced Mechanical APDL application users, Command
objects can be used to further limit output via the OUTRES command.
An external result file is needed to post results. The following behavior will occur:
If you save a simulation, any simulation files (result and other required files) will be saved to the new
location.
If you use the Duplicate Without Results option (Environment and Model objects only), all subordinate
objects are reproduced with the exception of the data for all result objects. This is based on the intention
that loading changes are performed and the solution process is repeated.
If you attempt to resolve a previously solved and saved database, the corresponding saved result files are
backed up automatically in case the current solve is not saved.
The /post1 XML transfer of result files used in previous releases is no longer used so any existing solution
Command objects which were modifying the Mechanical APDL application results to be brought back
into the Mechanical application no longer function.
Solving Units
There are eight possible unit systems for a Mechanical application solution. The following tables show
the unit systems for the various quantities. For a given Mechanical application run, one of the eight
systems is selected and all quantities are converted into that system. This guarantees that all quantities,
inputs and outputs to the Mechanical APDL application, can be interpreted correctly in terms of the
units in the system. User units shown anywhere in the GUI may differ from those shown below although
they will convert properly when they are sent to the solver. All magnetostatic analyses solve in the mks
system regardless of the system selected.
Note
All "ton" designations in the table indicate metric ton.
Acceleration
Angle
Angular Acceleration
Angular Velocity
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Area
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Understanding Solving
Capacitance
Current Density
Charge
Decay Constant
Charge Density
Density
Conductivity
Displacement
Electric Conductivity
Energy Density
by Mass
Force Per Angular Unit
Electric Field
Electric Flux
Density
Film Coefficient
Electric Resistivity
Force
Force Intensity
Frequency
Gasket Stiffness
Heat Flux
Heat Generation
Energy Per
Volume
Fracture Energy
(Energy Release
Rate)
Heat Rate
Impulse
Inductance
Inverse Angle
Inverse Length
Inverse Stress
Magnetic Flux
Magnetic Flux
Density
Moment of Inertia of Mass
Power
Mass
Normalized
Value
Pressure
PSD Acceleration
PSD Displacement
PSD Stress
PSD Force
PSD Moment
PSD Pressure
PSD Acceleration
(G)
PSD Strain
PSD Velocity
Rotational Stiffness
RS Velocity
RS Acceleration
Relative Permeability
RS Displacement
Relative Permittivity
RS Strain
Rotational
Damping
RS Stress
Section Modulus
Shear Elastic
Strain
Stiffness
Shock Velocity
Thermal Capacitance
Seebeck Coefficient
Specific Weight
Specific Heat
Square Root of
Length
Strength
Material Impedance
Permeability
Magnetic Field
Intensity
Moment
Permittivity
Strain
Stress
Stress Intensity
Factor
Thermal Expansion
Temperature
Temperature Difference
Translational
Damping
Velocity
Voltage
Volume
Measured in . . .
meters/second2 [m/s2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters/second2 [cm/s2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters/second2 [mm/s2]
(nmm)
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Current
Electric Conductance Per Unit
Area
Energy
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, N, C, s, mV, mA
millimeters/second2 [mm/s2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters/second2 [mm/s2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers/second2 [m/s2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet/second2 [ft/s2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches/second2 [in/s2]
(Bin)
millimeters/millisecond2 [mm/ms2]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
meters/second2 [m/s2]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
millimeters/second2 [mm/s2]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
inches/second2 [in/s2]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 6: Angle
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
radians [rad]
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Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(Bin)
Table 7: Angular Acceleration
Unit System
Measured in . . .
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians/second2 [rad/s2]
(Bin)
Table 8: Angular Velocity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
radians/second [rad/s]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
radians/second [rad/s]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians/second [rad/s]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
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radians/second [rad/s]
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians/second [rad/s]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
radians/second [rad/s]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians/second [rad/s]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians/second [rad/s]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
radians/millisecond [rad/ms]
radians/second [rad/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
radians/second [rad/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
radians/second [rad/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 9: Area
Unit System
Measured in . . .
meters2 [m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters2 [cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2 [mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2 [mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2 [mm2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers2 [m2]
(mks)
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Unit System
Measured in . . .
feet2 [ft2]
inches2 [in2]
(Bin)
millimeters2 [mm2]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
meters2 [m2]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
millimeters2 [mm2]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
inches2 [in2]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 10: Capacitance
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Farads [F]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Farads [F]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads [F]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads [F]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads [F]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoFarads [pF]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Farads [F]
(Bft)
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Farads [F]
(Bin)
Table 11: Charge
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Coulombs [C]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Coulombs [C]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs [mC]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs [mC]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs [mC]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoCoulombs [pC]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs [C]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs [C]
(Bin)
Table 12: Charge Density
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Coulombs/meter2 [C/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Coulombs/centimeter2 [C/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
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Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoCoulombs/micrometer2 [pC/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs/foot2 [C/ft2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs/inch2 [C/in2]
(Bin)
Table 13: Conductivity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 14: Current
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Amperes [A]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Amperes [A]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1078
milliAmperes [mA]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes [mA]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes [mA]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoAmperes [pA]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes [A]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes [A]
(Bin)
Table 15: Current Density
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Amperes/meter2 [A/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Amperes/centimeter2 [A/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter2 [mA/mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter2 [mA/mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter2 [mA/mm2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoAmperes/micrometer2 [pA/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes/foot2 [A/ft2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes/inch2 [A/in2]
(Bin)
Table 16: Decay Constant
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
1/seconds [1/s]
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1079
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
1/seconds [1/s]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/seconds [1/s]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/seconds [1/s]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/seconds [1/s]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
1/seconds [1/s]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/seconds [1/s]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/seconds [1/s]
(Bin)
Table 17: Density
Unit System
Measured in . . .
kilograms/meter3 [kg/m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
grams/cm3 [g/cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/millimeter3 [t/mm3]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/millimeter3 [t/mm3]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/millimeter3 [t/mm3]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
kilograms/micrometer3 [kg/m3]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slug/1)/foot3 [(lbm/32.2)1/ft3]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1080
(slinch/1)/inch3 [(lbm/386.4)1/in3]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
grams/cm3 [g/cm3]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
kilograms/meter3 [kg/m3]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
tons/millimeter3 [t/mm3]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
(slinch/1)/inch3 [(lbm/386.4)1/in3]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
meters [m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters [cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers [m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet [ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches [in]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
millimeters [mm]
meters [m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1081
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, s
millimeters [mm]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
inches [in]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 19: Electric Conductance Per Unit Area
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Siemens/meter2 [S/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Siemens/centimeter2 [S/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Siemens/millimeter2 [S/mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Siemens/millimeter2 [S/mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Siemens/millimeter2 [S/mm2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoSiemens/micrometer2 [pS/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Siemens/foot2 [S/ft2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Siemens/inch2 [S/in2]
(Bin)
Table 20: Electric Conductivity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Siemens/meter [S/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Siemens/centimeter [S/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Siemens/millimeter [S/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1082
Siemens/millimeter [S/mm]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Siemens/millimeter [S/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoSiemens/micrometer [pS/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Siemens/foot [S/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Siemens/inch [S/in]
(Bin)
Table 21: Electric Field
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Volts/meter [V/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Volts/centimeter [V/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts/millimeter [mV/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts/millimeter [mV/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts/millimeter [mV/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
Volts/micrometer [V/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Volts/foot [V/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Volts/inch [V/in]
(Bin)
Table 22: Electric Flux Density
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Coulombs/meter2 [C/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Coulombs/centimeter2 [C/cm2]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1083
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliCoulombs/millimeter2 [mC/mm2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoCoulombs/micrometer2 [pC/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs/foot2 [C/ft2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Coulombs/inch2 [C/in2]
(Bin)
Table 23: Electric Resistivity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1084
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
Table 24: Energy
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Joules [J]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
ergs [erg]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules [mJ]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules [mJ]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules [mJ]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoJoules [pJ]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
microJoules [J]
Joules [J]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
milliJoules [mJ]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
slinch * inches2/second2 [(lbm/386.4)in2/s2]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 25: Energy Density by Mass
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
Joules/kilograms [J/kg]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1085
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/tons [mJ/t]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/tons [mJ/t]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/tons [mJ/t]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoJoules/kilograms [pJ/kg]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches2/seconds2 [in2/sec 2]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
Joules/kilograms [J/kg]
Joules/kilograms [J/kg]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
milliJoules/tons [mJ/t]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
inches2/seconds2 [in2/sec 2]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 26: Energy Per Volume
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Joules/meter3 [J/m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
ergs/centimeter3 [erg/cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter3 [mJ/mm3]
(nmm)
1086
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, N, C, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter3 [mJ/mm3]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter3 [mJ/mm3]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 27: Film Coefficient
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
Newtons [N]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1087
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes [dyne]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewtons [N]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
milliNewtons [mN]
Newtons [N]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
Newtons [N]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 29: Force Intensity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Newtons/meter [N/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter [dyne/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/second2 [t/s2]
(nmm)
1088
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, N, C, s, mV, mA
tons/second2 [t/s2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/second2 [t/s2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewtons/micrometer [N/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slug/1)/second2 [(lbm/32.2)1/s2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slinch/1)/second2 [(lbm/386.4)1/s2]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
Newtons/meter [N/m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
Newtons/millimeter [N/mm]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 30: Force Per Angular Unit
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Newtons/radian [N/rad]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/radian [dyne/rad]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/radian [N/rad]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/radian [N/rad]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/radian [N/rad]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewtons/radian [N/rad]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1089
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 31: Fracture Energy (Energy Release Rate)
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Joules/meter2 [J/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
erg/centimeter2 [erg/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter2 [mJ/mm2]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter2 [mJ/mm2]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliJoules/millimeter2 [mJ/mm2]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoJoules/micrometer2 [pJ/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 32: Frequency
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Hertz[Hz]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Hertz[Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Hertz[Hz]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1090
Hertz[Hz]
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Hertz[Hz]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
Hertz[Hz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Hertz[Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Hertz[Hz]
(Bin)
Table 33: Gasket Stiffness
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Pascals/meter [Pa/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter3 [dyne/cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
megaPascals/micrometer [MPa/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 34: Heat Flux
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Watts/meter2 [W/m2]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1091
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/second3 [t/s3]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/second3 [t/s3]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons/second3 [t/s3]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoWatts/micrometer2 [pW/m2]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slug/1)/second3 [(lbm/32.2)1/s3]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slinch/1)/second3 [(lbm/386.4)1/s3]
(Bin)
Table 35: Heat Generation
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Watts/meter3 [W/m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoWatts/micrometer3 [pW/m3]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1092
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Watts [W]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoWatts [pW]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 37: Impulse
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Newton * second [N * s]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newton * second [N * s]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newton * second [N * s]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newton * second [N * s]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1093
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewton * second [N * s]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
microNewton * second [N * s]
Newton * second [N * s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
Newton * second [N * s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 38: Impulse Per Angular Unit
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1094
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
Table 39: Inductance
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Henries [H]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Henries [H]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries [mH]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries [mH]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries [mH]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
teraHenries [TH]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Henries [H]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Henries [H]
(Bin)
Table 40: Inverse Angle
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
1/radians [1/rad]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
1/radians [1/rad]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/radians [1/rad]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/radians [1/rad]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/radians [1/rad]
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1095
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
1/radians [1/rad]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/radians [1/rad]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/radians [1/rad]
(Bin)
Note
The units presented above are applicable when the Units menu is set to Radians. The applicable units are 1/degree [1/o] when the Units menu is set to Degrees.
Table 41: Inverse Length
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
1/meter [1/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
1/centimeter [1/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/millimeter [1/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/millimeter [1/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1/millimeter [1/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
1/micrometer [1/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/foot [1/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1/inch [1/in]
(Bin)
Table 42: Inverse Stress
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
1096
Measured in . . .
1/Pascal [1/Pa]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters2/dyne [cm2/dyne]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
1/megaPascal [1/MPa]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 43: Length
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
meters [m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters [cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters [mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers [m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet [ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches [in]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1097
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
millimeters [mm]
meters [m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
millimeters [mm]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
inches [in]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 44: Magnetic Field Intensity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Amperes/meter [A/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Oersteds [Oe]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter [mA/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter [mA/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliAmperes/millimeter [mA/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoAmperes/micrometer [pA/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes/foot [A/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Amperes/inch [A/in]
(Bin)
Table 45: Magnetic Flux
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
Webers [Wb]
(mks)
1098
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
o
cm, g, dyne, C, s, V, A
Maxwells [Mx]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliWebers [mWb]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliWebers [mWb]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliWebers [mWb]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
Webers [Wb]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Lines
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Lines
(Bin)
Table 46: Magnetic Flux Density
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Teslas [T]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Gauss [G]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliTeslas [mT]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliTeslas [mT]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliTeslas [mT]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
teraTeslas [TT]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Lines/foot2 [lines/ft2]
(Bft)
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1099
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Lines/inch2 [lines/in2]
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
kilograms [kg]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
grams [g]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons [t]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons [t]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
tons [t]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
kilograms [kg]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
slug [lbm/32.2]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
slinch [lbm/386.4]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
milligrams [mg]
kilograms [kg]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
tons [t]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
slinch [lbm/386.4]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 48: Material Impedance
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, mg, ms
milligrams/millimeter2/second [mg/mm2/s]
1100
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
tons/millimeter2/second [t/mm2/s]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
slinch/inch2/second [slinch/in2/s]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 49: Moment
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Newton * meters [N * m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewton * micrometers [N * m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
microNewton * meters [N * m]
Newton * meters [N * m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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1101
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 50: Moment of Inertia of Area
Unit System
Measured in . . .
meters4 [m4]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters4 [cm4]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters4 [mm4]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters4 [mm4]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters4 [mm4]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers4 [m4]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet4 [ft4]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches4 [in4]
(Bin)
millimeters4 [mm4]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
meters4 [m4]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
millimeters4 [mm4]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
inches4 [in4]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 51: Moment of Inertia of Mass
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
1102
Measured in . . .
kilogram * meter2 [kg * m2]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
milligram * millimeter2 [mg * mm2]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 52: Normalized Value
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
unitless
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
unitless
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmm)
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1103
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, N, C, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
unitless
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bin)
Table 53: Permeability
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, A
Henries/meter [H/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Henries/centimeter [H/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries/millimeter [mH/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries/millimeter [mH/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliHenries/millimeter [mH/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
teraHenries/micrometer [TH/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Henries/foot [H/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Henries/inch [H/in]
(Bin)
Table 54: Permittivity
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
1104
Measured in . . .
Farads/meter [F/m]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Farads/centimeter [F/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads/millimeter [F/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads/millimeter [F/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
microFarads/millimeter [F/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoFarads/micrometer [pF/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Farads/foot [F/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Farads/inch [F/in]
(Bin)
Table 55: Poisson's Ratio
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
unitless
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
unitless
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
unitless
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1105
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
unitless
unitless
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
unitless
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
unitless
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 56: Power
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Watts [W]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
picoWatts [pW]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
milliWatts [mW]
Watts [W]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
1106
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 57: Pressure
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Pascals [Pa]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter2 [dyne/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
megaPascals [MPa]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
kiloPascals [kPa]
Pascals [Pa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
megaPascals [MPa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1107
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
pounds/inch2 [lb/in2]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 58: PSD Acceleration
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(meters/second2)2/Hertz [(m/s2)2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(centimeters/second2)2/Hertz [(cm/s2)2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(millimeters/second2)2/Hertz [(mm/s2)2/Hz]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(millimeters/second2)2/Hertz [(mm/s2)2/Hz]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(millimeters/second2)2/Hertz [(mm/s2)2/Hz]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(micrometers/second2)2/megahertz
[(m/s2)2/MHz]
(feet/second2)2/Hertz [(ft/s2)2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(inch/second2)2/Hertz [(in/s2)2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 59: PSD Acceleration (G)
Unit System
Measured in . . .
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1108
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
G2/Hertz [G2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 60: PSD Displacement
Unit System
Measured in . . .
meters2/Hertz [m2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters2/Hertz [cm2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2/Hertz [mm2/Hz]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2/Hertz [mm2/Hz]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters2/Hertz [mm2/Hz]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers2/megaHertz [m2/MHz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet2/Hertz [ft2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches2/Hertz [in2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 61: PSD Force
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Newtons2/Hertz [N2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes2/Hertz [dyne2/Hz]
(cgs)
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1109
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
((kilograms.millimeters)/second2)2/Hertz [((kg
* mm)/s2)2/Hz]
((tons * millimeters)/second2)2/Hertz [((t *
mm)/s2)2s/Hz]
((tons * millimeters)/second2)2/Hertz [((t *
mm)/s2)2s/Hz]
microNewtons2/Hertz [N2/Hz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
((pounds * mass/32.2) *
feet)/second2))2/Hertz [((lb * m/32.2) *
ft/s2))2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
((pounds * mass/32.2) *
inches)/second2))2/Hertz [((lb * m/32.2) *
in/s2))2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 62: PSD Moment
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1110
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
((pounds * mass/386.4) *
inches2)/second2)2/Hertz [((lb * m/386.4) *
in2)/s2)2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 63: PSD Pressure
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Pascals2/Hertz [Pa2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(dynes/centimeter2)2/Hertz [(dyne/cm2)2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(kilograms/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz
[(kg/(mm * s2))2/Hz]
(tons/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz [(t/(mm
* s2))2/Hz]
(tons/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz [(t/(mm
* s2))2/Hz]
megaNewtons2/Hertz [MPa2/Hz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slinch/(inch * second2))2/Hertz
[((lbm/386.4)/(in * s2))2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 64: PSD Strain
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(meters/meter)2/Hertz [(m/m)2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(centimeters/centimeter)2/Hertz
[(cm/cm)2/Hz]
(millimeters/millimeter)2/Hertz
[(mm/mm)2/Hz]
(millimeters/millimeter)2/Hertz
[(mm/mm)2/Hz]
(millimeters/millimeter)2/Hertz
[(mm/mm)2/Hz]
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1111
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(micrometers/micrometer)2/Hertz
[(m/m)2/Hz]
(feet/foot)2/Hertz [(ft/ft)2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(inches/inch)2/Hertz [(in/in)2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 65: PSD Stress
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Pascals2/Hertz [Pa2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(dynes/centimeter2)2/Hertz [(dyne/cm2)2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(kilograms/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz
[(kg/(mm * s2))2/Hz]
(tons/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz [(t/(mm
* s2))2/Hz]
(tons/(millimeter * second2))2/Hertz [(t/(mm
* s2))2/Hz]
megaNewtons2/Hertz [MPa2/Hz]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(slinch/(inch * second2))2/Hertz
[((lbm/386.4)/(in * s2))2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 66: PSD Velocity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(meters/second)2/Hertz [(m/s)2/Hz]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(centimeters/second)2/Hertz [(cm/s)2/Hz]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1112
(millimeters/second)2/Hertz [(mm/s)2/Hz]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(millimeters/second)2/Hertz [(mm/s)2/Hz]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(millimeters/second)2/Hertz [(mm/s)2/Hz]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(micrometers/second)2/megahertz
[(m/s)2/MHz]
(feet/second)2/Hertz [(ft/s)2/Hz]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(inches/second)2/Hertz [(in/s)2/Hz]
(Bin)
Table 67: Relative Permeability
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
unitless
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
unitless
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
unitless
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bin)
Table 68: Relative Permittivity
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
unitless
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1113
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
unitless
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
unitless
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
unitless
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
unitless
(Bin)
Table 69: Rotational Damping
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1114
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 71: Seebeck Coefficient
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1115
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 72: Section Modulus
Unit System
Measured in . . .
meters3 [m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters3 [cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers3 [m3]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet3 [ft3]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches3 [in3]
(Bin)
millimeters3 [mm3]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
meters3 [m3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
millimeters3 [mm3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
1116
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
inch3 [in3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 73: Shear Elastic Strain
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
radians [rad]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
radians [rad]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
radians [rad]
(Bin)
Table 74: Shock Velocity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
seconds/meters [s/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
seconds/centimeters [s/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds/millimeters [s/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds/millimeters [s/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds/millimeters [s/mm]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1117
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
seconds/micrometers [s/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
seconds/feet [s/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
seconds/inches [s/in]
(Bin)
Table 75: Specific Heat
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Joules/kilogram * degree Kelvin [J/kg * oK]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
1118
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
inch2/second2/oF [in2/s2/oF]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 76: Specific Weight
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Newtons/meter3 [N/m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter3 [dyne/cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewtons/micrometer3 [N/m3]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
megaNewtons/meter3 [MN/m3]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
Newtons/meter3 [N/m3]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Newtons/millimeter3 [N/mm3]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 77: Square Root of Length
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
meter0.5 [m0.5]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1119
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeter0.5 [cm0.5]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter0.5 [mm0.5]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter0.5 [mm0.5]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter0.5 [mm0.5]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometer0.5 [m0.5]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet0.5 [ft0.5]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inch0.5 [in0.5]
(Bin)
Table 78: Stiffness
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Newtons/meter [N/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter [dyne/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/millimeter [N/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/millimeter [N/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
Newtons/millimeter [N/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
microNewtons/micrometer [N/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
1120
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
Newtons/meter [N/m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
Newtons/millimeter [N/m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 79: Strain and RS Strain
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
meter/meter [m/m]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeter/centimeter [cm/cm]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter/millimeter [mm/mm]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter/millimeter [mm/mm]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeter/millimeter [mm/mm]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometer/micrometer [m/m]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet/foot [ft/ft]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inch/inch [in/in]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
millimeter/millimeter [mm/mm]
meter/meter [m/m]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1121
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
mm, t, s
millimeter/millimeter [mm/mm]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
inch/inch [in/in]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 80: Strength
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Pascals [Pa]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter2 [dyne/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
megaPascals [MPa]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
kiloPascals [kPa]
Pascals [Pa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
megaPascals [MPa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
1122
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
pounds/inch2 [lb/in2]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 81: Stress and RS Stress
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Pascals [Pa]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
dynes/centimeter2 [dyne/cm2]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
megaPascals [MPa]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
kiloPascals [kPa]
Pascals [Pa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
megaPascals [MPa]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
pounds/inch2 [lb/in2]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 82: Stress Intensity Factor
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
Pascal * meter0.5 [Pa * m0.5]
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1123
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 83: Thermal Capacitance
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
1124
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 85: Thermal Conductance - 3D Edges and Vertices
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1125
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 86: Thermal Expansion
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
microJoules/degree Kelvin [J/oK]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 87: Temperature
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
degrees Kelvin [oK]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 88: Temperature Difference
Unit System
o
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Measured in . . .
degrees Celsius [oC]
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1127
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
degrees Kelvin [oK]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
Table 89: Temperature Gradient
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
1128
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(Bin)
degrees Kelvin/millimeter [oK/mm]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
Table 90: Time
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
seconds [s]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
seconds [s]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds [s]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds [s]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
seconds [s]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
seconds [s]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
seconds [s]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
seconds [s]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
milliseconds [ms]
seconds [s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
seconds [s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
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1129
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
in,lbf, s
seconds [s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 91: Translational Damping
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
(Bin)
Table 92: Velocity and RS Velocity
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
meters/second [m/s]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters/second [cm/s]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters/second [mm/s]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters/second [mm/s]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
1130
millimeters/second [mm/s]
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Solving Units
Unit System
Measured in . . .
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers/second [m/s]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet/second [ft/s]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches/second [in/s]
(Bin)
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
meters/second [m/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
millimeters/second [mm/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
inches/second [in/s]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
Table 93: Voltage
Unit System
Measured in . . .
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
Volts [V]
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
Volts [V]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts [mV]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts [mV]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
milliVolts [mV]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
Volts [V]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
Volts [V]
(Bft)
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1131
Understanding Solving
Unit System
Measured in . . .
Volts [V]
(Bin)
Table 94: Volume
Unit System
Measured in . . .
meters3 [m3]
m, kg, N, C, s, V, A
(mks)
cm, g, dyne, oC, s, V, A
centimeters3 [cm3]
(cgs)
mm, kg, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmm)
mm, t, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmmton)
mm, dat, N, oC, s, mV, mA
millimeters3 [mm3]
(nmmdat)
m, kg, N, oC, s, V, mA
micrometers3 [m3]
(mks)
ft, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
feet3 [ft3]
(Bft)
in, lbm, lbf, oF, s, V, A
inches3 [in3]
(Bin)
millimeters3 [mm3]
mm, mg, ms
[ANSYS (AUTODYN) and LS-DYNA solvers]
m, kg, s
meters3 [m3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
mm, t, s
millimeters3 [mm3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
in,lbf, s
inches3 [in3]
[ LS-DYNA solver]
1132
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Note
The application creates reference files that contain analysis information that is read back into
the application during solution processing. Certain textual characters can create issues during
this reading process. Avoid the use of the following characters in your file naming conventions:
Quote character ()
Ampersand (&)
Apostrophe ()
Greater than and less than characters (< >)
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1133
Understanding Solving
The Unit System used during the solution is stored in the results file (/UNITS command). The Select
Results in Unit System dialog box displays to have you verify the system. Selecting a unit system
that differs from the specified result file unit system causes a warning message to display.
If the application does not have a specified unit system (/UNITS,0), then the application warns you
that you have updated the system based on your choice in the Select Results in Unit System dialog
box.
Caution
Errors will occur if the Mechanical APDL application result files are from a version of the
Mechanical application that is older than the version currently running.
The procedure above instructs you to browse to the folder that contains the Mechanical APDL
application result files. This folder should only contain files pertinent to that solution because
Mechanical copies all the files contained in this folder to the Solver Files Directory. In addition,
for the file names that match the jobname you select in the file browse window the application
renames them to the file jobname during the copy.
1134
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Note
Any named selection group from the Mechanical application is transferred to the Mechanical
APDL application as a component according to specific naming rules and conventions.
Note
You must ensure that the mesh in the result file matches the mesh in Workbench. This includes
the Workbench generated mesh from the geometry as well as any nodes or elements defined
in the input file (such as for contact or remote boundary conditions). Failure to do so could
result in incorrect results and unexpected behavior.
The reading Mechanical APDL application file option is available for all analysis types except rigid dynamic analyses and shape analyses.
The writing Mechanical APDL application file option is available for all analysis types except rigid dynamic
analyses.
System units must be specified in the Mechanical APDL application result files being read for Result
Tracker graphs to display properly. Result Tracker graphs will display in the Mechanical APDL application
result file units if the units specified when reading the files are inconsistent with those in the files.
1135
Understanding Solving
at an angle: the nodes on the edge are subject to two separate combinations of DOF constraints, one
from each Frictionless Support. The Mechanical application attempts to identify a suitable orientation
to the nodal coordinate system that accommodates both frictionless supports and, if successful, constrain
its axes accordingly. Should this attempt ever fail, the solution will be prevented and an error will be
issued to the Message Window (See The Solver Has Found Conflicting DOF Constraints (p. 1432) in the
Troubleshooting section.)
Among the boundary conditions that participate in this conversion, there are:
Fixed Supports (Fixed Face, Fixed Edge, Fixed Vertex)
Simply Supported (Edge or Vertex)
Fixed Rotation
Displacements (Displacements for Faces, Displacement for Edges, Displacements For Vertices)
Frictionless Support
Cylindrical Support
Symmetry Regions
The calculations that convert the boundary conditions into nodal constraints involve:
the identification of the linear span contributed by each of the boundary conditions
the combination of the individual spans into a final nodal constraint choice.
Angular tolerances are involved in distinguishing and combining the spans; a program controlled tolerance of 0.01 degrees will be used.
Note
The calculations have a built in preference for producing nodal coordinate systems that are
closest in orientation to the global coordinate system.
1136
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1137
Understanding Solving
crack and base meshes. When the solution is performed using internally-generated crack meshes, the
MPC contact region is automatically created and sent to the solver.
Note
The static structural analysis is the only analysis applicable to performing fracture mechanics
calculations. However, the mesh with cracks is also supported with a static structural analysis
linked to an upstream steady state thermal or transient thermal analysis.
Also, all loads and boundary conditions applicable to the static structural analysis are applicable with the existence of crack in the solution.
Note
The Energy Release Rate parameters, which are specific to the Pre-Meshed Crack object,
are computed using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT). When the VCCT technique is used, a specific mesh pattern comprised of hexahedral shapes along the crack
front is recommended for better accuracy. For more information, see Fracture Mechanics
in the Structural Analysis Guide.
The JINT result is a mixed mode result and is also computed along the crack front using the domain
integral method. The fracture parameters, for all cracks defined under the fracture folder, are automatically computed and stored in the results file when the Fracture setting under the Solver Controls
of Analysis Settings is turned on. The SIFS and JINT results are calculated for all cracks defined under
the Fracture folder. The VCCT results are calculated only if the crack mesh generated is of lower order
(dropped midside nodes). You can direct the fracture parameter computation for all cracks to use
symmetry by setting the all cracks symmetric variable to active with a value of 1 in the Variable
Manager. For more information, see Setting Variables (p. 85). Fracture parameter calculation based on
SIFS supports linear isotropic elastic material behavior. J-Integral based fracture parameter calculation
supports isotropic elastic and isotropic plastic material behavior. VCCT based fracture parameter calculation supports linear isotropic elastic, anisotropic elastic and orthotrophic elastic material behavior.
Note
If you get the following message:
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1139
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Commands Objects
You can input commands such as Mechanical APDL commands, directly in the Mechanical application
using a Commands object. Refer to the Commands objects reference page for information on valid
objects under which you can insert single or multiple Commands objects.
Upon inserting a Commands object, the Worksheet appears and displays information or special instructions tailored to the specific parent object. For example, the following information appears if you insert
a Commands object under a Contact Region object:
*********contact region default statement*********
!
Commands inserted into this file will be executed just after the contact region definition.
!
The type number for the contact type is equal to the parameter "cid".
!
The type number for the target type is equal to the parameter "tid".
!
The real and mat number for the asymmetric contact pair is equal to the parameter "cid".
!
The real and mat number for the symmetric contact pair(if it exists) is equal to the parameter "tid".
Note
For the Transient Structural (Rigid Dynamics) systems, commands are expressed in Python.
The following topics are covered in this section:
Commands Object Features
Using Commands Objects with the MAPDL Solver
Using Commands Objects with the Rigid Dynamics Solver
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1141
Commands Objects
As shown on the status/progress dialog box, the Solver processes only the newly specified commands.
1142
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Note
This post processing solution only happens if changes or additions are made to the Commands
of a Solution object for an otherwise solved environment. If the solution is unsolved or obsolete
for some other reason, then the commands are executed as part of the normal solving process.
Existing and post processed results are available for use with any subsequent linked analyses.
When using this mode, MAPDL runs all commands including the ones that may have existed
as a part of the regular solve. Some commands may require certain variables or parameters to
be active for execution or to produce correct results. As a result, it may be necessary to resume
MAPDL db file by making sure that the Analysis Settings>Analysis Data Management>Save
MAPDL db option is set to Yes prior to restarting the entire solution.
The solve mode is always In Process.
If the command snippet is inserted or edited with the Invalidate Solution setting set to Yes,
then you can issue post-processing commands using the last restart point of a completed
solution. The solution executes without incurring the cost of a full solve, as it sends only the
post commands and will generate solve.out as a solution output file.
Note that the generated Output files are written to the Solver Files Directory and are named accordingly.
An example of the directory is shown below.
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1143
Commands Objects
Input Arguments
(Not applicable to the LS-DYNA solver)
Input arguments are available on all Commands objects. There are nine arguments that you can pass
to the Mechanical APDL application macros. Numerical values only are supported. Input Arguments are
editable on the Details view of a Commands object under Input Arguments and listed as ARG1 through
ARG9. If you enter a numerical value, including zero, for an argument, that value is passed along to the
Mechanical APDL application. If you leave the argument value field empty, no argument value is passed
for that specific argument.
Note
If you are calling a user defined macro from within a Commands object, be aware of the
macro's location on the disk to make sure the macro is able to be located during the solution.
Refer to the /PSEARCH command description located in the Mechanical APDL application
Command Reference within the Mechanical APDL Help for more information.
Note
You must right-mouse click on the selected object in the tree to use this Export feature.
On Windows platforms, if you have the Microsoft Office 2002 (or later) installed, you may
see an Export to Excel option if you right-mouse click in the Worksheet. This is not the
Mechanical application Export feature but rather an option generated by Microsoft Internet
Explorer.
Import...: Imports the text from an ASCII text file to the Worksheet.
1144
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Note
Preprocessing Commands objects or Postprocessing Commands objects, available in
past releases are no longer supported. If you open a database that includes these objects,
the objects are automatically converted to Commands objects.
Search Parameters (available only at the Solution level): Scans the text output and updates the list of
detected parameters. Matched the Mechanical APDL application parameters can be parameterized just
as other values in Workbench can be parameterized. Refer to the next section for details.
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1145
Commands Objects
For additional information on the MAPDL Command language, see the Mechanical APDL Command
Reference.
Note
If you have parameterized an output parameter in the Commands object, you cannot edit
the command text. You need to remove the parameters to edit the text
The following demo is presented as an animated GIF. Please view online if you are reading the PDF version
of the help. Interface names and other components shown in the demo may differ from those in the released
product.
1146
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2.
3.
4.
Make sure that there is at least one Commands object under Solution in the tree.
5.
Solve. Requested plots for all Commands objects are displayed as objects under the first unsuppressed
Commands object that appears below Solution.
Note
The Mechanical APDL application PowerGraphics mode for displaying results is not compatible
with Commands objects. No results will be produced in this mode. If your command list includes the PowerGraphics mode (/GRAPH,POWER), you must switch to the Full mode by including /GRAPH,FULL at the end of the list.
Presented below is an example of a Commands object used to create two plots, one for unaveraged
stress, and one for element error.
!
Commands inserted into this file will be executed immediately after the ANSYS /POST1 command.
!
If a SET command is issued, results from that load step will be used as the basis of all
!
result objects appearing in the Solution folder.
/show,png
! output to png format
/gfile,650
/edge,1,1
/view,,1,1,1
ples,s,eqv
ples,serr
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1147
Commands Objects
The Mechanical APDL application plots are shown below.
Unaveraged Stress Result:
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Setting Parameters
The term Parameters in the Mechanical application includes CAD parameters and engineering parameters
(pressure magnitude, maximum stress, fatigue life, dimension of a part, material property type, Young's
modulus, and others).
While engineering parameters are indicated simply by clicking the parameter box in the Details
View (p. 11), CAD Parameters (p. 1153) must be given some extra attention, both in the CAD package
and in the Mechanical application.
The Parameter tab collects all specified parameters and lists them in the Parameter tab grids for later
use and/or modification.
Related topics:
Specifying Parameters (p. 1151)
Specifying Parameters
The Details View (p. 11) in the application window provides check boxes for items that may be parameterized.
The following Details View images illustrate parameter definition for typical objects in the Mechanical
application:
Part Object (p. 1151)
Force Object (p. 1152)
Stress Object (p. 1152)
Part Object
The details of a part object:
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1151
Setting Parameters
Force Object
The details for a Force object:
Stress Object
The details for a Stress object.
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CAD Parameters
Parameter Restrictions
If an object has a parameterized field, and that object definition is changed in a way that makes that
parameterization non-meaningful, the parameterization will be removed by the program. Some examples
include:
A material in Engineering Data has a parameterized density, and then the user suppresses the material.
A result in the Mechanical application is scoped to a face and has a parameterized maximum value, and
then the user re-scopes the result to a different topology.
Note
If you suppresses an object, no parameter boxes will be shown for any property on that object.
If you parameterize the Suppressed property on an object, no parameter boxes will be
shown for any other property on that object, regardless of whether or not the object is
suppressed.
CAD Parameters
CAD parameters are a subset of the application parameters. As the name implies, CAD parameters come
from a CAD system and are used to define the geometry in the CAD system. Although each CAD system
assigns its parameters differently, the Mechanical application identifies them via a key (ds or DS). This
identifier can appear either at the beginning or the end of the parameter name and does not need to
be separated from the name with an underscore or any other character. By identifying the parameters
of interest you can effectively filter CAD parameter exposure. Any of the following examples are valid
CAD parameter names using DS or ds as the key:
DSlength
widthds
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1153
Setting Parameters
dsradius
DS is the default key for importing CAD parameters into the application. You can change this default
via the Personal Parameter Key option on the Geometry Preferences.
Note
If you change the key phrase to nothing all parameters are exposed.
CAD parameters must be assigned correctly in the CAD system in order to be imported. Refer to your
CAD system instructions for detailed information on assigning these parameters. Some system specific
notes are included here for your convenience. Remember that these are all actions that must be performed in the CAD system before importing the model.
CAD systems:
Autodesk Inventor (p. 1154)
CATIA V5 (p. 1154)
Creo Parametric (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) (p. 1154)
NX (p. 1155)
Solid Edge (p. 1155)
SolidWorks (p. 1155)
Autodesk Inventor
After a part is open in Inventor, click Tools> Parameters. In the Parameters dialog box, click a parameter name under the Parameter Name column, modify the parameter name to include ds at either
the beginning or end of the name and click Enter. Click Done to close the Parameters dialog box.
For detailed information, see CAD Integration.
CATIA V5
After a part is open in CATIA V5, click Tools> Formula. In the Formulas dialog box, select the desired
parameter in the scrolling list. In the "Edit name or value of the current parameter" field, modify the
parameter name to include ds at either the beginning or end of the name, then click OK or Apply.
For detailed information, see CATIA V5 Associative Geometry Interface (*.CATPart, *.CATProduct) in the
CAD Integration section of the product help.
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CAD Parameters
also be sure to change the @D to @S (case sensitive) before completing the modification by clicking
OK.
For detailed information, see Creo Parametric (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) Associative Geometry Interface
(*.prt, *.asm) in the CAD Integration section of the product help.
NX
After a model is opened in NX, click Application> Modeling and the Tools> Expression In the Edit
Expressions dialog box, select the expression with the variable name that you want to rename and
click Rename. Change the expression name in the Rename Variable dialog box to include ds at either
the beginning or end of the name and click OK. Click OK/Apply to close the Edit Expressions dialog
box.
For detailed information, see NX in the CAD Integration section of the product help.
Solid Edge
After a model is opened in Solid Edge, click Tools> Variables... If the dimensions (type Dim) are not
shown in the Variable Table dialog box, click the Filter button for the Filter dialog box. Highlight both
Dimensions and User Variables under the Type column; select Both under the Named By
column and select File under the Graphics in column. Then click OK. Click the name of a dimension
(under the Name column), modify the dimension name to include ds at either the beginning or end
of the name and click Enter. Close the Variable Table dialog box.
For detailed information, see Solid Edge in the CAD Integration section of the product help.
SolidWorks
In SolidWorks, open the part and then click on the part or on the feature in the tree. Then right-click
the dimension on the model, open the Properties dialog box, and edit the name of the dimension.
For detailed information, see SolidWorks in the CAD Integration section of the product help.
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1155
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User Workflow
It is useful to understand the user workflow in a Design Assessment system in order to customize its
calculation process. A key step in the workflow is to select the upstream system whose results will be
examined. This is accomplished using the Solution Selection object. Once specified, there are three
considerations that affect the outcome of the calculation process (and can thus be customized):
what inputs are required
what scripts should run
how results should be displayed
The user feeds inputs into the Design Assessment system via one or more Attribute Group objects.
The scripts are the workhorse for computation. They are programmed in the Python scripting language
and have access, at runtime, to all relevant data in the model, including any inputs collected from the
user, along with the mesh and upstream results, through an Application Programmable Interface (API).
The user defines result requests using the DA Result object to prescribe what quantities to plot and
where on the model.
Customization
With the exception of Solution Combinations, predefined assessment types such as FATJACK and BEAMST
feature Attribute Groups, Scripts, and Result Objects, and can be used as the basis for customization.
These three components of the calculation process must be described in the XML definition file before
they can be featured in a Design Assessment system.
Collectively, the inputs for the process are described in the AttributeGroups section of the Definition
File. Each input is controlled by an individual Attribute indicating the type of data to gather from the
user, its scope of application on the model, and its validation, among other details.
The scripts are prescribed in the DAScripts section of the XML definition file and are the workhorse for
computation. Distinct scripts for "Solve" and for "Evaluating Results" are possible to respond to the respective user operations in the Mechanical application editor. Example snippets are provided for each
class in the scripting API, along with full worked examples in this documentation. There is a section on
Developing and Debugging Scripts for more operation details.
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Note
If you Import a Mechanical database (e.g., a .mechdat file) containing a Design Assessment
system you must reselect the Assessment Type (and associated XML definition file for the
User Defined type) before opening the project in the Mechanical application. Otherwise, your
assessment type will revert to Solution Combination Only and any Design Assessment objects
will be lost.
The following sections describe the use of the Design Assessment system.
Predefined Assessment Types
Changing the Assessment Type or XML Definition File Contents
Solution Selection
Using the Attribute Group Object
Developing and Debugging Design Assessment Scripts
Using the DA Result Object
The Design Assessment XML Definition File
Design Assessment API Reference
Examples of Design Assessment Usage
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1160
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Introduction
DA Result objects can be added to the Design Assessment system for combining the upstream solution
results that have been specified in the Solution Selection table. Different combinations or comparisons
can be applied to the selected solutions.
Any number of DA Results can be added to combine or compare as many solutions as needed. It is also
possible to compare results from the same solution but over different time steps. This is done by selecting
the same environment in multiple entries in the Solution Selection table and specifying the desired
time steps for those entries.
Defining Results
These DA Result objects are similar to those available for the BEAMCHECK and FATJACK assessment
types, but have predefined fields that allow you to define the solution combination/comparison method
that you want to use. A number of different Result Type and Result Subtype values can be selected
to define the combination method.
Result Type
Choose the Result Type that you want to combine/compare in this DA Result. You can choose one of
the following from the drop down list.
Stress
Strain
Displacement
Expression-Based
If you choose Stress, Strain, or Displacement as the Result Type, the Entry Value of Attribute 1 will
allow you to choose from a drop down list of selected results. The result units are automatically
chosen.
If a Stress, Strain or Displacement result type is selected, together with a resultant expression (for
example, S1 or USUM), the combination/comparison will be performed on the components, and
the resultant value recalculated afterwards. This is the same method used by the Mechanical APDL
LCOPER command. However in some cases, such as finding the maximum values over a number
of time points, this behavior is not desired and the combination/comparison is required to be performed on the resultant of the expression itself. In these cases, select Expression-Based as the result
type and enter the expression name in the relevant Attribute box.
If Expression-Based is selected, any user defined result can be entered in an expression string in the
Entry Value field of Attribute 1. The result unit type must be selected from the drop down list in
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1161
Caution
This method may produce undesired or nonphysical results. For example, combining
USUM vector results would normally be performed on a component basis, and the direct
combination of values would most likely cause an undesired result.
Result Subtype
The Result Subtype field allows you to select the type of combination/comparison operation that you
want to perform in this DA Result object. The following operations are available regardless of the Result
Type:
Sum results
This operation adds the specified results from the selected solutions.
Subtract Results
This operation subtracts the specified results from the selected solutions.
The lowest solution row number available acts as the minuend and all subsequent solutions act
as subtrahends. This can be manipulated using negative coefficients.
Mean Result
Sums all selected solution results and divides the total by the number of solutions selected.
SRSS Result
Computes the square root of the sum of squares for all selected solution results.
Absolute Maximum
Computes the absolute maximum of the selected solution results and sets the DA result to this
value with the relevant sign; in other words, the value furthest from zero. For example, if two
results with the values 9 and -10 are compared, the DA Result would be set to -10.
Absolute Minimum
Similar to Absolute Maximum, but returns the minimum value; in other words, the value closest
to zero.
Maximum
Finds the maximum result from the selected solution results and sets the DA Result to this value.
For example, if two results with the values 9 and -10 are compared, the DA Result would be set
to 9.
Minimum
Similar to Maximum, but returns the minimum value.
1162
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Note
BEAMST and FATJACK only support Kilogram (Kg) and Pound (Lbm) mass units, and do not
support micrometers (m). The solution should be obtained (including upstream systems)
using appropriate units systems, otherwise incorrect results may be obtained when performing
the assessment.
Introduction
The Design Assessment system enables the input of Attribute Group objects to define the input data
to BEAMST and DA Result objects to define which results to obtain and present. Workbench and Design
Assessment are geometry based, which means that areas of the geometry are selected rather than indiRelease 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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1163
Requirement
ABNO
Load Classification
AISC
Ocean Environment
BS59
BS5950 Checks
1164
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CASE
Not supported, Load case selection is via the Solution Selection Object
CB
Bending Coefficient
CHOR
Geometry Definition
Requirement
CMY
CMZ
COMB
DESI
DENT
Geometry Definition
ISO Only
DS44
EFFE
Geometry Definition
Effective Lengths
ELEM
ELEV
Ocean Environment
Water Details
EXTR
GAPD
Geometry Definition
Default Gap/Eccentricity
GRAV
GROU
Not Supported
HYDR
ISO
ISO Checks
JOIN
LIMI
Not Supported
MCOF
Material Definition
MFAC
MLTF
MOVE
Not Supported
NORS
NORSOK Checks
NPD
NPD Checks
PHI
PHI Coefficient
POST
Not Supported
PRIN
Not Supported
PROF
Not Supported
QuAK
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1165
RENU
Not Supported
SAFE
SEAR
Not Supported
SECO
SECT
Not Supported
SELE
Not Supported
SIMP
SPEC
Not Supported
STUB
Not Supported
TITL
Not Supported
TYPE
Geometry Definition
Requirement
BS5950 Checks
Joint Types
Default Joint Types
ULCF
Geometry Definition
UNBR
Geometry Definition
Unbraced Length
Unbraced Length (Factor)
UNIT
Automatically determined from analysis, selections for N mm, pdl ft, pdl in and N m
are supported.
WAVE
Ocean Environment
Wave Definition
YIEL
Yield Definition
Compulsory
Note
If units are changed when defining data for Attributes, then the resulting data sent to the
processing script may be incorrect. It is recommended that units are not modified from those
used in creating the geometry.
1166
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Note
If a specific code check version is set to Not Checked for a given code of practice, it is still
necessary to make a geometry selection for that Attribute.
API WSD Checks
Enables the selection of the API WSD code of practice and the appropriate edition. Use this to select
the joints and members to be included in the check. Any members that are not selected will be excluded from the checks.
Allowable Stress, Hydrostatic Checks and Joint check clauses will be included as appropriate for the
edition chosen.
API LRFD Checks
Enables the selection of the API LRFD code of practice and the appropriate edition. Use this to select
the joints and members to be included in the check. Any members that are not selected will be excluded from the checks.
Allowable Stress Checks, Hydrostatic Checks and Joint check clauses will be included as appropriate
for the edition chosen.
AISC WSD Checks
Enables the selection of the AISC WSD code of practice and the appropriate edition. Use this to select
the members to be included in the check. Any members that are not selected will be excluded from
the checks.
Allowable Stress Checks clauses will be included as appropriate for the edition chosen.
AISC LRFD Checks
Enables the selection of the AISC LRFD code of practice and the appropriate edition. Use this to select
the members to be included in the check. Any members that are not selected will be excluded from
the checks.
Member Checks clauses will be included as appropriate for the edition chosen.
BS5950 Checks
Enables the selection of the BS5950 code of practice and the appropriate edition. Use this to select
the members to be included in the check. Any members that are not selected will be excluded from
the checks.
Member Checks clauses will be included as appropriate for the edition chosen. Members that only
need the simplified checks can also be selected
DS449 / DS412 Checks
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1167
General Text
This can be used to supply additional and non-supported commands. This will always override data set
by other tree objects.
Geometry Independent
Enables additional commands to be entered, these will be appended to the end of all code checks.
Geometry Definition
All groups that have this type enable the selection of a particular code of practice.
Manually Define Chords
The chord member(s) and the central vertex can be chosen to define which members at a joint form
the chords. Without this definition, chords are automatically determined. Chords for each Joint needs
to be defined separately. Only applicable to joint checks.
Automatic Joint Identification
1168
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1169
Material Definition
All groups that have this type enable the selection of a particular code of practice.
Partial Material Coefficients
Enables the definition of the partial material coefficients utilised in the NPD, NORSOK and DS449
codes
Yield Definition
Definition of the yield stress, must have a value applied for each member in the analysis. Required
for all code checks
1170
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Ocean Environment
All groups that have this type enable the selection of a particular code of practice.
Water Details
Enables the elevation of the mean water level, sea bed to be defined in global Z. Water density and
tide/surge heights can also be entered. Required for all code checks involving hydrostatic analysis.
Note
The global X/Y plane is coincident with the horizontal mean sea level, with global Z vertically
upwards (away from the mudline).
Available Results
The following results are available for the Code of Practice types as indicated below. Results are added
using the DA Results tree object.
AISC LRFD Results
AISC WSD Results
API LRFD Results
API WSD Results
BS5950 Results
DS449 High Results
DS449 Normal Results
ISO Results
NORSOK Results
NPD Results
As each result object presents a number of types of results, units are not employed in the output. Hence
all values will be reported in the solver units used for the BEAMST analysis.
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1172
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1173
1174
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1175
1176
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1177
1178
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1179
1180
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1181
BS5950 Results
Two Results subtypes are available for this code of practice. The results available for those subtypes are
shown below.
Member Unity Checks
Major Axis Bending
Minor Axis Bending
Major Axis Shear
Minor Axis Shear
Axial Tension
Combined Axial + Moment
Minor Axis Buckling
Major Axis Buckling
Lateral Torsional Buckling
Overall Buckling
Member General Results
Axial Force Capacity
Major Axis Shear Force Capacity
Minor Axis Shear Force Capacity
Major Axis Bending Moment Capacity
Minor Axis Bending Moment Capacity
Reduced Moment Capacity - Major Axis
Reduced Moment Capacity - Minor Axis
Member Compressive Capacity - Minor Axis Buckling
Member Compressive Capacity - Major Axis Buckling
Member Moment Capacity - Lateral Torsional Buckling
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1185
ISO Results
Six Results subtypes are available for this code of practice. The results available for those subtypes are
shown below.
Member Unity Checks
Axial
Shear
Torsion
Y Bending
Z Bending
Resultant Bending
Yield 1
Yield 2
Hydrostatic Unity Checks
Hoop Compressive
Combined Hoop + Axial
Combined Hoop Bending + Axial 1
Combined Hoop Bending + Axial 2
Combined
Joint Unity Check
Axial
In-Plane Bending
Out-of-Plane Bending
Combined Axial + Bending
1186
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1187
1188
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NORSOK Results
Six Results subtypes are available for this code of practice. The results available for those subtypes are
shown below.
Member Unity Checks
Axial
Shear
Torsion
Y Bending
Z Bending
Resultant Bending
Bending + Shear
Shear + Bending + Torsion
Yield 1
Yield 2
Hydrostatic Unity Checks
Hoop Compressive
Combined Hoop + Axial
Combined Hoop Bending + Axial 1
Combined Hoop Bending + Axial 2
Combined
Joint Unity Check
Axial
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1189
1190
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1191
NPD Results
Nine Results subtypes are available for this code of practice. The results available for those subtypes
are shown below.
Member Unity Checks (1984)
Axial
Bending (TUBE)
Lateral Pressure (TUBE)
Torsional Shear (TUBE)
Bending Shear (TUBE)
Von Mises
Axial + Bending Combined (TUBE)
Axial + Lateral Pressure (TUBE)
Axial + Torsion (TUBE)
Axial + Bending Shear (TUBE)
Y Shear (BEAM)
Z Shear (BEAM)
Y Total (Overall)
Z Total (Overall)
Joint (Punching) Unity Checks (1984)
Punching
Yield
Member Unity Checks (1992)
Von Mises (Yield)
Y Total (Overall)
Z Total (Overall)
Joint Unity Checks (1992)
Axial
In-Plane Bending
Out-of-Plane Bending
1192
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1193
1194
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Introduction
Attribute Group objects are added to the Design Assessment system to define the input data to FATJACK.
DA Result objects are added to the Design Assessment system to define which results to obtain and
display. Workbench and Design Assessment are geometry based, which means that areas of the geometry
are selected rather than individual elements. With the Mechanical solver, a member ought to be meshed
and formed of a number of elements. Some data associated to the upstream solutions is entered in the
solution selection table.
Results can be added to the Solution in the Design Assessment system and displayed in Workbench;
these will contour the maximum value that occurs for each element. Results can be added either before
or after the analysis. If additional results are added after the analysis has been performed, then evaluating
the results will obtain the values from the existing database, if the result type exists. Elements that do
not have results will be semi transparent. Results are for the end of the brace and are shown on the
brace element.
Reports can be produced of the input data and the results can be parameterized and exposed for use
with other systems.
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1195
Requirement
ANALYSIS
Compulsory
ACCE
ALLO
Stress History
CHOR
Geometry Definition
Chord Definition
CURV
Material Definitions
Compulsory
CYCL
Time History
DESI
DETE
FREQ
GAP
Geometry Definition
Gap Definition
GAPD
Geometry Definition
Default Gap
HIST
INSE
Geometry Definition
Inset
INSP
LIMI
PARA
PRIN
Automatically defined as PRIN FULL DETA USAG XCHE SCFE SCFP DAMW, plus OCUR,
OCRW or OCRT for Spectral Analyses or plus RNGE or PEAK for Stress History Analyses,
both depending upon the option entered in the Analysis definition. If different text output
is required, then it can be added using General Text input.
REDU
SCF Definitions
Marshall Reduction
SCF
SCF Definitions
Default Values
SCF ANGLE
SCF Definitions
1196
Compulsory
Compulsory
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SCF AUTO
DEFAULT
SCF Definitions
SCF AUTO
JOINT
SCF Definitions
SCFBRACE
SCF Definitions
SCFJOINT
SCF Definitions
Requirement
SCF Definitions
Minimum Value
SCFPOINT
SCF Definitions
SECO
Geometry Definition
Excluded Members
SIGM
Not Supported
S-N
Material Definitions
SPEC
SPRE
Not Supported
THIC
Material Definitions
TRAN
TYPE
Geometry Definition
Compulsory
Automatically determined from analysis, selections for N mm, pdl ft, pdl in and N m are
supported.
WAVE
WAVE AUTO Automatically included for Spectral, Deterministic and Stress History
analysis types, use General Text entry to override if specific control is required.
YEAR
Compulsory
1197
Note
If units are changed when defining data for Attributes, then the resulting data sent to the
processing script may be incorrect. It is recommended that units are not modified from those
used in creating the geometry.
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Note
References to ocean loading assume the input of MAPDL commands using Commands objects
in upstream Mechanical systems.
General Text
This can be used to supply additional and non-supported commands. This will always override data set
by other tree objects.
Geometry Independent
Enables additional commands to be entered that will be appended to the end of all code checks.
Geometry Definition
All groups that have this type enable the selection of a particular code of practice.
Chord Definition
The chord member(s) and the central vertex can be chosen along with the length of the chord and
fixity parameters to define which members at a joint form the chords. Without this definition, chords
are automatically determined. Chords for each Joint need to be defined separately. Only applicable
to joint checks.
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1199
SCF Definitions
All groups that have this type enable the entry of values that define the stress concentration factors.
Marshall Reduction
Use this to define the Marshall Reduction factor for the brace side SCF values when using the Kuang
equations.
1200
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Material Definition
All groups that have this type enable the selection of a particular code of practice.
S-N Curve ApplicationC
Use this to define which S-N Curve applies to selected area of the model. Enter the same name as
used in the S-N Curve Definition.
S-N Thickness Modification
Use this to request the modification of the S-N curves to account for varying plate thickness.
S-N Curve DefinitionC
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1201
Ocean Environment
All groups that have this type define wave occurrence data in the ocean environment, if a large number
of occurrence data needs to be entered, then general entry can be used to reference an external file
containing the data.
Additional Wave Occurrence Data
Use this to define a single line of additional wave occurrence data; i.e., additional wave height, direction, and number of cycle definitions. Only applicable to Deterministic and Stress History analysis
types.
Available Results
The following results are available as indicated below. Results are added using the DA Results tree object.
Damage Values*
Fatigue Assessment*#
SCF Values#
Stress Histogram Results
Stress Range Results
* To obtain these results for Spectral Analyses, Stress Histogram Results Output needs to be set to
Disabled.
# To obtain these results for Stress History Analyses, Stress Range Output needs to be set to Disabled.
When retrieving results from a FATJACK analysis, you have the option of specifying how the value of
the result is determined among all of the inspection points, using the Result Value Option and Specified
Inspection Point attributes.
1202
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Damage Values
Per Wave (Solution)
All Wave Cases (Solutions)
The damage per wave for each joint (worst case for each inspection point, shown on the brace and
chord elements) can be displayed. For the Per Wave (Solution) result, the Spectrum or Wave Case
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1203
Fatigue Assessment
Usage Factor
Life
The Usage Factor or Life for each joint (worst case for each inspection point, shown on the brace and
chord elements) can be displayed.
SCF Values
Brace Side
Chord Side
The SCF factors for each joint for the chord and brace sides (worst case for each inspection point, shown
on the brace and chord elements) can be displayed for the required component (Axial, In-Plane Bending,
Out-of-Plane Bending).
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1205
Note
The behavior described above also corresponds to the settings of the DAData and
CombResults properties in the DAScripts section of the XML definition file. For BEAMCHECK,
DAData=1 and CombResults=1; for FATJACK, DAData=1 and CombResults=0; for Solution
Combination Only, DaData=0 and CombResults=1. So, for example, if you have the DAData
and CombResults properties both set to 1 in a user defined XML file, and you change the
DAData property to 0, the behavior would be that described in the From BEAMCHECK to
Solution Combination Only entry above.
If the contents of any Design Assessment XML definition file change, the Mechanical application
refreshes the existing Design Assessment objects as follows:
When the Group Type in use is not present in the file
The affected Attribute Group or DA Result is initialized to default values. Default values are the values
which you get when an Attribute Group or DA Result is inserted in the tree.
When the Group Sub Type in use is not present in the file
The affected Attribute Group or DA Result is initialized to default values. Default values are the values
which you get when an Attribute Group or DA Result is inserted in the tree.
1206
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Solution Selection
When the Attribute IDs present for a Group Type and Sub Type combination in use are changed (IDs
added or removed)
The affected Attribute Group or DA Result is initialized to default values. Default values are the values
which you get when an Attribute Group or DA Result is inserted in the tree.
Group Type not in use is changed/added/removed
No existing Design Assessment objects are affected.
Group Sub Type not in use is changed/added/removed
No existing Design Assessment objects are affected.
Attribute IDs are changed/added/removed for a Group Type and Sub Type combination which is not
in use
No existing Design Assessment objects are affected.
Validation/Default Value/Attribute Name/Geometry Application/Property type is changed
Design Assessment object is modified as indicated.
Note
For any above mentioned change, the state of the system becomes obsolete, forcing the
user to solve again.
Solution Selection
A Solution Selection object is automatically included as part of the Design Assessment environment.
This object allows you to select upstream solutions to be used in a way similar to the standard Solution
Combination object available in the Mechanical application.
To use the Solution Selection object, the individual analysis systems should be connected in sequence
on the Project Schematic (sharing the Engineering Data, Geometry and Model cells), with the Design
Assessment system at the end of the chain.
Depending upon the Assessment Type, various types of upstream systems are valid as shown in the
table below.
Assessment Type
Valid systems
Solution Combination
Only
BEAMCHECK
FATJACK
User Defined
1207
Set the values in the columns to select the results that are returned for each solution.
Multiple Sets Values are Enabled or Disabled. This column applies to any upstream solution that supports
Multiple Set data, i.e. Static, Transient, Explicit Dynamics and Harmonic.
If Enabled, then the user can enter Start/End Times, or Min/Max Frequencies to define a result
step/substep for combination (all result sets found within the boundaries of the defined step are used)
or to use during the execution of their scripts.
If Disabled, then only the End Time and Max Frequency columns will be available in order to define a
single result point to be used for combination (the result set defined is used for every calculated point
in the combined result) or to use during the execution of the scripts.
Start Time (s) Will define the start time of the step/substep used from the upstream solution.
End Time (s) Will define the end time of the step/substep used from the upstream solution.
Step The step number used from the upstream solution. Value can also be Multiple and All, in cases
where the Start and End Times defined cover more than one step or the entire analysis from the upstream
solution.
Min Frequency (s) Will define the start frequency of the step/substep used from the upstream solution.
Max Frequency (s) Will define the end frequency of the step/substep used from the upstream solution.
The Step column in the solution selection table defaults to 'All' which means all steps from your upstream
solution are available. All can be specified by entering '0' in the Step column. Otherwise this column
can take any integer value that lies within the step boundaries to define a single step. If you define a
start or end time that is outside the boundaries of one step, then the Step column will say Multiple.
Steps are inclusive of their Start/End Times or Min/Max Frequencies. During combination, the data from
all result points within the steps/substeps defined are linearly combined to produce a result containing
multiple sets. Therefore the limits of the combined result will be defined by the smallest and greatest
values (Start/End Time or Min/Max Frequency) found within the Solution Selection table.
Results Availability
The Results Availability field in the Details panel for the Design Assessment system Solution object
allows you to specify which Mechanical results will be available to the Design Assessment system. If
Results Availability is set to Filter Combination Results and different upstream system types are selected, only results that are valid for all selected systems can be inserted under the Solution object.
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Solution Selection
However, if you set the Results Availability field to Allow all Available Results, you can add any results
valid for any of the selected systems to the Solution object. In this case, results that are inserted will
be combined for those systems for which they are valid. You can set the default value for the Results
Availability field in the Mechanical Options.
If Results Availability is set to Filter Combination Results, and additional upstream systems are selected
which cause a result type to be invalid, then its state will change accordingly and a solution will not
be possible.
Note
When used in a solution combination based result, it may not be correct to combine the results.
Any combined results are formed by linear combination only.
The available systems in the drop down list are not constrained depending upon the Assessment
Type.
The Results Availability setting will only appear under the Design Assessment Solution object
in the tree if the <CombResults> tag within the XML that is being used by the Design Assessment
system is set to 1. Otherwise it has no function.
User defined results containing complex expressions are supported through the use of DA
Results. In addition, you can access results from various environments, using python scripts to
combine results with highly complex, user defined mathematical functions (see CreateSolutionResult in the Solution class).
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1209
The combined results would be as follows. Notice here that the solution with Multiple Sets Disabled is
a single result point and therefore combined over the entire result.
The Effective Result for the deformation values of Node X in the combined result would be:
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The combined plot, where the Combination line illustrates the combined values of Node X in Solutions
1 to 4 at these time points, would be:
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Note
Numerical attributes within an attribute group can be parameterized.
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Note
For all sections of the XML definition file, all values entered as part of a list in a tag must be
separated by commas only (no spaces); for example in the following tag, <Validation PropType="vector<string>">0.5,10</Validation>, there should not be any space between the
values 0.5 and 10.
Attributes Format
Within the Attributes section there are a number of options to define the name and type of attribute
(for example, whether its a double, integer, drop-down list, text, etc.), and what it applies to (for example,
can it be applied to selectable geometry or loadcases, and if geometry, is it vertex, lines, surfaces or
solids). Depending upon the type, default values and validation ranges can be set. Attributes of int and
double types can be parameterized.
<Attributes ObjId="2" Type="CAERepBase" Ver="2"></Attributes>
<DAAttribute ObjId="100" Type="DAAttribute" Ver="2">
<AttributeName PropType="string">attr name</name>
<AttributeType PropType="string">type keyword</type>
<Application PropType="string">selection keyword</application>
<Validation PropType="string">validation data</validation>
<Default PropType="string">default value</default>
<DisplayUnits PropType="string">display units keyword</DisplayUnits>
</DAAttribute>
</Attribute>
If Scoping Method is set to Named Selection, the fourth row will contain a drop-down of all defined
named selections that contain geometric entities of the type specified in the attribute definition.
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
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Value
Meaning
Type
CAERepBase
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
Type
DAAttribute
Ver
enter an integer
The following tags can be included as children of a DAAttribute tag (note that each tag must have a
property PropType=string or PropType=vector<string> (the latter if entering more than a single
value in the tag contents).
Property
Value
Meaning
AttributeName
enter a string
Int
Double
Text
DropDown
Browse
None
Surfaces
Solids
Geometry
All
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Value
Meaning
No Units
Stress
Distance
Strain
Force
Moment
Rotation
Angular Acceleration
Angular Velocity
Velocity
Acceleration
Temperature
Pressure
Voltage
Energy
Volume
Area
Current
Heat Rate
Current Density
Power
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1217
Value
Meaning
Heat Generation
Magnetic Flux
The group is defined in the Details panel with 3 standard rows and then up to 10 attributes:
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
Type
CAERepBase
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
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Value
Meaning
Type
DAAttributeGroup
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
GroupType
enter a string
GroupSubtype
enter a string
AttributeIDs
The PropType property of the GroupType and GroupSubtype tags must be set to string, and the
PropType property of the AttributeIDs tags must be set to vector<unsigned int>.
Script Format
This section defines the location for the Design Assessment post processing scripts and also defines
what values can be accessed in this Design Assessment system. The scripts are to be written using the
Python scripting language.
There are three Design Assessment specific system environment variables that can be used when specifying script paths:
DAPROGFILES
Default: C:\Program Files
DANSYSDIR
Default: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v150
DAUSERFILES
The Workbench project user_files subfolder
The Solve tag defines the location of the script that will be run upon pressing the solve button within
the Mechanical application. The Evaluate tag defines the location of the script that will be run when
evaluating the DAResult objects. The Evaluate script will be run by default after the solve script when
solve has been selected. This separation enables the ability for any intensive processing to be performed
and saved to files during the solve stage and then results extraction and presentation to be scripted
during the evaluation stage. Alternatively, you may want all the processing performed during the
evaluate script and enter None in the Solve Script section.
Additional tags allow you to:
permit or prevent the inclusion of Design Assessment Attribute Groups and Results in the tree for
the associated Design Assessment system
permit or prevent the availability of solution combination results in the associated Design Assessment
system
add additional columns to the Solution Selection Worksheet
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Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
Type
DAScripts
Signifies that the contents of the DAScripts tag define solve and evaluate
postprocessing scripts
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
Solve
enter a string
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Value
Meaning
Evaluate
enter a string
DAData
enter either 1 or 0
CombResults
enter either 1 or 0
CombExtra
CombTypes
The PropType property of the Solve and Evaluate tags must be set to string, The PropType property
of the DAData and CombResults tags must be set to int, and the PropType property of the CombExtra
tag must be set to vector<string> and the PropType property of the CombTypes tag must be
set to vector<unsigned int>.
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1221
Results Format
The DA Results format defines the available DA Results tree objects. A maximum of 10 attributes can
be included per DA Result object; for example to define direction components. For attributes applied
to results objects, the application entry is ignored. DA Result objects automatically sort themselves by
drop downs of available types and subtypes. Each DA Result object also contains information on how
it should display results; this can either be set in this XML definition file or programmatically in the python
solve or evaluate scripts.
Minimum and maximum values are also reported and can be parametrized. Probe labels can be added
to the graphic to identify specific results, or the minimum and maximum locations.
<Results ObjId="3" Type="CAERepBase" Ver="2">
<DAResult ObjId ="100001" Type="DAResult" Ver="2">
<GroupType PropType="string">Group Type</GroupType>
<GroupSubtype PropType="string">Group Subtype</GroupSubtype>
<AttributeIDs PropType="vector<unsigned int>">list of attribute numbers</AttributeIDs>
<DisplayType PropType="string">display type keyword</DisplayType>
<DisplayStyle PropType="string">display style keyword</DisplayStyle>
<DisplayUnits PropType="string">display units keyword</DisplayUnits>
</DAResult>
</Results>
The result is defined in the Details panel with standard rows and then up to 10 attributes:
Note that if the Display Style of a result is anything other than scalar, a "Components" field is shown in
the Definitions section.
The Results tag properties should be set as follows:
Property
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
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Value
Meaning
Type
CAERepBase
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
ObjId
enter an integer
Type
DAResult
Signifies that the contents of the DAResult tag defines a result group
Ver
enter an integer
Value
Meaning
GroupType
enter a string
GroupSubtype
enter a string
AttributeIDs
Element
Nodal
ElementNodal
Scalar
Vector
= + +
Tensor
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1223
Value
Meaning
pending upon the DisplayType
An additional drop down will
be provided to choose
between X, Y, Z, XY, YZ and
XZ, Maximum Principal,
Middle Principal, Minimum
Principal, Intensity, Equivalent, Vector Principal, and
Maximum Shear
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StrainTensor
No Units
Stress
Distance
Strain
Force
Moment
Rotation
Angular Acceleration
Angular Velocity
Velocity
Acceleration
Temperature
Pressure
Voltage
Energy
Volume
Area
Current
Heat Rate
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Value
Meaning
Current Density
Power
Heat Generation
Magnetic Flux
The DisplayType, DisplayStyle and Display unit can all be over-ridden or set within the python script if
desired. However, DisplayStyle needs to be set here to enable the addition of the drop-down to choose
the component and automatic calculation of additional results (e.g. Resultant, Maximum Principal, etc.)
in the cases of vector or tensor display. See the DAResult class in the API for details on how to set these
programmatically.
The PropType property of the GroupType, GroupSubtype, and DisplayType tags must be set to string,
and the PropType property of the AttributeIDs tags must be set to vector<unsigned int>.
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1225
Every effort is made to ensure compatibility of the API across versions. However, there are occasions
where functions or properties need to be modified. In these scenarios, the existing function will be
deprecated, i.e. it will become undocumented.
Any data output via the print command will be added to the appropriate script output file which can
be reviewed via the Solution Information object. If a deprecated function is called a message will be
added to the appropriate script output file with a suggested alternative methodology. These can be
viewed via the Solution Information object. This inclusion of the message in the file can be controlled
by the OutputDeprecatedWarnings function in the DesignAssessment class. Additional text output from
your script can be included in a file that is displayed using the Solver Output option (see Helper class,
ReplaceSolverOutputFile).
Undocumented functions (including those recently deprecated) may be removed or altered in subsequent
releases if it becomes impractical to maintain a backwards compatible interface, so effort should be
made to update any calls to deprecated functions.
Functions may not work on previous releases; therefore, all users should use the same release of
Workbench to ensure compatibility.
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Description of Change
getHelper()
GeometryMeshData()
Selections()
Selection(int
Index)
Duplication of python functionality. Old code DesignAssessment.SolutionSelection(0), new code MyArray = DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections() then MyArray[0] (NB, using the shortcut DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections()[index] in a
loop is less efficient than assigning it to an array within python)
ResultGroups()
ResultGroup(int Index)
NoOfAttributeGroups()
NoOfSelections()
NoOfResultGroups()
Changed to property DAResultCount, old code: DesignAssessment. NoOfResultGroups(), new code DesignAssessment.DAResultCount
ProjectName()
AttributeGroup(int
Index)
Helper Class:
A number of functions related to an internal file, the CAERep, were previously documented in error.
These have been removed from the documentation; it is not recommended that these are used as the
file structure is subject to change.
Function/Property
Description of Change
getUnits()
Replaced by property Units in the DesignAssessment class, for the units set for
the Design Assessment System and also the property Units in the Solution class
for the units system used in upstream solution.
getSolverOut()
getOutputFile()
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1227
Description of Change
getGeometryPath ()
getResultPath
()
getSystemDirectory ()
getLogFile()
Removed as the log file can be displayed via Solution Information and its contents can be added to via the standard python print function
WriteToLog ()
Removed as the log file contents can be added to via the standard python print
function
Description of Change
NoOfNodes()
NoOfElements()
ElementbyID(int ID)
NodebyID(int
ID)
getConnectedElements
(int ID)
getElementsByID(int[] ID)
Element(int
Index)
Node(int Index)
DAElement Class:
The function TopologyID() related to an internal reference was previously documented in error. This
has been removed from the documentation.
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Description of Change
Type()
Replaced with property Description, this provides a text description of the element, rather than an internal number which was subject to change, old code:
DAElement.Type(), new code DAElement.Description
SectionData()
getNodeIDs()
ID()
NoOfConnectedNodes()
DANode Class:
Method/Property
Description of Change
ID()
x()
y()
z()
NoOfConnectedElements()
ConnectedElementIDs()
SectionData Class:
Method/Property
Description of Change
Type()
Replaced with property Description, this provides a text description of the element,
rather than an internal number which was subject to change, old code: SectionData.Type(), new code SectionData.Description
Diameter()
Thickness()
WebThickness()
FlangeThickness()
FilletRadii()
Height()
Width()
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Description of Change
NoOfAttributes()
Name()
Type()
SubType()
Attribute Class:
Method/Property
Description of Change
Name()
Value()
getNoOfSelectedElements()
getSelectedElements()
getNoOfSelectedNodes()
getSelectedNodes()
Description of Change
NoOfSolutions()
Solution(int
index)
Replaced with method SolutionByRow(int Row), Row is 1 based. Old code: Selection.Solution(0), new code SolutionSelection.SolutionByRow(1)
Solution Class:
Method/Property
Description of Change
NoOfAdditionalSolutionData()
EnvironmentName()
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Description of Change
getResult()
This method and the object it returned have been removed and the objects
functions replaced with properties within the Solution Class. Old code: Solution.getResult().ResultFilePath(), new code: Solution.ResultFilePath
AdditionalSolutionData(int Index)
SolutionResult Class:
Method/Property
Description of Change
ResultFilePath()
Description of Change
Name()
Type()
AddStepResult()
AddStepResult(Result
myResult)
StepResult()
StepResult(int
index)
NoOfAttributes()
Description of Change
AddElementResultValue(ValueStructureClass
newElementResultValue)
Modified so that its easier to create sets of result values. Now element result
values can be directly defined using SetElementalValue. Old code Result.AddElementValue(ValueStructure), new code: DAResultSet.SetElementalValue(ElementID, Component, Value)
ValueStructureClass AddElementResultValue()
The ValueStructure class has been deprecated as the result values can be
accessed directly. Values are also now added with a given ElementID, so numerous entries need not be made. Old code ValueStructure = Result.AddElementValue() then ValueStructure.setValue(Value), new code: DAResultSet.SetElementalValue(ElementID, Component, Value)
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Description of Change
ValueStructureClass[] ElementResultValues()
The ValueStructure class has been deprecated as the result values can be
accessed directly for the given element. It is no longer possible to get all the
values out as an Array, but values can be obtained via GetElementalValue(ElementID, Component) instead.
ValueStructureClass ElementResultValue(int
index)
The ValueStructure class has been deprecated as the result values can be
accessed directly for the given element. Values are also now added with a
given ElementID. Old code ValueStructure = Result. ElementResultValue(Index)
then Value = ValueStructure.GetAsDouble(), new code: Value = DAResultSet.GetElementalValue(ElementID, Component)
ValueStructure Class:
This class has been deprecated; all functionality is now redundant as the values can either be obtained
or set directly.
DesignAssessment class
This class is the parent class of all Design Assessment API objects that can be called from the python
scripts. It is a global variable that can be accessed from anywhere in your script.
Table 95: Members
Name
Type
Description
Helper
Helper class
Units
string
MeshData
MeshData class
AttributeGroups()
AttributeGroup[] class
AttributeGroups(string TreeName)
AttributeGroup[] class
Array of AttributeGroup objects with the given TreeName filtered from the available AttributeGroups
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Type
Description
AttributeGroups(string Type,
string SubType)
AttributeGroup[] class
Array of AttributeGroup objects with the given Type and SubType filtered from the available AttributeGroups
SolutionSelections()
SolutionSelection[]
class
DAResults()
DAResult[] class
DAResults(string TreeName)
DAResult[] class
DAResult[] class
AttributeGroupCount
int
SolutionSelectionCount
int
DAResultCount
int
ProjectTitle
string
OutputDeprecatedWarnings(bool ShowWarnings)
void
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_DesignAssessment():
DA = DesignAssessment #just to save typing.
#To know full details of deprecated functions.
DA.OutputDeprecatedWarnings(True)
#Get the helper object
HelperObject = DA.Helper
#Output units string, e.g. MKS
print DA.Units
# Get the MeshData object
MeshDataObject = DA.MeshData
print DA.ProjectTitle
#Attribute Groups:
#Obtain an array of all attribute group objects.
AllAttributeGroupsObjects = DA.AttributeGroups()
#Filter for an array of attribute group objects called Bob
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Helper class
This class provides some general functions to assist the user writing scripts.
Table 96: Members
Name
Type Description
GeometryPath
ResultPath
SystemDirectory
UserFilesDirectory
void
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Type Description
SetLastError(string errorString)
void
ReplaceSolverOutputFile(string FileLoc)
void
SolverOutputFilePath
string Gets the file name and path of the file that is displayed
when the Solution Output displays the Solver Output
data.
AppendToSolverOutputFile(string AdditionalText)
void
ClearSolverOutputFile()
void
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_Helper():
HelperObject = DesignAssessment.Helper #Get the helper object
#Obtain some Helper based properties and print them to the debug file.
print "GeometryPath = " + HelperObject.GeometryPath
print "ResultPath = " + HelperObject.ResultPath
print "SystemDirectory = " + HelperObject.SystemDirectory
print "SolverOutputFilePath = " + HelperObject.SolverOutputFilePath
#Use some Helper based design assessment methods
#Create a text file with write access in the result path location
NewSolverFilePathAndName = HelperObject.ResultPath+"\\MySolverFile.txt"
MySolverFile = open(NewSolverFilePathAndName, "w")
MySolverFile.write("This is a solver output file\n")
MySolverFile.write("The backslash n indicates the end of a line\n")
MySolverFile.close()
#Make the solver output file text to be that contained in the MySolverFile
HelperObject.ReplaceSolverOutputFile(NewSolverFilePathAndName)
#uncomment out the below line to clear the previously entered text
#HelperObject.ClearSolverOutputFile()
#Append some more text, note this automatically includes the new line code.
HelperObject.AppendToSolverOutputFile("My First Additional Line")
HelperObject.AppendToSolverOutputFile("My Second Additional Line")
runClassDemo_Helper()
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MeshData class
This class provides access to the mesh created for the analysis, including all elements and nodes, which
can be filtered or obtained as required.
Table 97: Members
Name
Type
Description
NodeCount
int
ElementCount
int
ElementById(int Id)
DAElement class
Obtains the DAElement class object with the given Id. Represents a single element in the Mesh.
Elements()
DAElement[]
class
Array of all DAElement class objects. representing all the elements in the mesh
NodeById(int Id)
DANode class
Obtains the DANode class object with the given Id. Represents
a single node in the Mesh
Nodes()
DANode[] class
DANode[] class
ElementsByIds(int[]
Ids)
DAElement[]
class
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
#we need to use arrays for the ElementsByIds and NodesByIds methods
from System import Array
def runClassDemo_MeshData():
MeshDataObject = DesignAssessment.MeshData #Get the MeshData object
#Output some data to the debug log file.
print "Number of Nodes = " + str(MeshDataObject.NodeCount)
print "Number of Elements = " + str(MeshDataObject.ElementCount)
#Loop around all element objects.
for ElementIterator in MeshDataObject.Elements():
print "ElementId = " + str(ElementIterator.Id)
#Three ways of getting elements.
#It can not be assumed that Element Ids start at 1 and are contiguous
Elements = MeshDataObject.Elements()
FirstElementId = Elements[0].Id
ByIdMethodElement = MeshDataObject.ElementById(FirstElementId)
# print true if they are the same Id.
print str(FirstElementId == ByIdMethodElement.Id)
# Create an Array so we can iterface with the .NET code
ElementIdArray = Array[int]([FirstElementId,MeshDataObject.Elements()[1].Id])
print ElementIdArray
#Pass the array into the ElementsById method.
ByIdArrayMethodElement = MeshDataObject.ElementsByIds(ElementIdArray)
# print true if they are the same Id.
print str(FirstElementId == ByIdArrayMethodElement[0].Id)
#Three ways of getting nodes.
#It can not be assumed that Node Ids start at 1 and are contiguous
Nodes = MeshDataObject.Nodes()
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DAElement class
This class represents an element on the mesh for this model, providing access to the element, its connectivity and, if it is a beam or tube, the associated section data.
Table 98: Members
Name
Type
Description
Description
string
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1237
Type
Description
EMagLine
EMagArc
EMagCircle
Surface
Edge
Beam
Special
CrossSectionData
SectionData class
NodeIds()
int[]
Nodes()
DANode[] class
Id
int
NodeCount
int
ElementThickness
double
ElementThicknessAtNode(NodeId) double
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Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_DAElement():
#Loop around all element objects.
for ElementIterator in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Elements():
#General info:
print "Element Description = " + ElementIterator.Description
print "Element Id = " + str(ElementIterator.Id)
# Information about the nodes of the element
print "Number of connected Nodes = " + str(ElementIterator.NodeCount)
NodeIdArray = ElementIterator.NodeIds()
print NodeIdArray
ConnectedNodeObjects = ElementIterator.Nodes()
#Cross Section Data is only available for beams.
#First test to see if it's a beam as they support it.
if 'Beam' in ElementIterator.Description:
XSectionDataObj = ElementIterator.CrossSectionData
#Element Thickness only applies to some elements, returns 0.0 if not supported.
print "Element Thickness = " + str(ElementIterator.ElementThickness)
ThicknessAtNode = ElementIterator.ElementThicknessAtNode(NodeIdArray[0])
print "Thickness at Node Id " + str(NodeIdArray[0]) + " = " + str(ThicknessAtNode)
runClassDemo_DAElement()
DANode class
This class represents a node on the mesh for this analysis. It can be used to find the coordinates of the
node and the elements that it is connected to.
Table 99: Members
Name
Type
Description
Id
int
double
double
double
ConnectedElementIds()
int[]
ConnectedElements()
DAElement[]
class
Array of DAElement class objects that represent the elements that this Node is connected to
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1239
Type
Description
ConnectedElementCount
int
IsOrientationNode
bool
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_DANode():
#Loop around all nodes.
for NodeIterator in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Nodes():
#General info:
print "Node Id = " + str(NodeIterator.Id)
print "Node X = " + str(NodeIterator.X)
print "Node Y = " + str(NodeIterator.Y)
print "Node Z = " + str(NodeIterator.Z)
print "Node only used for beam orientation? " + str(NodeIterator.IsOrientationNode)
# Information about the elements that connect to this node
print "Number of connected Elements = " + str(NodeIterator.ConnectedElementCount)
ElementIdArray = NodeIterator.ConnectedElementIds()
print "Connected Element Ids = " + str(ElementIdArray)
ConnectedElementObjects = NodeIterator.ConnectedElements()
runClassDemo_DANode()
SectionData class
This class provides Section Data properties for a beam based element in solver units as set in Analysis
settings. It can be accessed via DAElement.
Table 100: Members
Name
Type
Description
Description
string
TubeDiameter
double Returns the Diameter as double, only applicable to sections that are tubular
TubeThickness
double Returns the Thickness as double, only applicable to sections that are tubular
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Type
Description
BeamWebThickness
double Returns the WebThickness as double, only applicable to sections that are
beam based
BeamFlangeThickness
BeamFilletRadii
double Returns the FilletRadii as double, only applicable to sections that are beam
based
BeamHeight
double Returns the Height as double, only applicable to sections that are beam
based
BeamWidth
double Returns the Width as double, only applicable to sections that are beam
based
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_SectionData():
#Loop around all element data objects.
for ElementIterator in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Elements():
#Cross Section Data is only available for beams.
#First test to see if it's a beam as they support it.
if 'Beam' in ElementIterator.Description:
XSectionData = ElementIterator.CrossSectionData
print XSectionData.Description
if 'Tube' in XSectionData.Description:
print "Diameter = " + str(XSectionData.TubeDiameter)
print "Thickness = " + str(XSectionData.TubeThickness)
if 'Beam' in XSectionData.Description:
print "Web Thickness = " + str(XSectionData.BeamWebThickness)
print "Flange Thickness = " + str(XSectionData.BeamFlangeThickness)
print "Fillet Radii = " + str(XSectionData.BeamFilletRadii)
print "Height = " + str(XSectionData.BeamHeight)
print "Width = " + str(XSectionData.BeamWidth)
runClassDemo_SectionData()
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1241
AttributeGroup class
This class represents the Attribute Group entries in the tree view and provides access to the data entered.
This tree object is defined in the AttributeGroups section of the XML definition file.
Table 101: Members
Name
Type
Description
Attributes()
Attribute[]
class
Array of all the Attribute class objects held under this AttributeGroup
Attribute(int index)
Attribute class
An Attribute class object at the index as defined in the AttributeIDs field in the XML definition file. Index is zero based.
Attribute(string XMLName)
Attribute class
AttributeCount
int
TreeName
string
XmlType
string
XmlSubType
string
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_AttributeGroups():
#Loop around all attribute group objects.
for AGIterator in DesignAssessment.AttributeGroups():
#Attribute Group info
print "Name = " + AGIterator.TreeName
print "Type = " + AGIterator.XmlType
print "Subtype = " + AGIterator.XmlSubType
#Obtaining contained attributes
print "No of Attributes = " + str(AGIterator.AttributeCount)
Index = 0
for AttributeIterator in AGIterator.Attributes():
#Get the name of this attribute
AName = AttributeIterator.AttributeName
#Get the attribute, based on the index
AttributeMethod1 = AGIterator.Attribute(Index)
#Get the attribute, based on the Name, it's easier to look up by name.
AttributeMethod2 = AGIterator.Attribute(AName)
print "Attribute Name: " + AName
print "Check names are the same: " + str(AName == AttributeMethod1.AttributeName)
print "Are attrib. objects the same: " + str(AttributeMethod1 == AttributeMethod2)
#Add to the index (there are more concise ways of doing this in a loop)
Index = Index + 1
runClassDemo_AttributeGroups()
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Attribute class
This class provides access to the input provided for each attribute in the attribute group. The attributes
are defined in the Attributes section of the XML definition file.
Table 102: Members
Name
Type
Description
AttributeName
int
ValueAsInt
int
ValueAsDouble
double
Returns the value entered as a double. Accepted input is determined by the XML definition file.
ValueAsString
string
SelectedElementCount
int
SelectedElements()
DAElement[]
class
SelectedNodeCount
int
SelectedNodes()
DANode[] class
Note
The functions SelectedNodes and SelectedElements will return None if no geometry is specified. These functions, plus the SelectedNodeCount and SelectedElementCount are only
valid if the <Application> field in the attributes section of the XML definition file is used to
enable geometry selection.
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_Attributes():
#Loop around all attribute group objects
for AGIterator in DesignAssessment.AttributeGroups():
for AttributeIterator in AGIterator.Attributes():
#Get info about the attribute
print "Attribute Name = " + AttributeIterator.AttributeName
print "Value via ValueAsInt = " + str(AttributeIterator.ValueAsInt)
print "Value via ValueAsDouble = " + str(AttributeIterator.ValueAsDouble)
print "Value via ValueAsString = " + AttributeIterator.ValueAsString
print "No Elements in Selection = " + str(AttributeIterator.SelectedElementCount)
print "1st Element in Selection = " + str(AttributeIterator.SelectedElements()[0])
print "No of Nodes in Selection = " + str(AttributeIterator.SelectedNodeCount)
print "First Node in Selection = " + str(AttributeIterator.SelectedNodes()[0])
runClassDemo_Attributes()
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1243
SolutionSelection class
This class represents the Solution Selection object in the tree view and provides access to the Solutions
entered in the Worksheet view. Each solution represents an upstream analysis.
Table 103: Members
Name
Type
Description
Solutions()
Solution[]
class
Array of all the Solution class objects held under this Solution
Selection, each being a row of the table.
SolutionByRow(int
row)
Solution class
SolutionCount
int
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_SolutionSelection():
#Loop around all solution selection objects (NB only 1 currently supported)
for SolutionSelectionIterator in DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections():
print "No of Solutions in selection = " + str(SolutionSelectionIterator.SolutionCount)
print "1st row in Solseln = " + str(SolutionSelectionIterator.SolutionByRow(1).Id)
for SolutionIterator in SolutionSelectionIterator.Solutions():
print "Id for solution = " + str(SolutionIterator.Id)
runClassDemo_SolutionSelection()
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Solution class
This class represents a row in the Worksheet of the Solution Selection tree object.
Table 104: Members
Name
Type
Description
AdditionalSolutionData()
string[]
AdditionalSolutionDataByColumn(int Column)
string
AdditionalSolutionDataCount
int
Id
int
The unique Id number for the solution. Solution Ids do not change
once the solution is created.
Type
string
CreateSolutionResult()
SolutionResult class
CreateSolutionResult(string
Name)
SolutionResult class
CreateSolutionResult(string
Name, string Expression, string
ResultType)
SolutionResult class
Create a new result of the given Name, Expression and ResultType based on this analysis
system. Returns the created
object.
ResultType string should be set
to one of the values listed for
DisplayUnits keyword in the
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Type
Description
DAResult section of the XML
definition file.
CreateSolutionResultSets(int
NumSets)
SolutionResult[] class
CreateSolutionResultSets(int
NumSets, string Name)
SolutionResult[] class
CreateSolutionResultSets(int
NumSets, string Name, string
Expression, string ResultType)
SolutionResult[] class
ClearSolutionResultSets()
void
SolutionResults()
SolutionResult[] class
SolutionResults(string Name)
SolutionResult[] class
Units
string
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Type
Description
NMM
LBFT
LBIN
UMKS
MKS
No Units System
ResultFilePath
string
Time
double
Freq
double
Coefficient
double
Phase
double
Mode
int
StepStartTime
double
StepEndTime
double
StepMinFrequency
double
Gets the value of the minimum frequency that has been entered by
the user in the Solution Selection
table, if applicable.
StepMaxFrequency
double
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Type
Description
StepCount
int
SubstepCount
int
Steps()
Int[]
Substeps()
Int[]
TimePoints()
Double[]
MultipleSets
bool
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_Solution2():
#Get all results called bob and set the expression to SX.
AllBobs = DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections()[0].SolutionByRow(1).SolutionResults("Bob")
for BobResultIter in AllBobs:
print "Bob found at " + str(BobResultIter)
BobResultIter.Expression = "SX"
def runClassDemo_Solution():
#Get the first entered upstream solution.
UpstreamSoln = DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections()[0].SolutionByRow(1)
#Get properties that identify this solution.
print "Id = " + str(UpstreamSoln.Id)
print "Type = " + str(UpstreamSoln.Type)
#Get properties defined for this entry in the solution selection worksheet
print "Time = " + str(UpstreamSoln.Time)
print "Frequency = " + str(UpstreamSoln.Frequency)
print "Phase = " + str(UpstreamSoln.Phase)
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SolutionResult class
This class holds the solution result data that can be accessed, directly related to the solution. The solution
result class will be initialized with the unit system specified for the Design Assessment analysis. Only
when a valid unit system and type are set will results obtained be converted correctly to the expected
result units.
Results are organized in sets; each set contains the results at a given time, frequency, etc. depending
upon the analysis type. It is more efficient to get all the required results at a given set, before changing
sets. For convenience the set can be identified automatically by defining a time or frequency. If the
value is not exact then the results will be interpolated from the adjacent values.
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Note
DefineCoordinateSystem and CoordinateSystem are mutually exclusive; if both are used, the
last one defined takes precedence.
Table 105: Members
Name
Type
Description
Name
string
double[]
ElementalValues(int ElementId)
double[]
NodalValues(int NodeId)
double[]
DisplayStyle
string
DisplayType
string
ComponentCount
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int
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Type
Description
Note: the returned value is dependent on
provided Expression and IntegrationMethod, so these should be called beforehand.
ResultSetCount
int
Expression
string
CoordinateSystem
string
Sets the coordinate system type by assigning a string. Valid inputs are either the
name of a user coordinate system in the
Mechanical application or one of the following:
Global (default)
Solution
The solution coordinate system is generally
associated with beam based results.
DefineCoordinateSystem(string
Axes, double Axis1X, double Axis1Y, double Axis1Z, double Axis2X, double Axis2Y, double Axis2Z, double OriginX, double OriginY, double OriginZ)
void
Defines a custom coordinate system orientation matrix to obtain results in. Use as an
alternative to CoordinateSystem to enable
an axis to be defined directly in the python
code. Axes is one of the following strings
used to define what two axes of the orientation matrix are being entered, the third
axis is calculated automatically.
XY
YZ
ZX
void
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Type
Description
LBIN: i.e. US Customary (in, lbm, lbf, s, V,
A)
Options for RotationUnit are:
Degrees
Radians (Default)
Options for TemperatureUnit are:
Kelvin
Celsius (Default for metric systems)
For US Customary, Fahrenheit is always
used and the entered value is ignored.
ResultType
string
IntegrationMethod
string
ResultSet
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int
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Type
Description
Spectrum, and Response Spectrum analyses.
Assigning 0 will obtain data from the last
result set in the analysis.
Default is based on the entry in the Solution Selection table.
ResultTimeFrequency
double
ShellLayer
int
ShellFaceResultDisplay
string
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Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_SolutionResult():
#Create a scripted, user defined, result
MyRes = DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections()[0].SolutionByRow(1).CreateSolutionResult()
#Define what result we're obtaining.
MyRes.Expression = "UX"
#You can specify the solution or Global system..
MyRes.CoordinateSystem = "Solution"
#Alternatively, define a coordinate system directly.
#The last CS defined takes precidence.
#MyRes.DefineCoordinateSystem("ZX",1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0)
#Define the units sytem and the units type to convert the results.
#MyRes.SetUnitsSystem("UMKS","Radians","Celsius","Distance")
#Define the method of integrating the results, this can affect the result type.
#MyRes.IntegrationMethod = "UnAveraged"
#Set the time or set for the results that we want to obtain,
#last one defined takes precidence.
MyRes.ResultSet = 0
MyRes.ResultTimeFrequency = 0
#Get some info about this result
DS = MyRes.DisplayStyle
print DS
DT = MyRes.DisplayType
print DT
NC = MyRes.ComponentCount
print NC
NRS = MyRes.ResultSetCount
print NRS
#Loop around all elements objects.
for ElementIter in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Elements():
print "Element Values = " + str(MyRes.ElementalValues(ElementIter.Id))
for NodeIter in ElementIter.Nodes():
Values = str(MyRes.ElementNodalValues(ElementIter.Id,NodeIter.Id))
print "Element Nodal Result Values = " + Values
#Loop around all node objects.
for NodeIterator in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Nodes():
print "Node Result Values = " + str(MyRes.NodalValues(NodeIterator.Id))
runClassDemo_Solution()
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DAResult class
This class provides access to the results objects, and enables the user to set the results that are to be
displayed when the result object is selected. The DAResult is defined in the DAResults section of the
XML definition file.
Table 106: Members
Name
Type
Description
TreeName
string
XmlType
string
Returns the text string of the Type of this result instance; the Type is set in the user interface by a drop
down list (as defined in the XML definition file)
XmlSubType
string
DAResultSetCount
int
CreateDAResultSet()
DAResultSet
class
Creates a new result set and returns it so that values can be defined within it
DisplayStyle and DisplayType will be read from
values in the XML definition file, or if multiple
DAResultSets are created, theyll be read from the
first set.
CreateDAResultSet(string
DisplayStyle, string DisplayType)
DAResultSet
class
Creates a new result set and returns it so that values can be defined within it
overrides the DisplayStyle entered in the XML
definition file for this result group. However, unlike
the XML definition file setting, defining it here
does not enable the option to choose the component in the user interface of the DA Result object.
However, this option can be used to force the
display to show either a Vector or Tensor result; 3
or 6 component values should be defined accordingly.
DisplayStyle strings should be set to one of the
values listed for the DisplayStyle keyword in the
DAResult section of the XML definition file.
DisplayType overrides the DisplayType entered in
the XML definition file, and should be a valid DisplayType keyword in the DAResult section of the
XML definition file.
DAResultSets()
DAResultSet[]
class
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1255
Type
Description
AttributeCount()
int
Attributes()
Attribute[] class
Attribute(string XMLName)
Attribute class
Attribute(int index)
Attribute class
DisplayStyle
string
Gets the type of display, as defined in the XML definition file, or as defined when creating a result set; Scalar,
Vector, Tensor, or StrainTensor.
DisplayType
string
Gets the type of display, as defined in the XML definition file or as defined when creating a result set; Elemental, Nodal, or ElementNodal.
DisplayUnits
string
IsUpToDate
bool
Note
A DAResult that is currently Up To Date is in a read-only state, and therefore its properties
and results can not be modified. In order to modify the DAResult, you will need to clear it
via the User Interface before solving or evaluating.
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_DAResult():
for DAResultIter in DesignAssessment.DAResults():
#General info:
print "Name = " + DAResultIter.TreeName
print "XmlType = " + DAResultIter.XmlType
print "XmlSubType = " + DAResultIter.XmlSubType
#Show and modify display options.
print "Initial DisplayType = " + DAResultIter.DisplayType
print "Initial DisplayStyle = " + DAResultIter.DisplayStyle
print "Initial DisplayUnits = " + DAResultIter.DisplayUnits
DAResultIter.DisplayUnits = "Stress"
print "New DisplayUnits = " + DAResultIter.DisplayUnits
#Attribute access:
print "Number of Attributes = " + str(DAResultIter.AttributeCount)
myAttribute = DAResultIter.Attribute(0)
myAttributeByName = DAResultIter.Attribute("Mathematical Operator")
print "Are they the same? = " + str(myAttribute == myAttributeByName)
print "All attributes = " + str(DAResultIter.Attributes())
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NewSet = DAResultIter.CreateDAResultSet()
GetSet = DAResultIter.DAResultSet(1)
print "Are they the same object? = " + str(NewSet == GetSet)
print "Number of Result Sets = " + str(DAResultIter.DAResultSetCount)
print "Result Sets = " + str(DAResultIter.DAResultSets())
runClassDemo_DAResult()
DAResultSet class
This class provides the ability to set result values ready for displaying at the appropriate solution step.
The object stores 3 types of result values:
Elemental results are for when only a single value is to be displayed for each element.
ElementNodal results are for when an element has different results at each node, but the result belongs
to the element, hence there can be multiple results at a given node.
Nodal results have a value at each node.
A DAResultSet is equivalent to a DAResult substep. The SubstepValue parameter enables multiple results
to be calculated and displayed for a DAResult.
Only results that are appropriate for the display type set in the XML definition file should be added to
the object; otherwise an exception will be generated.
Depending upon the display style set in the XML definition file the result can have a 1, 3 or 6 components,
i.e. scalar, vector or tensor. The component input required is 1 based, i.e. use 1 in the case of scalar.
Setting any value to the capacity of a double (1.79769e+308) will result in the element being displayed
in a translucent manner. This is the default if a value is not defined for a particular element.
Table 107: Members
Name
Type
Description
void
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Type
Description
void
GetElementalValues(int ElementId)
double
[]
void
double
void
void
double
void
GetNodalValues(int NodeId)
SubstepValue
double
Example Usage
The following example can be used as a basis of either the solve or evaluate script.
def runClassDemo_DAResultSet():
for DAResultIter in DesignAssessment.DAResults():
#Create Result Set:
Res = DesignAssessment.SolutionSelections()[0].SolutionByRow(1).CreateSolutionResult()
#Set the expression and integration method, result info is dependant on these
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It is recommended that the files for this example are to be placed in a folder called DA MAPDL Example
within your ANSYS Inc folder. If you choose not to use this folder, the paths used in the XML definition
file to locate the python scripts will need to be modified.
MAPDL.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DARoot ObjId ="1" Type="CAERep" Ver="2">
<Attributes ObjId="2" Type="CAERepBase" Ver="2">
<DAAttribute ObjId="100" Type="DAAttribute" Ver="2">
<AttributeName PropType="string">MAPDL Macro File</AttributeName>
<AttributeType PropType="string">Browse</AttributeType>
<Application PropType="string">All</Application>
<Validation PropType="vector<string>">256</Validation>
<Default PropType="string"></Default>
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In the DAScripts section we set the path to the scripts to be run on Solve and on Evaluate. In this case
we use the %DAPROGFILES% option to direct the program to the Program Files folder, wherever its
defined locally. The scripts in this case are called MAPDL_S.py and MAPDL_E.py. We want to permit
Design Assessment results and prevent combination results
In the Results section, we define a single DAResult object. As we have only one, the GroupType and
GroupSubtype fields are effectively redundant, but ought to be entered.
Allow the users to browse to the Macro file, Attribute Id = 110000:
Type = Select Result Column
SubType = Number Input
Include Attribute with Id = 101
DisplayType is set to show results per element
DisplayStyle is set to show a single, scalar, result
There are no units associated to this result, well set this in the python script
This becomes the following object in the Mechanical application:
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Alternatively, if the CSV file was always of this NodeId, X, Y, Z format, and given that this is converted
into a dictionary of arrays using the Node Id as the key, then the SetNodalValues function could be used
instead:
DAResultSet = DAResult.CreateDAResultSet("Vector","Nodal")
#2a - For each element set the value.
for Node in DA.MeshData.Nodes():
DAResultSet.SetNodalValues(Node.Id,IDToDataDict[Node.Id])
And to group the 3 material constants together we have an Attribute Group. Defining these in the Attribute Group means that the values can be parameterized if required. This enables a range of coefficients
and associative results obtained by running Design Explorer.
<AttributeGroups ObjId ="3" Type="CAERepBase" Ver="2">
<DAAttributeGroup ObjId="100000" Type="DAAttributeGroup" Ver="2">
<GroupType PropType="string">ASME VIII Division 3 High Pressure Vessels</GroupType>
<GroupSubtype PropType="string">Material Constants</GroupSubtype>
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The solve and evaluate files are to reside in the user files folder so that they can be easily distributed
with the project. All of the processing is to be performed during the evaluate script, so no intermediary
files are created to pass data from the solve process to the evaluate process. Combination results are
not required and we have no additional system based selection data to define.
<DAScripts ObjId="4" Type="DAScripts" Ver="2">
<Solve PropType="string">%DAUSERFILES%\DA-AFT-012_m1-S_empty.py</Solve>
<Evaluate PropType="string">%DAUSERFILES%\DA-AFT-012_m1-E_v3_ST.py</Evaluate>
<DAData PropType="int">1</DAData>
<CombResults PropType="int">0</CombResults>
</DAScripts>
In the final section, 3 types of DAResults are defined based on the following equations:
X - Based on 3 entered constants, plus principal and Von Mises stress
+ +
= +
(56)
(57)
Damage Sum - Accumulative damage; i.e. sum of current and previous Damage values for each result
set.
The results section of the XML definition file appears as follows:
<Results ObjId="5" Type="CAERepBase" Ver="2">
<DAResult ObjId="100001" Type="DAResult" Ver="3">
<GroupType PropType="string">ASME VIII Division 3 High Pressure Vessels</GroupType>
<GroupSubtype PropType="string">Value X</GroupSubtype>
<AttributeIDs PropType="vector<unsigned int>">110</AttributeIDs>
<DisplayType PropType="string">ElementNodal</DisplayType>
<DisplayStyle PropType="string">Scalar</DisplayStyle>
<DisplayUnits PropType="string">Stress</DisplayUnits>
</DAResult>
<DAResult ObjId="100002" Type="DAResult" Ver="3">
<GroupType PropType="string">ASME VIII Division 3 High Pressure Vessels</GroupType>
<GroupSubtype PropType="string">Damage</GroupSubtype>
<AttributeIDs PropType="vector<unsigned int>">110</AttributeIDs>
<DisplayType PropType="string">ElementNodal</DisplayType>
<DisplayStyle PropType="string">Scalar</DisplayStyle>
<DisplayUnits PropType="string">No Units</DisplayUnits>
</DAResult>
<DAResult ObjId="100003" Type="DAResult" Ver="3">
<GroupType PropType="string">ASME VIII Division 3 High Pressure Vessels</GroupType>
<GroupSubtype PropType="string">Culmative Damage</GroupSubtype>
<AttributeIDs PropType="vector<unsigned int>"></AttributeIDs>
<DisplayType PropType="string">ElementNodal</DisplayType>
<DisplayStyle PropType="string">Scalar</DisplayStyle>
<DisplayUnits PropType="string">No Units</DisplayUnits>
</DAResult>
</Results>
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EvaluateAllResults
After defining a dictionary to store the element nodal based results, this function creates a new result
with part of the required equation and then defines which set to obtain the results from. Then, looping
through each element and its nodes, it calculates the part of the equation that is not possible with the
standard Mechanical equations and assigns it into the dictionary for the given node and element Id.
def EvaluateValueX(Set, Const1, Const2, Const3):
XValues = {} #key = element node id tuple, #data = values array.
SolRes = UpstreamSolution.CreateSolutionResult("",str(Const2/(1+Const3))+"*((((s1+s2+s3)/(3*seqv))-\
(1/3)))","Stress")
SolRes.ResultSet = Set
for Element in DA.MeshData.Elements():
for Node in Element.Nodes():
SolResValue = SolRes.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id,Node.Id)
XValue = Const1 * math.exp(SolResValue[0])
XValues[Element.Id,Node.Id] = XValue
return XValues
EvaluateDamage
This routine calls the EvaluateValueX function to obtain the X Values then creates 2 solution results
for the plastic strain results for this and, if one exists, the previous set. A dictionary is created for the
element nodal results being generated and this is populated by performing the required calculation.
def EvaluateDamage(Set, Const1, Const2, Const3):
XValues = EvaluateValueX(Set, Const1, Const2, Const3)
StrainRes = UpstreamSolution.CreateSolutionResult("","EPPLEQV_RST","Strain")
StrainRes.ResultSet = Set
PrevStrainRes = UpstreamSolution.CreateSolutionResult("","EPPLEQV_RST","Strain")
if (Set >= 2):
PrevStrainRes.ResultSet = Set - 1
DamageValues = {}
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EvaluateCulmativeDamage
This routine creates a dummy result to obtain the number of result sets. Then, for each set, calls the
EvaluateDamage function summing the results into a dictionary of element nodal results called CulmativeDamage.
def EvaluateCulmativeDamage(Const1, Const2, Const3):
DummyRes = UpstreamSolution.CreateSolutionResult("","EPPLEQV_RST","Strain")
CulmativeDamage = {}
for Set in range(DummyRes.ResultSetCount):
DamageValues = EvaluateDamage(Set,Const1, Const2, Const3)
if (Set > 1):
for Element in DA.MeshData.Elements():
for Node in Element.Nodes():
CulmativeDamage[Element.Id,Node.Id] = CulmativeDamage[Element.Id,Node.Id] +\
DamageValues[Element.Id,Node.Id]
else:
CulmativeDamage = DamageValues
return CulmativeDamage
Plot
This routine creates a new result for this DAResult object and then loops over each element and node
setting the value obtained from the passed in dictionary.
def Plot(DAResult, ValuesDictionary):
ResultSet = DAResult.CreateDAResultSet()
for Element in DA.MeshData.Elements():
for Node in Element.Nodes():
Value = ValuesDictionary[Element.Id,Node.Id]
ResultSet.SetElementNodalValue(Element.Id,Node.Id,1,Value)
When the script is run, a contour plot is generated for each DA Result.
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It is recommended that the files for this example are to be placed in your user_files folder.
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Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
Dependant
MAPDLKeys can then be accessed like a regular array; i.e. MAPDLKeys[0] will return fail or FCMX
appropriately.
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Note
This method is currently limited to cases where there is no change in mesh topology between
the start of both the explicit and implicit analyses.
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1281
*GET,
*GET,
*GET,
N, 2,
*GET,
*GET,
*GET,
N, 3,
These commands obtain the original location of the nodes from the mesh of the implicit analysis, add
the deformation of those nodes from the end of the explicit analysis, and redefine the position of the
nodes to the new location. Please refer to the Mechanical APDL Command Reference for more information
on the specific Mechanical APDL commands.
It is now necessary to write Mechanical APDL commands to initialize the model with the stresses and
plastic strains from the end of the explicit analysis. The Mechanical APDL command used for this is
INISTATE.
Solution results are created for each of the results that are of interest. The integration method is set to
unaveraged because the result for the element is required, as opposed to the result at the node. Using
an unaveraged integration method means that all of the nodes on one element have the same value.
It is therefore only necessary to get the value at one of the nodes. Element.Nodes()[0].Id gets the Node
ID of the first node in the array of nodes for the current element. The results are then obtained for this
node.
#stress components
SX = UpstreamSolution.CreateSolutionResult("","SX","No Units")
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SET, DTYP,
DEFINE, 1,
SET, DTYP,
DEFINE, 2,
SET, DTYP,
DEFINE, 3,
STRESS
all,all,all,77669520.0,-108961984.0,8667132.0,-127329504.0,40947276.0,-21408484.0
STRESS
all,all,all,73086624.0,-54661364.0, 2108868.5,-50930028.0,-2542906.5,-13913089.0
STRESS
all,all,all, 57340700.0, -85816616.0, -16383176.0, -96323688.0, 0.0, 0.0
For shells, the layers and integration points within layers have to also be considered. These are also
defined as parameters of the INISTATE command. In the Design Assessment script, you must specify
which integration point within the layer to obtain results for. This is done as follows:
SX.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
SY.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
SZ.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
SXY.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
SYZ.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
SXZ.ShellFaceResultDisplay = "Top"
for Element in DesignAssessment.MeshData.Elements():
FirstNodeId = Element.Nodes()[0].Id
Text = "INISTATE, SET, DTYP, STRESS\nINISTATE, DEFINE, " + str(Element.Id) + ", all,all,3, " \
+ str(SX.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0]) + ", " \
+ str(SY.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0]) + ", " \
+ str(SZ.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0]) + ", " \
+ str(SXY.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0])+ ", " \
+ str(SYZ.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0])+ ", " \
+ str(SXZ.ElementNodalValues(Element.Id, FirstNodeId)[0])
DesignAssessment.Helper.AppendToSolverOutputFile(Text)
This obtains results from the explicit analysis on the top surface of the layer. When writing the Mechanical APDL commands, the layers are counted from the bottom, so here we specify layer 3 as we are
defining the values for the top layer.
The same thing is done for plastic strain and accumulated equivalent plastic strain. The full Solve script
for Solids is included as a reference below:
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+
"
"
"
"
"
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Productivity Tools
The Mechanical application includes several features designed to help you create, navigate, and manage
data in complex databases where a large number of objects are present. These features include tags,
tree filtering, and the object generator.
This section examines the following topics:
Generating Multiple Objects from a Template Object (p. 1287)
Tagging Objects (p. 1292)
Filtering the Tree (p. 9)
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Productivity Tools
You can use the object generator to generate the other bolt connections.
Generating an Object
To use the Object Generator:
1.
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In the standard toolbar, click the View Object Generator button to view the Object Generator window.
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In the Tree Outline, select the tree object to be copied. Define any details you want included in the
generated objects.
3.
In the Geometry window, select the geometry to which the tree object should be copied in the Object
Generator window.
4.
Description
Scope to
Connection
objects
Note
If none of the selected topologies are adjacent, then both
options will work in a similar
manner.
Ignore Original
All
Name Prefix
All
Apply Tag
All
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Productivity Tools
Option Name
Description
field. Tags can be used to filter your tree. For
more information on tags, see Tagging Objects (p. 1292).
Relocate
1290
When relocation
is possible, applies to:
General objects
supporting one
geometry selection
Connection objects
Generate from
Reference
Springs
Select the named selection to use as the Reference side of the connection. You specify the
other side using the Mobile option, then specify the lower and upper boundaries of the
distance between sides to generate connections.
Mobile
Springs
Select the named selection to use as the Mobile side of the connection. You specify the
other side using the Reference option, then
specify the lower and upper boundaries of the
distance between sides to generate connections.
Master
Mesh connections
Slave
Mesh connections
Contact
Contacts
Select the named selection to use as the contact side of the connection. You specify the
other side using the Target option, then specify the lower and upper boundaries of the
distance between sides to generate connections.
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Description
Target
Contacts
Minimum
Connection objects
Maximum
Connection objects
Edges
End releases
Vertices
End releases
Source
Target
Select the named selection to use as the Target. Target appears in the Object Generator
window for the Sweep mesh method only.
Specifying a Target is optional. You specify the
source using the Source option.
High
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Productivity Tools
5.
Option Name
Description
Low
Boundary
Click Generate to copy the selected tree object to the selected geometry.
Tagging Objects
For complex models, it may be difficult to keep track of all of the objects in your tree. With tags, you
can mark objects in the tree with meaningful labels, which can then be used to filter the tree. For more
information on filtering, see Filtering the Tree (p. 9).
Tags are managed through the Tags window. To view this window, click the Tags button in the
Graphics toolbar.
This section covers the following:
Creating Tags
Applying Tags to Objects
Deleting a Tag
Renaming a Tag
Highlighting Tagged Tree Objects
Creating Tags
To create a tag and apply it to the currently-selected tree object:
1.
2.
3.
2.
In the Tags window, select the check box for all tags you want to add to that object.
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Tagging Objects
You can now use these tags to filter the tree. For more information on filtering the tree, see Filtering
the Tree (p. 9).
Deleting a Tag
To remove a tag:
1.
2.
Click the Delete Tag(s) icon, or right-click the Tags window and select Delete Tag(s) .
Renaming a Tag
To rename a tag:
1.
2.
3.
2.
Right-click the Tags window and select one of the following options:
Find items with selected tag: Available when only one tag is selected, this option highlights all tree
objects with the selected tag.
Find items with all selected tags: Available when multiple tags are selected, this option highlights
all items that contain every one of the selected tags.
Find items with any selected tags: Available when multiple tags are selected, this option highlights
all items that contain one of the selected tags.
Tree objects matching the selected number of tags are highlighted.
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Note
Certain types of objects do not appear in the tree but are still represented on their own
pages in this reference. These include Virtual Cell objects, Virtual Hard Vertex objects,
Virtual Split Edge objects, and Virtual Split Face objects. When these types of objects are
created, they are saved in the database and have editable properties similar to other objects.
For details, refer to the individual reference pages for these objects.
A complete alphabetical listing of Mechanical objects reference pages is included below. To determine
the reference page for an object in a group, consult the group page whose title matches the object,
and check the entry: Applies to the following objects.
The following is a description of each component of a Mechanical object reference page:
Title - For individual object reference pages, the title is the default name of the object as it appears in
the tree. For group reference pages, the title is a name given to the collection of objects represented.
Object definition - A brief description of the individual object or group of objects.
Applies to the following objects - Appears only on group reference pages and includes the default name
of all objects represented on the group reference page.
Tree dependencies - The valid location of the object or group of objects in the tree (Valid Parent Tree
Object), as well as other possible objects that you can insert beneath the object or group of objects
(Valid Child Tree Objects).
Insertion options - Procedure for inserting the object (individual or one in the group) in the tree. Typically
this procedure includes inserting the object from a context toolbar button or through a context menu
option when you click the right mouse button with the cursor on the object.
Additional related information - a listing of topics related to the object or object group that are in the
help. Included are links to those topics.
Tree location graphic - an indication of where the object or group of objects appears in the tree.
Object Properties - a listing of every setting or indication available in the Details view (located directly
beneath the object tree) for the object. Included are links to more detailed information on an item within
the help.
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Objects Reference
Relevant right mouse button context menu options - a listing of options directly relevant to the objects
that are available in the context menu through a right mouse click on the object. Included are links to
more detailed information on an item within the help. The options listed are in addition to options that
are common to most of the objects (such as Solve, Copy, Cut, Duplicate, and Delete).
The objects reference is not intended to be your primary source of procedural information for performing
simulations -- see the "Steps for Using the Mechanical Application" section for introductory and procedural guidelines concerning when and where to use Mechanical objects.
Page Listings
The following is an alphabetical listing of object reference pages:
Alert
Analysis Settings
Angular Velocity
Beam
Body
Body Interactions
Body Interaction
Chart
Commands
Comment
Connections
Connection Group
Construction Geometry
Contact Debonding
Contact Region
Contact Tool (Group)
Convergence
Coordinate System
Coordinate Systems
Crack
Direct FE (Group)
End Release
Environment (Group)
Fatigue Tool (Group)
Figure
Fluid Surface
Fracture
Gasket Mesh Control
Geometry
Global Coordinate System
Image
Imported Layered Section
Imported Load (Group)
Imported Remote Loads
Imported Thickness
Imported Thickness (Group)
Initial Conditions
Initial Temperature
Interface Delamination
Joint
Layered Section
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Alert
Loads, Supports, and Conditions (Group)
Mesh
Mesh Connection
Mesh Control Tools (Group)
Mesh Group (Group)
Mesh Grouping
Mesh Numbering
Modal
Model
Named Selections
Numbering Control
Part
Path
Periodic/Cyclic Region
Point Mass
Pre-Meshed Crack
Pre-Stress
Probe
Project
Remote Point
Remote Points
Result Tracker
Results and Result Tools (Group)
Solution
Solution Combination
Solution Information
Spot Weld
Spring
Stress Tool (Group)
Surface
Symmetry
Symmetry Region
Thermal Point Mass
Thickness
Validation
Velocity
Virtual Body
Virtual Body Group
Virtual Cell
Virtual Hard Vertex
Virtual Split Edge
Virtual Split Face
Virtual Topology
Alert
Sets pass or fail thresholds for individual results. When a threshold is exceeded, the status symbol
changes in front of the associated result object. The status is also displayed in the Details view of the
Alert object. Alerts facilitate the presentation of comparisons in automatic reports.
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1297
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: All result objects (independent, or under result tools), except Damage
Matrix, Fatigue Sensitivity, Hysteresis, Phase
Response, Probe, Rainflow Matrix, Reactions,
Status, Vector Principal Elastic Strain, Vector
Principal Stress.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment
Insertion Options: Click right mouse button on
a result object or in the Geometry window after
you select the result object, and then> Insert>
Alert.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Results
Status - Read-only indication of the pass/fail status; also includes criterion (for
example: Passed: Minimum Above Value).
Analysis Settings
Allows you to define various solution settings that are customized to specific analysis types.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Any environment object.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default when you create an analysis
system.
Additional Related Information:
Establish Analysis Settings (p. 134)
"Configuring Analysis Settings" (p. 635)
Object Properties
For more information on this object's properties, see the Analysis Settings for Most Analysis Types (p. 635)
section.
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Angular Velocity
Angular Velocity
Applies angular velocity as an initial condition for use in an explicit dynamics analysis.
Note
For explicit dynamics analyses, the center of rotation for an angular velocity is defined by the
origin of the coordinate system associated with the angular velocity.
Angular Velocity initial conditions are not supported for 2D axisymmetric Explicit Dynamics
analyses.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Initial Conditions
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Initial Conditions object:
Click Angular Velocity button on Initial Conditions
context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Initial Conditions object
or in the Geometry window>Insert>Angular Velocity.
Additional Related Information:
Define Initial Conditions
Explicit Dynamics Analysis
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry
Selection. In this case, use selection filters to pick geometry,
click in the Geometry field, then click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to
Named Selection.
Definition
1299
Objects Reference
Category
Fields
Total - magnitude; appears if Define By is set to Vector.
Direction- appears if Define By is set to Vector.
Coordinate System available list; appears if Define By is
set to Components.
X, Y, Z Component values; appears if Define By is set to
Components.
Suppressed
Beam
A beam is a structural element that carries load primarily in bending.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Connections object:
Click Body-Ground> Beam or Body-Body> Beam, as applicable on Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object or in the Geometry window> Insert> Beam.
Additional Related Information:
Connections Context Toolbar
Beam Connections (p. 614)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency - similar behavior to feature in Contact Region.
Rename Based on Definition - similar behavior to feature in Results.
Promote Remote Point (when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment).
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics
Properties
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Beam
Definition
The following properties are available when the Scope property is set to BodyBody:
Scoping Method - specify as Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point.
Applied By - specify as Remote Attachment (default) or Direct Attachment.
The default for this property can differ if you first select geometry or a mesh
node.
Scope - displays when the Scoping Method property is set to Geometry Selection. Once a geometry is selected, click in the Scope field and then click Apply.
Reference Component - displays when the Scoping Method property is set
to Named Selection. This property provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Named Selections.
Remote Points - displays when the Scoping Method property is set to Remote
Point. This property provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Remote
Points.
Body - a read-only indication of scoped geometry. Displays for BodyBody scoping.
The following properties display for either Body-Body or Body-Ground scoping
when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment.
Coordinate System
Reference X Coordinate
Reference Y Coordinate
Reference Z Coordinate
Reference Location
Behavior - specify the scoped geometry as either Rigid or Deformable.
Pinball Region
Mobile - information on
springs also
applies to
beams.
The following properties are available when the Scope property is set to BodyBody:
Scoping Method - specify as Geometry Selection, Named Selection, or Remote
Point.
Applied By - specify as Remote Attachment (default) or Direct Attachment.
The default for this property can differ if you first select geometry or a mesh
node.
Scope - displays when the Scoping Method property is set to Geometry Selection. Once a geometry is selected, click in the Scope field and then click Apply.
Reference Component - displays when the Scoping Method property is set
to Named Selection. This property provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Named Selections.
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1301
Objects Reference
Remote Points - displays when the Scoping Method property is set to Remote
Point. This property provides a drop-down list of available userdefined Remote
Points.
Body - a read-only indication of scoped geometry. Displays for BodyBody scoping.
Behavior - specify the scoped geometry as either Rigid or Deformable.
Pinball Region
The following properties display for either Body-Body or Body-Ground scoping
when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment.
Coordinate System
Mobile X Coordinate
Mobile Y Coordinate
Mobile Z Coordinate
Mobile Location
Body
Defines a component of the attached geometry included under a Geometry object, or under a Part
object if considered a multibody part (shown in the figure below).
Also see the description of the Virtual Body (p. 1405) object (applicable to assembly meshing algorithms
only).
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry or Part (if
under a multibody part)
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure, Gasket Mesh Control, Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default when
geometry is attached.
Additional Related Information:
Define Part Behavior (p. 129)
"Specifying Geometry in the Mechanical Application" (p. 371)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Create Selection Group
Generate Mesh
Preview> Surface Mesh - appears only for a solid body.
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Body
Preview> Inflation
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics
Properties
Definition
Suppressed
Stiffness Behavior - appears only for a single solid body that is not a component of a multibody part
Brick Integration Scheme - appears only if Element Control is set to
Manual in the Details view of the Geometry object; not available if Stiffness
Behavior is set to Rigid
Coordinate System - assign a local coordinate system to specify the alignment of the elements of the body if previously defined using one or more
Coordinate System objects; not available if Stiffness Behavior is set to Rigid
Reference Temperature
Reference Temperature Value - available only when you select By Body
as the Reference Temperature
Reference Frame - appears only for solid bodies when an Explicit Dynamics
system is part of the solution
Thickness - appears only for a surface body
Thickness Mode - appears only for a surface body; read-only indication
Offset Mode - appears only for a line body
Offset Type - appears only for a line body
Model Type - appears only for a line body
Material
Assignment
Nonlinear Effects - not available if Stiffness Behavior is set to Rigid.
Thermal Strain Effects
Fluid/Solid - available only in the Meshing application (i.e., not available if
you are using the meshing capabilities from within the Mechanical application). Useful in assembly meshing. Allows you to control the physics that
occur on a model. Valid options are Fluid, Solid, and Defined By Geometry.
When set to Defined By Geometry, the value is based on the Fluid/Solid
material property that was assigned to the body in the DesignModeler application.
Bounding
Box
Length X
Length Y
Length Z
Properties Indications
of the prop-
Volume
Mass
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1303
Objects Reference
erties originally assigned
to the body.
Note
If the material density is temperature dependent, the Mass will be
computed at the body temperature, or at 22oC (default temperature
for an environment).
The following appear for all bodies except line bodies:
Centroid X
Centroid Y
Centroid Z
Moment of Inertia Ip1
Moment of Inertia Ip2
Moment of Inertia Ip3
Surface Area (approx.) - appears only for a surface body
The following appear for line bodies only:
Cross Section
Cross Section Area
Cross Section IYY
Cross Section IZZ
The following appear for surface bodies only:
Offset Type
Membrane Offset - appears for surface bodies when Offset Type = User
Defined
Statistics: Read-only
indication of
the entities
that comprise the
body.
Nodes
Elements
Mesh Metric
Body Interactions
Sets global options for all Body Interaction objects in an Explicit Dynamics Analysis.
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Body Interactions
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Body Interaction,
Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Automatically inserted in
the tree if contact is detected when model is
attached. Also, use any of the following
methods after highlighting Connections object:
Click Body Interaction button on Connections
context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object
or in the Geometry window>Insert>Body Interaction.
Additional Related Information:
Body Interaction (p. 1306)
Body Interactions in Explicit Dynamics Analyses (p. 619)
Explicit Dynamics Analysis (p. 155)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Advanced
Contact Detection
Formulation - appears if Contact Detection = Trajectory.
Shell Thickness Factor - appears if the geometry includes one or more surface
bodies and if Contact Detection = Trajectory.
Pinball Factor - appears if Contact Detection = Proximity Based.
Timestep Safety Factor - appears if Contact Detection = Proximity Based.
Limiting Timestep Velocity - appears if Contact Detection = Proximity Based.
Edge on Edge Contact - appears if Contact Detection = Proximity Based.
Body Self Contact
Element Self Contact
Tolerance - appears if Contact Detection = Trajectory and Element Self Contact
= Yes.
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1305
Objects Reference
Body Interaction
Creates contact between bodies in an Explicit Dynamics Analysis.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Body Interactions
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options:
Automatically inserted in the tree if model includes
a Body Interactions object.
For manual insertion, use any of the following
methods after highlighting Connections object.
Choose Body Interaction on Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object, or in the Geometry window>Insert>Body
Interaction.
Additional Related Information:
Body Interactions (object reference)
Body Interactions
Explicit Dynamics Analysis
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In this case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click
in the Geometry field, then click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method = Named Selection.
Definition
Type
Maximum Offset appears if Type = Bonded.
Breakable appears if Type = Bonded.
Normal Stress Limit appears if Type = Bonded and Breakable =
Stress Criteria.
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Commands
Category
Fields
Normal Stress Exponent appears if Type = Bonded and Breakable
= Stress Criteria.
Shear Stress Limit appears if Type = Bonded and Breakable =
Stress Criteria.
Shear Stress Exponent appears if Type = Bonded and Breakable
= Stress Criteria.
Friction Coefficient appears if Type = Frictional.
Dynamic Coefficient appears if Type = Frictional.
Decay Constant appears if Type = Frictional.
Suppressed
Chart
Represents a chart that you can create for loads and/or results against time, or result quantities against
a load or another result quantity.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Image
Insertion Method: Click the Chart and Table button on the standard
toolbar.
Additional Related Information:
Chart and Table (p. 988)
Standard Toolbar
Object Properties
For more information on this object's properties, see the Chart and Table (p. 988) section.
Commands
Allows use of Mechanical APDL application commands or APDL programming in a simulation.
Allows use of Python for the Transient Structural (Rigid Dynamics) system.
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1307
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Body, Contact Region (shown in figure), environment objects, Joint, Pre-Stress, Solution, Spring
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Image
Insertion Options: Choose one of the following:
Click right mouse button on either the parent object (see above) or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Commands.
Highlight the parent object (see above) and choose the Insert Commands
button from the toolbar.
Additional Related Information:
Commands Objects
Tree Dependencies for the Transient Structural (Rigid dynamics) system:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Connections Folder, Joint, Spring, Environment, Joint Condition.
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Export...
Import...
Refresh
Suppress
Search Parameters - appears only if Commands object is under a Solution object.
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields/Descriptions
File
File Name - Read-only indication of imported text file name (including path)
if used.
File Status - Read-only indication of the status of an imported text file if
used.
Definition
Suppressed
Target - displays a list of solvers.
Invalidate Solution - applicable for the Solution object only.
Output Search Prefix - applicable for the Solution object only.
Step Selection Mode - applicable only for stepped analyses, and only when
inserting under an environment object.
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Connections
Step Number - applicable only for stepped analyses, and only when inserting
under an environment object.
ARG1 through ARG9
Input Arguments
Results
Comment
Inserts a comment for a Mechanical parent object. The comment editor creates a fragment of HTML,
and the object itself consists of that HTML fragment, a string denoting the author's name, and a color.
Report adds the resulting HTML fragment directly in line, in the specified color and notes the author.
The Comment context toolbar provides buttons to insert an image or to apply various text formatting
tags.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: All objects.
Valid Child Tree Objects: None.
Insertion Method: Click the Comment button on the standard
toolbar.
Additional Related Information:
Inserting Comments, Images, and Figures (p. 121)
Comment Context Toolbar
Reporting
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields/Descriptions
Author
Name
Connections
Defines connections between two or more parts or bodies. Includes global settings in Details view that
apply to all Contact Region, Spot Weld, Mesh Connection, Body Interaction (for explicit dynamics
analyses), Joint, Spring, and Beam child objects.
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1309
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Beam, Body Interactions, Comment, Connection Group (including
those named Contacts, Joints, and Mesh Connections; Contact Tool, Figure, Image, Joint,
Solution Information, Spot Weld, Spring,
Insertion Options:
Automatically inserted in the tree if connection
is detected when model is attached.
For setting connections manually, use any of the
following methods after highlighting Model object:
Click Connections button on Model context
toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Model object or
in the Geometry window> Insert> Connections.
Note
These options are not available
if a Connections object already
exists in the tree.
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Connection Group
Spot Welds
Springs
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Create Automatic Connections - available only if at least one Connection Group folder is present.
Redundancy Analysis - available if at least one Joint object is present.
Enable/Disable Transparency
Search Connections for Duplicate Pairs
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Auto Detection
Transparency
Fields
Generate Automatic Connection On Refresh
Enabled
Connection Group
Defines connections among selected bodies. Includes global settings in Details view that apply to all
Contact Region, Mesh Connection, or Joint child objects.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Contact
Region, Figure, Image, Joint, Mesh Connection
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Connections object:
Click Connection Group on Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object
(or on another Connection Group object), or in
the Geometry window; then Insert> Connection Group.
Insert a Contact Region, Mesh Connection, or
Joint object. A separate parent Connection
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Objects Reference
Group object is created automatically for each
of these three types of objects, and is renamed
Contacts, Mesh Connections, or Joints accordingly.
Additional Related Information:
Automatically Generated Connections
Contact Region Settings
Mesh Connection
Joints (p. 542)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Create Automatic Connections
Enable/Disable Transparency
Search Connections for Duplicate Pairs
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Connection Type
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In this
case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field, then
click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to Named Selection.
Auto Detection
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Contact Debonding
Construction Geometry
Houses one or more Path and/or Surface objects. You can apply results to paths and surfaces that you
define.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image, Path, Surface.
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Model object:
Click Construction Geometry button on Model context toolbar
Click right mouse button on Model object or in the Geometry window
>Insert>Construction Geometry.
Note
The Model folder can contain only one Construction Geometry
object.
Additional Related Information:
Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453)
Surface (Construction Geometry) (p. 459)
Path (p. 1372) object reference
Surface (p. 1397) object reference
Contact Debonding
The Contact Debonding object defines contact regions along a contact interface that will separate.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Fracture
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Fracture object:
Click the Contact Debonding button on the
Fracture context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on the Fracture object,
Interface Delamination object, or Contact Debonding object and select Insert>Contact Debonding.
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1313
Objects Reference
Additional Related Information:
Interface Delamination and Contact Debonding
Fracture Analysis
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Insert>Interface Delamination
Insert>Contact Debonding
Suppress
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Scope
Contact Region
Defines conditions for individual contact and target pairs. Several Contact Regions can appear as child
objects under a Connection Group object. The Connection Group object name automatically changes
to Contacts.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connection Group
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Connections or Connection Group object:
Inserted automatically if you choose Create Automatic Connections through
a right mouse click on Connections (or Contacts) object.
Click Contact on Connections context toolbar and choose a contact type.
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Contact Region
Click right mouse button on Connections (or Connection Group) object or
in the Geometry window; then Insert> Manual Contact Region.
Additional Related Information:
Contact Region Settings
Automatically Generated Connections
Global Connection Settings - See the Connections Folder and Connection
Group Folder sections.
Connections Context Toolbar
Setting Contact Conditions Manually
Contact Ease of Use Features
Contact Tool and Results
Contact Options Preferences
Interface Delamination using ANSYS Composite PrepPost (ACP)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency
Hide All Other Bodies
Flip Contact/Target
Search Connections for Duplicate Pairs
Go To Connections for Duplicate Pairs - available if connection object shares the same geometries with
other connection objects.
Save Contact Region Settings
Load Contact Region Settings
Reset to Default
Promote to Named Selection
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
Choose the object properties below that apply to your analysis type.
Object Properties - Most Structural Analyses
Object Properties - Explicit Dynamics Analyses
Object Properties - Thermal and Electromagnetic Analyses
Object Properties - Rigid Body Dynamics Analyses
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Objects Reference
Fields/Conditions
Scope
Scoping Method
Interface - displays when the Scoping Method is set to Pre-Generated
Interface.
Contact
Target
Contact Bodies
Target Bodies
Contact Shell Face - appears for surface bodies.
Target Shell Face - appears for surface bodies.
Definition
Type
Friction Coefficient - if Type = Frictional
Scope Mode
Behavior
Trim Contact
Trim Tolerance - if Trim Contact is set to On.
Suppressed
Advanced
Formulation
Detection Method
Penetration Tolerance
Elastic Slip Tolerance
Normal Stiffness
Normal Stiffness Factor - if Normal Stiffness = Manual
Constraint Type - if Formulation = MPC and scoping of Contact
Bodies or Target Bodies is to a surface body.
Update Stiffness - if Formulation = Augmented Lagrange or Pure
Penalty
Stabilization Damping Factor - Helps reduce the risk of rigid body
motion. Available for Frictionless, Rough, and Frictional contact types.
Thermal Conductance
Pinball Region
Pinball Radius - if Pinball Region = Radius
Electric Conductance
Electric Conductance Value - if Electric Conductance = Manual
Time Step Controls - if Type = Frictionless, Rough, or Frictional
Restitution Factor - Rigid Body Dynamics Solver Only
Geometric Modification
Interface Treatment
Offset - if Interface Treatment = Add Offset
Contact Geometry Correction. Supporting properties include:
Orientation
Mean Pitch Diameter
Pitch Distance
Thread Angle
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Contact Region
Category
Fields/Conditions
Thread Type
Handedness
Fields/Conditions
Scope
Scoping Method
Contact
Target
Contact Bodies
Target Bodies
Definition
Type
Friction Coefficient - if Type = Frictional
Dynamic Coefficient - if Type = Frictional
Decay Constant - if Type = Frictional
Scope Mode
Behavior
Maximum Offset - if Type = Bonded
Breakable - if Type = Bonded
Normal Stress Limit - if Type = Bonded and Breakable = Stress Criteria
Normal Stress Exponent - if Type = Bonded and Breakable = Stress
Criteria
Shear Stress Limit - if Type = Bonded and Breakable = Stress Criteria
Shear Stress Exponent - if Type = Bonded and Breakable = Stress
Criteria
Suppressed
Fields/Conditions
Scope
Scoping Method
Contact (p. 507)
Target (p. 508)
Contact Bodies (p. 508)
Target Bodies (p. 508)
Contact Shell Face (p. 508) - appears for surface bodies.
Target Shell Face (p. 508) - appears for surface bodies.
Definition
Type
Friction Coefficient - if Type = Frictional
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Objects Reference
Category
Fields/Conditions
Scope Mode
Behavior
Suppressed
Advanced
Formulation
Constraint Type - if Formulation = MPC and scoping of Contact
Bodies or Target Bodies is to a surface body.
Interface Treatment
Offset - if Interface Treatment = Add Offset.
Normal Stiffness (Magnetostatic analyses and all thermal analyses) if Formulation = Augmented Lagrange, Pure Penalty, or MPC.
Normal Stiffness Factor (Magnetostatic analyses and all thermal analyses) - if Normal Stiffness = Manual
Update Stiffness (Magnetostatic analyses and all thermal analyses) if Formulation = Augmented Lagrange, Pure Penalty, or MPC.
Thermal Conductance (Magnetostatic analyses and all thermal analyses)
Thermal Conductance Value (Magnetostatic analyses and all thermal
analyses) - if Thermal Conductance = Manual.
Electrical Conductance (Electric and Magnetostatic analyses)
Electrical Conductance Value (Electric and Magnetostatic analyses) if Electric Conductance = Manual.
Pinball Region
Pinball Radius - if Pinball Region = Radius.
Time Step Controls - if Type = Frictionless, Rough, or Frictional.
Fields/Conditions
Scoping Method
Contact (p. 507)
Target (p. 508)
Contact Bodies (p. 508)
Target Bodies (p. 508)
Contact Shell Face (p. 508) - appears for surface bodies.
Target Shell Face (p. 508) - appears for surface bodies.
Definition
Type
Advanced
Restitution Factor
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1319
Objects Reference
Additional Related Information:
Connections Context Toolbar
Contact Overview
Contact Settings
Setting Contact Conditions Manually
Contact Ease of Use Features
Contact Tool and Results
Contact Options Preferences
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Generate Initial Contact Results - available for Contact Tool and all child objects when the Contact
Tool is inserted under a Connections object.
Evaluate All Results - available for Contact Tool and all child objects when the Contact Tool is inserted
under a Solution object.
Object Properties
For more information on this object's properties, see the Contact Tool section.
Convergence
Controls the relative accuracy of a solution by refining solution results on a particular area of a model.
The Convergence object is applicable to static structural, modal, linear buckling, steady-state thermal,
and magnetostatic analyses.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Several result objects.
Insertion Options: Click right mouse button on a result object or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Convergence.
Note
Only one Convergence object is valid per result object.
Convergence is not supported:
For result objects that belong to linked analyses.
If an imported load object exists in the environment.
When Imported Layered Section or Imported Thickness objects
are used.
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Coordinate System
When running background solutions, only one maximum refinement loop is performed.
Additional Related Information:
Adaptive Convergence
Error (Structural)
Error (Thermal)
Mechanical Options - Convergence
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Type
Allowable Change
Results
Note
Convergence objects inserted under an environment that is referenced by an Initial Condition object or a Thermal Condition load object, will invalidate either of these objects,
and not allow a solution to progress.
Results cannot be converged when you have a Mesh Connection object or a Pinch control
with PinchBehavior set to Post.
To use Convergence, you must set Calculate Stress to Yes under Output Controls in the
Analysis Settings details panel. However, you can perform Modal and Buckling Analysis
without specifying this option.
You cannot use Convergence if you have an upstream or a downstream analysis link.
Convergence is not available when you import loads into the analysis.
Coordinate System
Represents a local coordinate system that you can add under a Coordinate Systems object.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Coordinate Systems
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Coordinate Systems object, or Global Coordinate System object, or
another Coordinate System object:
Choose Create Coordinate System button on Coordinate Systems context
toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Coordinate Systems object, or Global Coordinate System object, or another Coordinate System object, or in the Geometry
window> Insert> Coordinate System.
Additional Related Information:
Coordinate Systems
Creating Coordinate Systems
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
Type
Cartesian or Cylindrical.
Coordinate System
Program Controlled or Manual.
These options assign the coordinate system reference number
automatically or manually. If you specify Manual, the Coordinate
System ID property displays. Enter a value greater than or equal to
12. Coordinate systems must have an unique ID.
Suppressed
Yes or No (default). Suppressing a coordinate system removes the object
from further treatment, and writes no data to the input deck, and causes
any objects scoped to the coordinate system to become underdefined
(therefore invalidating solutions).
Origin
Define By
Geometry Selection, Named Selection or Global Coordinates.
Geometry Selection - Default setting, indicating that the coordinate
system is applied to a geometry or geometries, which are chosen using
a graphical selection tools.
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Coordinate System
When the Define By is set to Geometry Selection, the Geometry
property displays. This property displays the type of geometry
(Body, Face, etc.) and the number of geometric entities (for example: 1 Body, 2 Edges) to which the boundary has been applied
using the selection tools.
Named Selection: when this property is selected, the geometry selection is defined by a Named Selection.
When the Define By is set to Named Selection, another Named
Selection property displays. This field provides a drop-down list
of available user-defined Named Selections.
Global Coordinates
This selection allows you to specify the coordinate system origin
using the Location property in tandem with the Hit Point Coordinate feature on the Graphics Toolbar or by entering Origin
X, Origin Y, and Origin Z coordinate values directly to define the
origin of the coordinate system.
The following properties define the X, Y, and Z locations on the coordinate axis from the (0, 0, 0) location.
Origin X
Origin Y
Origin Z
Axis: X, Y, or Z
Define the Principal Axis vector with respect to one of these planes.
Principle Axis
Define By
Property options include:
Geometry Selection
Fixed Vector
Global X Axis
Global Y Axis
Global Z Axis
Hit Point Normal
Orientation About Principle Axis
Axis
Based on the Principal Axis, define the Orientation About Principal Axis
vector with respect to the X, Y, or Z plane.
Define By
Property options include:
Default
Geometry Selection
Global X
Global X
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Objects Reference
Global X
Fixed Vector
Directional Vectors
Transformations
Coordinate Systems
Houses any new coordinate systems that can include a Global Coordinate System object and local
Coordinate System objects.
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Crack
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Coordinate System, Figure, Global
Coordinate System, Image
Insertion Options: The Coordinate Systems object is automatically inserted
into the tree.
Note
Only one Coordinate Systems (Parent) object is valid per
Model.
Additional Related Information:
Coordinate Systems
Creating Coordinate Systems
Crack
Defines a crack based on an internally generated mesh to analyze crack fronts by use of geometric
parameters.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Fracture
Insertion Options: Click right mouse button
on Fracture, Crack, or Pre-Meshed Crack
object and select Insert> Crack.
Additional Related Information:
Fracture Meshing
Fracture Analysis
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
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Objects Reference
Insert>Crack
Insert>Pre-Meshed Crack
Generate All Crack Meshes
Suppress
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Scope
Definition
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Direct FE (Group)
Category
Properties
must be 8 or greater. The default is 8. The Geometry window can display only a maximum of 360 circumferential divisions, but you can
specify a higher value and fracture meshing will respect it.
Mesh Contours - Specifies the number of mesh contours for the crack
shape. The value must be 1 or greater. The default is 6. The Geometry
window can display only a maximum of 100 mesh contours, but you
can specify a higher value and fracture meshing will respect it.
Crack Front Divisions - Specifies the number of divisions for the crack
front. The value must be 3 or greater. The default is 15. The Geometry
window can display only a maximum of 999 crack front divisions, but
you can specify a higher value and fracture meshing will respect it.
Solution Contours - Specifies the number of mesh contours for which
you want to compute the fracture result parameters. The value must
be less than or equal to the value of Mesh Contours, and cannot be
greater than 99. By default, the value is Match Mesh Contours, indicating the number of Solution Contours is equal to the number of
Mesh Contours. Entering 0 resets the value to Match Mesh Contours.
Suppressed - Toggles suppression of the Crack object. The default is
No. The Crack object is suppressed automatically if the scoped body
is suppressed.
The Buffer Zone Scale Factors control the size of the buffer zone in the X, Y,
and Z directions, relative to the size of the fracture affected zone. For each
scaling parameter, use the slider to set a value from 2 to 50. The default is 2.
The maximum dimension among the three directions of the fracture affected
zone is multiplied by the corresponding scale factors to create a buffer zone:
X Scale Factor
Y Scale Factor
Z Scale Factor
Named Selections
Creation
Named Selections are created automatically when the fracture mesh is generated.
These Named Selections are a special type of Named Selection. For details, refer
to Fracture Meshing and Special Handling of Named Selections for Crack Objects.
For information about Named Selections in general, refer to Named Selections (p. 429).
Direct FE (Group)
Defines the node-based boundary conditions that are used in the Environment object of a model.
Applies to the following objects: Nodal Orientation, Nodal Force, Nodal Pressure, Nodal Displacement, and Nodal Rotation.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Environment
Valid Child Tree Objects:
Nodal Orientation
Nodal Force
Nodal Pressure
Nodal Displacement
Nodal Rotation
EM Transducer
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Environment object:
Click Direct FE on Environment context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Environment object
or in the Geometry window; then Insert> {load
type}.
Object Properties
See the Direct FE section for more information about the load options as well as Details View properties.
End Release
Allows chosen DOFs to be released on a vertex between line bodies.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Connections object:
Click End Release on Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object or in the Geometry
window; then Insert> End Release.
Additional Related Information:
End Releases (p. 619)
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Environment (Group)
Connections Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu option is available for this object.
Rename Based on Definition (1)
(1) - Description for Contact Region object also applies to Mesh Connection object.
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties/Conditions
Scope
Definition
Coordinate System
Translation X
Translation Y
Translation Z
Rotation X
Rotation Y
Rotation Z
Behavior
Suppressed
Environment (Group)
An environment object holds all analysis related objects in a given Model object. The default name of
the environment object is the same as the name of the analysis type. All result objects of an analysis
are grouped under the Solution object.
Note
The application creates reference files that contain analysis information that is read back into
the application during solution processing. Certain textual characters can create issues during
this reading process. Avoid the use of the following characters when renaming your environment:
Quote character ()
Ampersand (&)
Apostrophe ()
Greater than and less than characters (< >)
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Analysis Settings, Comment, Figure, Image,
Initial Condition (for some analysis types), all load and support objects,
Solution
Insertion Options: Appears by default based on the analysis type chosen
in the Project Schematic.
Additional Related Information:
"Analysis Types" (p. 149)
Environment Context Toolbar
Types of Loads
Types of Supports
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Solve
Open Solver Files Directory - available for Windows OS only.
Clear Generated Data
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition read-only
indications.
Physics Type
Analysis Type
Solver Target
Options
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Objects Reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
For the Fatigue Tool:
Category
Properties
Materials
Loading
Type
Loading Ratio - appears only if Type is set to Ratio.
History Data Location - appears only if Type is set to History Data.
Scale Factor
Definition
Display Time - enter a time value (within the analysis time limit) to display results
at that moment of the analysis.
Options
Analysis Type
Mean Stress Theory
Stress Component
Bin Size - appears only if Type is set to History Data.
Use Quick Rainflow Counting - appears only if Type is set to History Data.
Infinite Life - appears if Analysis Type is set to Strain Life; or if Analysis Type is
set to Stress Life and Type is set to History Data.
Maximum Data Points To Plot - appears only if Type is set to History Data.
Life Units
Units Name
1 cycle is equal to
For Biaxiality Indication, Damage, Equivalent Alternating Stress, Life, Safety Factor:
Category
Properties
Scope
Scoping Method
Path
Geometry - Use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field,
then click Apply.
Definition
Time
Load Step
Substep
Iteration Number
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Figure
Stress. Read-only
indication of the
following quantities.
For Damage Matrix, Fatigue Sensitivity, Hysteresis, Rainflow Matrix:
Category
Properties
Scope
Geometry - Use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field,
then click Apply.
General
Stress Strain Type - if set to Shear Stress, the General, Options, and Results
categories are replaced by a Definition category that includes a Type setting.
Options
Minimum Range - available only for Damage Matrix and Rainflow Matrix.
Maximum Range - available only for Damage Matrix and Rainflow Matrix.
Minimum Mean - available only for Damage Matrix and Rainflow Matrix.
Maximum Mean - available only for Damage Matrix and Rainflow Matrix.
Minimum Strain - available only for Hysteresis.
Maximum Strain - available only for Hysteresis.
Minimum Stress - available only for Hysteresis.
Maximum Stress - available only for Hysteresis.
Figure
Captures any graphic displayed for a particular object in the Geometry window. A Figure object can
be further manipulated (rotated for example), unlike an Image object, which is a static screen shot of
the current model view or an imported static figure. Popular uses of a Figure object are for presenting
specific views and settings for later inclusion in a report.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: All objects except Alert, Commands, Comment,
Convergence, Image, Project, Result Tracker, Solution Combination,
Solution Information
Valid Child Tree Objects: None
Insertion Method: Click the New Figure or Image button on standard
toolbar and select Figure.
Additional Related Information:
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Objects Reference
Inserting Comments, Images, and Figures (p. 121)
Viewports
Reports
Standard Toolbar
Object Properties
Caption is the only property available for the Figure object. It provides an editable text field.
Fluid Surface
Fluid Surface objects allow you to identify faces that should be grouped together in support of a virtual body for assembly meshing.
Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not supported by Mechanical solvers.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Virtual Body
Insertion Options: Use any of these methods:
Highlight the Virtual Body object, and then:
In the Details view for the Virtual Body, set Used By
Fluid Surface to Yes.
Click the right mouse button and select Insert> Fluid
Surface from the context menu.
Additional Related Information:
Meshing Capabilities in Workbench
Mesh Context Toolbar
Assembly Meshing
Defining Virtual Bodies
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
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Fracture
Category
Properties
Scope
Definition
Fracture
Represents all definitions of cracks within a model. Each definition is represented in a Crack or PreMeshed Crack object, where a Crack is generated internally within the Mechanical application or
Meshing application, while a Pre-Meshed Crack comes from an external source. May contain any
number of Crack or Pre-Meshed Crack objects.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Crack, Pre-Meshed
Crack, Interface Delamination, Contact Debonding
Insertion Options: Click right mouse button
on Model object and select Insert> Fracture.
Note
Only one Fracture object is valid
per Model, and once it is inserted,
it cannot be deleted.
Additional Related Information:
Fracture Meshing
Fracture Analysis
Interface Delamination and Contact Debonding
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Insert>Crack
Insert>Pre-Meshed Crack
Generate All Crack Meshes
Insert>Contact Debonding
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Objects Reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
Scope
Src/Trg Selection
Source
Target
Geometry
Represents attached geometry in the form of an assembly or multibody part from a CAD system or
from DesignModeler. Assembly parameters, if available, are viewable under the Geometry object.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image, Layered Section, Part, Point Mass,
Thickness
Insertion Options: Appears by default with a
Model object.
Additional Related Information:
"Specifying Geometry in the Mechanical Application" (p. 371)
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Geometry
Attach Geometry
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Update Geometry from Source
Reset Body Colors
Show Missing Tessellations
Insert > Virtual Body
Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not supported by Mechanical solvers.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Definition
Properties
Source - Read-only indication of the path and file name associated with
the geometry.
Type - Read-only indication of how the original geometry was created
(CAD product name or DesignModeler).
Length Unit - Read-only indication of the length unit originally assigned
to the geometry. Exceptions are when importing geometry from CATIA
V5 or ACIS, where length units must be specified from a drop down
menu.
Element Control - Allows manual control of the underlying Mechanical
APDL element options (KEYOPTS) for individual Part or Body objects
beneath the Geometry object. To manually set Mechanical APDL element
options, set Element Control to Manual, then select the Part or Body
object. Any element options that are available for you to manually set
appear in the Details view of the Part or Body object. For example, the
Brick Integration Scheme setting for a Part or Body object becomes
available only when Element Control is set to Manual. When Element
Control is set to Program Controlled, all element options are automatically controlled and no settings are displayed. The Mechanical APDL
application equivalent to this setting is the inclusion of the ETCON,SET
command in the input file, which automatically resets options for currenttechnology elements to optimal settings. Refer to the Mechanical APDL
Element Reference in the Mechanical APDL Help for more information
about Mechanical APDL elements and element options.
Display Style - The default is Body Color which assigns unique colors
to individual bodies in a part. Other choices include Part Color, Material,
Non linear Material Effects, and Stiffness Behavior.
2D Behavior - Appears only for a designated 2-D simulation.
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Objects Reference
Category
Properties
Bounding Box
Length X
Length Y
Length Z
Properties
Volume
Mass - Appears only in the Mechanical application. Any suppressed Part
or Body child objects are not included in the mass property values that
are displayed.
Note
If the material density is temperature dependent, the Mass will
be computed at the body temperature, or at 22oC (default temperature for an environment).
Scale Factor Value - The factor applied to imported geometry for the
purpose of modifying the size of the model. The scale factor value of
newly imported geometry is 1.0. You can modify the value and that
value is expected to be preserved on updated models. Due to tolerances,
models that are scaled (especially larger) sometimes have problems
meshing. The scale factor limit is from 1e-3 to 1e3. Factors entered
beyond that range are ignored.
Note
Beam sections and shell thicknesses are not affected by the Scale
Factor Value.
Geometry scale factors should not be applied after virtual cells have
been added to the model. Doing so may result in mesh failure.
Bodies
Active Bodies
Nodes
Elements
Mesh Metric
Basic Geometry
Options
Solid Bodies
Surface Bodies
Line Bodies
Parameters
Parameter Key
Attributes
Named Selections
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Properties
Material Properties
Use Associativity
Coordinate Systems
Reader Mode Saves Updated File
Use Instances
Smart CAD Update
Compare Parts on Update
Attach File Via Temp File
Temporary Directory
Analysis Type
Mixed Import Resolution
Decompose Disjoint Geometry
Enclosure and Symmetry Processing
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
The following are all read-only status indications of the global coordinate system:
Category
Properties
Definition
Type
Mechanical APDL System Number - assigns the coordinate system
reference number (the first argument of the Mechanical APDL LOCAL
command).
Origin
Origin X
Origin Y
Origin Z
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1339
Objects Reference
Category
Directional Vectors
Properties
X Axis Data
Y Axis Data
Z Axis Data
Image
Inserts a screen shot of the model in its current view or imports any image in .bmp, .jpg, or png format
under a parent object. Its use is similar to inserting a Comment object. Inserted images appear in the
Report. Image is a static picture of the current model view. It differs from the Figure object, which is
also a picture of the current model view that can be further manipulated (rotated for example).
Note
Duplicating an image in the tree will result in both the original object and the copied object
using the same image file on disk. Altering or deleting either the original or the copied object
will result in modification and/or deletion of the image file on disk. Both items in the tree
will be affected by the change to one of the objects.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects:
For importing images: All objects
For static image captures: Same parent tree objects as for Figure
Valid Child Tree Object: Comment
Insertion Method: Click the New Figure or Image button on the standard
toolbar and select Image. For importing an image, choose Image from
File, then choose an image file from the browse window. Filters are
available for listing only image files in .bmp, .jpg, or.png formats.
Additional Related Information:
Inserting Comments, Images, and Figures (p. 121)
Reporting
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Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Definition
Properties
Type - appears as Imported Layered Section and is a read-only
field.
Suppressed - select Yes to suppress this object.
Note
Suppression option is only available when the external
system shares the model with the downstream analysis
system.
Material
Note
These fields are not supported for an Explicit Dynamics
analysis.
Graphic Properties
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1341
Objects Reference
may not match the layer number of the system providing the
layered data.
Note
This property is only available when the external system
shares the model with the downstream analysis system.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for the Imported Load object folder include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
The Details view properties for the imported load object include the following.
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Properties
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In
this case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field,
then click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to Named Selection.
Definition
Display
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1343
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Environment
(Group)
Valid Child Tree Object: the automatically generated groups of remote forces
and moments.
Insertion Method:: Appears by default
for specific analyses with data transfer.
Additional Related Information:
Importing Data into a Harmonic Analysis
Electromagnetics (EM) - Mechanical Data
Transfer
Note
As illustrated, an Imported Remote Loads object is automatically generated it contains Remote Point objects that are automatically named and associated with an appropriate group
for the Force and Moment loading objects.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for the Imported Remote Loads object folder include the following.
Category
Properties
Scope
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Imported Thickness
Category
Properties
geometric entities (for example: 1 Body, 2 Edges) to which the boundary
has been applied using the selection tools.
Named Selection: indicates that the geometry selection is defined by a Named
Selection.
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available user-defined
Named Selections.
Definition
Imported Thickness
Use the Imported Thickness object to import thickness data generated in a previous analysis for application in a current analysis. Imported Thickness objects are created in Mechanical by linking an
External Data system to an analysis Model cell in the Project Schematic by right-clicking
Setup>Transfer Data To New and selecting an analysis type for the External Data system in the Project
Schematic. You can also right-click the Model cell of your project on the Project Schematic and select
Transfer Data From New>External Data.
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1345
Objects Reference
Solver Notes:
For the MAPDL solver, thickness on 3D shells is represented at the nodal level via the SECFUNCTION
command. For 2D plane stress, thicknesses are calculated as an average value from the element's
nodal thickness values and it is input as a real constant for the element.
For the Explicit Dynamics solver the element's nodal thicknesses are converted to an average element
thickness.
For Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) analyses, thicknesses are applied to the nodes. This is also
true for 2D analyses.
Applies to: Imported Thickness object folder and all thickness child objects under the folder.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Imported
Thickness Group
Valid Child Tree Object: Comment, Image
Insertion Method:
Appears by default for specific analyses
with data transfer
Click right mouse button on the Imported Thickness Group object
Click on Thickness in the Geometry
toolbar.
Additional Related Information:
External Data Import (p. 310)
Specifying Surface Body Thickness (p. 380)
Polyflow to Mechanical Data Transfer (p. 325)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include but are not limited to the following. See Appendix
B. Data Transfer Mesh Mapping for additional information about other categories and settings for Imported Thicknesses.
Category
Properties
Scope
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Advanced
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1347
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Geometry object.
Valid Child Tree Object: Comment, Image,
imported thickness objects
Insertion Method:
Appears by default when a Mechanical
Model cell is connected to an External
Data system.
Create a link to an upstream Polyflow
system.
Additional Related Information:
External Data Import (p. 310)
Polyflow to Mechanical Data Transfer (p. 325)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for the Imported Thickness object folder include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
Type
A read-only description of the Imported Thickness property.
Interpolation Type
A read-only description of the Interpolation Type property.
Suppressed
Enables you to control whether the Imported Thickness characteristics are considered
in the solving of the simulation.
Initial Conditions
Houses initial condition objects for use in a Transient Structural analysis (Velocity only) or an explicit
dynamics analysis (Velocity and Angular Velocity).
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Initial Temperature
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Transient Structural [for Velocity only], or Explicit Dynamics
environment object [for either Velocity or
Angular Velocity].
Valid Child Tree Objects: Angular Velocity
(Explicit Dynamics object only), Comment,
Figure, Image, Pre-Stress (Explicit Dynamics
object only), Velocity
Insertion Options: Appears by default for a
Transient Structural analysis or an explicit
dynamics analysis.
Additional Related Information:
Define Initial Conditions
Transient Structural Analysis (p. 285)
Explicit Dynamics Analysis (p. 155)
Initial Temperature
Defines an initial temperature or an initial temperature distribution for use in a steady-state thermal or
transient thermal analysis.
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1349
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Steady-State Thermal
or Transient Thermal analysis environment.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default for a
steady-state thermal analysis or a transient
thermal analysis.
Additional Related Information:
Define Initial Conditions
Steady-State Thermal Analysis (p. 277)
Transient Thermal Analysis (p. 297)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
Initial Temperature
Initial Temperature Value
Interface Delamination
The Interface Delamination object allows you to simulate the separation of two materials across an
interface.
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Interface Delamination
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Fracture
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Fracture object:
Click the Interface Delamination button on the
Fracture context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on the Fracture object,
Interface Delamination object, or Contact Debonding object and select Insert>Interface
Delamination.
Additional Related Information:
Interface Delamination and Contact Debonding
Fracture Analysis
Crack
Pre-Meshed Crack
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Insert>Interface Delamination
Insert>Contact Debonding
Suppress
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Definition
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Objects Reference
Category
Properties
Material - this property displays when CZM is the specified as Method. It
provides a fly-out menu for Material selection or specification. Material
definitions are created in Engineering Data.
Suppressed - this property allows you to exclude the object in the analysis.
Scope
Node Matching
Tolerance
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Joint
Category
Properties
Distance Tolerance - this property may be modified when the Tolerance Type is set to Manual, otherwise it is read-only - that is, the value
is defined by the application. Node matching requires that each node
has a corresponding mate (Source and Target). This tolerance value
defines the search radius for determining the matching between Source
and Target nodes.
Joint
Defines conditions for reference and mobile pairs that make up a joint. Several Joint objects can appear
as child objects under a Connection Group object. The Connection Group object name automatically
changes to Joints.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connection Group
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Coordinate System, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Connections object:
Inserted automatically if joints are defined in the CAD model and you choose
Create Automatic Connections through a right mouse button click on the
Connections (or Joints) object.
Click Body-Ground> {type of joint} or Body-Body> {type of joint} on
Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections (or Joints ) object in the Geometry window> Insert> Joint.
Additional Related Information:
Joints (p. 542)
Joint Load (p. 742)
Connections Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency
Hide All Other Bodies
Flip Reference/Mobile
Search Connections for Duplicate Pairs
Go To Connections for Duplicate Pairs - available if connection object shares the same geometries with
other connection objects.
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Objects Reference
Promote to Remote Point (Remote Attachment Only)
Promote to Named Selection
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
For more information on this object's properties, see the Joint Properties (p. 553) section for specific
details.
Layered Section
Allows you to define layered section properties on selected surface bodies or on selected faces of surface
bodies.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Geometry object
:
Click Layered Section button on Geometry
context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Geometry object
> Insert> Layered Section.
Additional Related Information:
Specifying Surface Body Layered Sections (p. 383)
Geometry Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Properties
Scope
Scoping Method
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Coordinate System
Offset Type (this field is not supported for an Explicit Dynamics
analysis)
Membrane Offset - appears if Offset Type is set to User Defined.
Layers - click here to open the worksheet to enter the layer data.
Suppressed
Material
Note
These fields are not supported for an Explicit Dynamics
analysis.
Graphic Properties
Properties
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1355
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object:
For Magnetostatic Analysis only: Source Conductor when specifying a
Current or Voltage
For all other objects: an analysis environment object.
Valid Child Tree Objects:
For Magnetostatic Analysis Source Conductor: Comment, Current, Figure,
Image, Voltage (Solid Source Conductor only)
For all other objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options:
For Current or Voltage, scope to a body, then use any of the following
methods:
Choose Conductor or Current on Environment context toolbar, then
choose Current or Voltage from the toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Magnetostatic object, or in the Geometry
window> Insert> Conductor then > Insert> Current or Voltage
For all other objects, use any of the following methods after highlighting
Environment object:
Choose Inertial, or Load, or Supports, or Conditions> {Load, support,
or condition name} on Environment context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Environment object, any load, support, or
condition object, or in the Geometry window> Insert> {Load, support,
or condition name}
Additional Related Information:
Create Analysis System
Apply Loads and Supports
The right mouse button context menu option Promote to Named Selection is available for most
boundary condition objects.
Object Properties
See the Applying Boundary Conditions section for more information about Loads, Supports, and Conditions.
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Mesh
Mesh
Manages all meshing functions and tools for a model; includes global controls that govern the entire
mesh.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: all mesh control tool
objects, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default when
geometry is attached.
Additional Related Information:
Meshing Capabilities in Workbench
Mesh Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Update
Generate Mesh
Preview> Surface Mesh
Preview> Inflation
Show> Removable Loops
Show> Sweepable Bodies
Show> Mappable Faces
Show> Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections
Show> Program Controlled Inflation Surfaces
Create Pinch Controls
Clear Generated Data
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Defaults
Fields
Physics Preference
Solver Preference (appears if Physics Preference is CFD)
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Objects Reference
Category
Fields
Relevance
Note
Solver Preference also appears in the Mechanical application if the Physics Preference is Mechanical in a
Transient Structural or Rigid Dynamics system during
the initial geometry attach. See Solver Preference for
more information.
Sizing
Inflation
Assembly Meshing
Method
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Mesh Connection
Category
Fields
Feature Capture
Tessellation Refinement
Keep Solid Mesh
Patch Conforming
Options
Advanced
Shape Checking
Element Midside Nodes
Straight Sided Element - appears if the model includes an
enclosure from DesignModeler.
Number of Retries
Extra Retries For Assembly
Rigid Body Behavior
Mesh Morphing
Defeaturing
Statistics
Mesh Connection
Defines conditions for joining meshes of topologically disconnected surface bodies. Several Mesh
Connection objects can appear as child objects under a Connection Group object. The name of the
Connection Group object automatically changes to Mesh Connections.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connection Group
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Connections or
Connection Group object:
Inserted automatically if you choose Create
Automatic Connections through a right mouse
click on the Connections or Mesh Connections
objects.
Click Mesh Connection on Connections context
toolbar.
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Objects Reference
Click right mouse button on Connections (or
Mesh Connections) object or in the Geometry
window; then Insert> Manual Mesh Connection.
Additional Related Information:
Mesh Connection
Automatically Generated Connections
Connections Context Toolbar
Common Connections Folder Operations for Auto
Generated Connections (p. 501)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency (1)
Hide All Other Bodies (1)
Flip Master/Slave (1)
Search Connections for Duplicate Pairs (1)
Go To Connections for Duplicate Pairs (1) - available if connection object shares the same geometries
with other connection objects.
Rename Based on Definition (1)
(1) - Description for Contact Region object also applies to Mesh Connection object.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields/Conditions
Scope
Definition
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Fields/Conditions
Master Element Size Factor - appears if Snap Type = Element Size
Factor.
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Objects Reference
Inflate This Method - available only for Method control where Method is set to anything other than
Hex Dominant, MultiZone Quad/Tri, or Sweep (unless a source has been specified).
Update
Generate Mesh
Preview> Surface Mesh
Preview> Source and Target Mesh
Preview> Inflation
Show> Sweepable Bodies
Show> Mappable Faces
Create Gap Sizes - available only for Gap Tool
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Except where noted, the following applies to all objects other than Gap Tool:
Category
Scope
Definition
Fields
Scoping Method - specify either Geometry Selection or Named
Selection. Not applicable to Contact Sizing, Gap Sizing, Pinch, or
Match Control.
Geometry - appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In this case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the
Geometry field, then click Apply. Not applicable to Contact Sizing,
Gap Sizing, Pinch, or Match Control.
Named Selection - appears if Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection. Not applicable to Contact Sizing, Gap Sizing, Pinch, or
Match Control.
Contact Region - applicable only to Contact Sizing.
Suppressed
Note
Additional Definition settings may be available, depending
on the specific mesh control tool.
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Fields
Define By
Minimum
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Fields
Maximum
Gap Aspect Ratio
Gap Density
Generate on Update
Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not supported by Mechanical solvers.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Mesh Grouping
Insertion Options: Highlight the Mesh object
(or its Mesh Grouping or Mesh Group child
object if any exist), and then:
Select Mesh Control> Mesh Group on the Mesh
Context Toolbar.
Click the right mouse button on the object you
highlighted and select Insert> Mesh Group from
the context menu.
These methods insert a Mesh Group object
beneath the Mesh Grouping object. The
Mesh Grouping object is inserted automatically when the first Mesh Group object is
inserted.
Additional Related Information:
Meshing Capabilities in Workbench
Mesh Context Toolbar
Defining Mesh Groups
Assembly Meshing
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Objects Reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Definition
Mesh Grouping
Represents all definitions of mesh groups within a model. Each definition is represented in a Mesh
Group object. May contain any number of Mesh Group objects, which are used for assembly meshing.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Mesh
Valid Child Tree Object: Mesh Group
Insertion Options: Automatically inserted in
the tree when the first Mesh Group object is
inserted.
Additional Related Information:
Meshing Capabilities in Workbench
Mesh Context Toolbar
Defining Mesh Groups
Assembly Meshing
Mesh Numbering
Folder object that includes any number of Numbering Control objects, used for mesh numbering, which
allows you to renumber the node and element numbers of a generated meshed model consisting of
flexible parts.
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Modal
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after selecting Model object:
Click Mesh Numbering button on Model context
toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Model object or in
the Geometry window> Insert>Mesh Numbering.
Additional Related Information:
Mesh Numbering
Model Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Renumber Mesh
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Definition
Properties
Node Offset
Element Offset
Suppressed: suppressing this object returns the mesh numbering to their original values.
Compress Numbers
Modal
Defines the modal analysis whose mode shapes are to be used in a random vibration, response spectrum,
or harmonic (MSUP) linked analysis (not shown below).
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1365
Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Random Vibration,
Response Spectrum, or Harmonic Response
(linked) environment object.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default for a
random vibration analysis, response spectrum
analysis, or harmonic (MSUP) linked analysis.
Additional Related Information:
Random Vibration Analysis (p. 202)
Response Spectrum Analysis (p. 207)
Harmonic Response Analysis Using Linked
Modal Analysis System (p. 189)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Definition
Fields
Modal Environment
Model
Defines the geometry for the particular branch of the tree. The sub-levels provide additional information
about the Model object, including loads, supports and results, but do not replace the geometry.
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Named Selections
Graphic settings applied to the Model object apply to lower level objects in the tree. The Model object
groups geometry, material assignments, connections, and mesh settings. The Geometry, Connections
and Mesh objects are not created until geometry is successfully attached.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Project
Valid Child Tree Objects: Chart, Comment,
Connections, Coordinate Systems, environments, Figure, Geometry, Image, Mesh, Named
Selection, Solution Combination, Symmetry,
Virtual Topology
Insertion Options: Appears by default for attached geometry.
Additional Related Information:
Attaching Geometry
Model Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Solve
Disable Filter/Auto Filter
Clear Generated Data
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Filter Options
Control
Lighting
Ambient Light
Diffuse Light
Specular Light
Light Color
Named Selections
Named Selections is a folder object that includes any number of individual user-defined Selection
objects.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Individual named selection objects, Comment, Figure, Image
Note
Comment, Figure, and Image
are also child objects of individual
named selection objects.
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Named Selections
Select Items in Group
Add to Current Selection
Remove from Current Selection
Create Nodal Named Selection
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
The following applies only to the Named Selections object folder:
Category
Fields/Descriptions
Display
Show Annotation
The following applies only to the child objects of a Named Selections object folder:
Category
Fields/Descriptions
Scope
Geometry Selection
Worksheet
Definition
Note
The solvers supported by Mechanical are the only
solvers that recognize node- and element-based
Named Selections. Therefore, the Send to Solver
feature supports Mechanical solvers only for nodeand element-based Named Selections.
Visible - displays named selection when set to Yes.
Program Controlled Inflation (Include/Exclude) determines whether faces in the named selection are selected
to be inflation boundaries for Program Controlled inflation.
Also see Program Controlled inflation in the Meshing help.
Statistics
Read-only status indications
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Objects Reference
Category
Fields/Descriptions
Used by Mesh Worksheet - Yes if named selection is
being used by the Mesh worksheet. Also see the description of the Mesh worksheet in the Meshing help.
Tolerance Type
Tolerance
Numbering Control
Represents a part, vertex, or Remote Point whose nodes/elements can be renumbered. Any number of
these objects can exist within a Mesh Numbering folder.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Mesh Numbering
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after selecting Mesh Numbering
object:
Click Numbering Control button on Mesh
Numbering context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Mesh Numbering
object or in the Geometry window> Insert>
Numbering Control.
Additional Related Information:
Mesh Numbering
Model Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Renumber Mesh
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
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Part
Category
Fields
Scope
Definition
Part
Defines a component of the attached geometry included under a Geometry object. The Part object is
assumed to be a multibody part with Body objects beneath it as depicted in the figure below. The Part
object label in your Project tree inherits the name from the CAD application you use to create the part
and may differ based on the CAD application. Refer to the Body objects reference page if the Geometry
object does not include a multibody part, but instead only includes individual bodies.
Also see the description of the Virtual Body Group (p. 1407) object (applicable to assembly meshing algorithms only).
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Body, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Appears by default when geometry is attached that
includes a multibody part.
Additional Related Information:
Attaching Geometry
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Create Selection Group
Generate Mesh
Preview> Surface Mesh - appears only for a solid body.
Preview> Inflation
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Objects Reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics Properties
Definition
Suppressed
Assignment
Brick Integration Scheme - appears only if Element Control is
set to Manual in the Details view of the Geometry object.
Coordinate System - Assign a local coordinate system to specify
the alignment of the elements of the part if previously defined
using one or more Coordinate System objects; not available if
Stiffness Behavior is set to Rigid.
Bounding Box
Length X
Length Y
Length Z
Volume
Mass - Appears only in the Mechanical application.
Note
If the material density is temperature dependent, the Mass
will be computed at the body temperature, or at 22oC
(default temperature for an environment).
Centroid X
Centroid Y
Centroid Z
Moment of Inertia Ip1
Moment of Inertia Ip2
Moment of Inertia Ip3
Surface Areas (approx.)
Nodes
Elements
Mesh Metric
Path
Represents a spatial curve to which you can scope results. The results are evaluated at discrete points
along this curve.
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Periodic/Cyclic Region
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Construction Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image.
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after selecting Construction Geometry object:
Click Path button on Construction Geometry context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Construction Geometry object or in the Geometry window> Insert>Path.
Additional Related Information:
Path (Construction Geometry) (p. 453)
Construction Geometry (p. 1313) object reference
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Snap to mesh nodes
Export
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Path Type
Path Coordinate System
Number of Sampling Points
Suppressed
Show Mesh
Start
Coordinate System
Start X Coordinate
Start Y Coordinate
Start Z Coordinate
Location
End
Coordinate System
End X Coordinate
End Y Coordinate
End Z Coordinate
Location
Periodic/Cyclic Region
Defines an individual plane for periodic conditions, anti-periodic conditions, or cyclic conditions. The
collection of all Periodic/Cyclic Region objects exists under one Symmetry object.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Symmetry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods
after highlighting Symmetry object:
Choose Periodic/Cyclic Region on Symmetry context
toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Symmetry object, on an existing Periodic/Cyclic Region or Symmetry Region object,
or in the Geometry window> Insert> Periodic/Cyclic
Region.
Additional Related Information:
Symmetry
Symmetry in the Mechanical Application
Symmetry Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu option is available for this object.
Flip High/Low
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Low Boundary - appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry
Selection.
High Boundary - appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry
Selection.
Low Selection - appears if Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection.
High Selection - appears if Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection.
Definition
Scope Mode
Type - appears for Periodic Region only.
Coordinate System
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Point Mass
Suppressed
Point Mass
Represents the inertial effects from a body.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Geometry object or Body object:
Click Point Mass button on Geometry context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Geometry object, Body object, or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Point Mass.
Additional Related Information:
Point Mass Application
Coordinate Systems
Geometry Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available
for this object.
Promote Remote Point (Remote Attachment Only)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Scope
Fields
Scoping method - Specify as Geometry Selection (default) or
Named Selection or Remote Point (only available when a userdefined Remote Point exists in the tree).
Geometry - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. Displays the type of geometry (Body, Face, etc.)
and the number of geometric entities (for example: 1 Body, 2
Edges) to which the boundary has been applied using the selection tools. Use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the
Geometry field, then click Apply. The Remote Attachment option is the required Applied By property (see below) setting if
the geometry scoping is to a single face or multiple faces, a single
edge or multiple edges, or multiple vertices.
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Objects Reference
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to
Named Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Named Selections.
Remote Points - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to
Remote Point. This field provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Remote Point.
Applied By - Specify as Remote Attachment (default) or Direct
Attachment.
Coordinate System - Assign load to a local coordinate system
if previously defined using one or more Coordinate System
objects. The Point Mass will automatically be rotated into the
selected coordinate system if that coordinate system differs from
the global coordinate system.
X Coordinate - Define X coordinate location; can be designated
as a parameter.
Y Coordinate - Define Y coordinate location; can be designated
as a parameter.
Z Coordinate - Define Z coordinate location; can be designated
as a parameter.
Location - Change location of the load. Pick new location, click
in the Location field, then click Apply.
Mass - Define mass; can be designated as a parameter.
Mass Moment of Inertia X - Available for 3D models only.
Mass Moment of Inertia Y - Available for 3D models only.
Mass Moment of Inertia Z - Available for 2D and 3D models.
Suppressed
Behavior
Pinball Region
Definition
Pre-Meshed Crack
Defines a crack that is based on a previously generated mesh and used to analyze crack fronts based
on a Named Selection.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Fracture
Insertion Options: Click right mouse button
on Fracture, Crack, or Pre-Meshed Crack
object and select Insert> Pre-Meshed Crack.
Additional Related Information:
Defining a Pre-Meshed Crack (p. 473)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Insert>Crack
Insert>Pre-Meshed Crack
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Pre-Stress
Suppress
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Definition
Pre-Stress
Defines the structural analysis whose stress results are to be used in a Harmonic Response Analysis or
Modal Analysis, or whose stress-stiffening effects are to be used in a Linear Buckling Analysis, or whose
stresses, strains, and/or displacements, or velocities are to be used in an Explicit Dynamics Analysis.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Harmonic Response, Modal, or Linear Buckling , or Explicit Dynamics environment object.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options:
Appears by default for a Harmonic Response, Modal, Linear Buckling, or an Explicit Dynamics analysis.
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Objects Reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Pre-Stress Environment
Harmonic Response, Modal, or Linear Buckling environments only:
Pre-Stress Define By - Specify this property as Program
Controlled (default), Load Step, or Time.
Pre-Stress Loadstep - Displays when Pre-Stress Define By
is specified as Load Step. Enter the load step of Static
Structural analysis that youll use as the starting point to begin your Harmonic Response, Modal, or Linear Buckling analysis. The default value is Last.
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Probe
Pre-Stress Time - Displays when Pre-Stress Define By is
specified as Time. Enter the time from the Static Structural
analysis that you want to use as the starting point to begin
your Harmonic Response, Modal, or Linear Buckling analysis.
The default value is End Time.
Reported Loadstep - Read-only field.
Reported Substep - Read-only field.
Reported Time - Read-only field.
Contact Status - Options include Use True Status, Force
Sticking, Force Bonded.
Newton-Raphson Option - Read-only field for Pre-Stressed
Modal Analyses. Indicates whether the property was selected
in the prestressed environment. Options include Program
Controlled, Full, Modified, Unsymmetric.
Explicit Dynamics environments only:
Mode - Specify this property as Displacement or Material
State.
Time Step Factor - Displays when Mode is specified as Displacement.
Pressure Initialization - Displays when Mode is specified as
Material State. Specify this property as From Deformed
State (default) or From Stress Trace.
Time - The time at which results are extracted from the implicit analysis.
Probe
Determines results at a point on a model or finds minimum or maximum results on a body, face, vertex,
or edge.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Solution
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options:
Use any of the following methods after highlighting Solution object or an
existing Probe object:
Choose Probe> {specific probe} on Solution context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Solution object or in the Geometry window>
Insert> Probe> {specific probe}.
Additional Related Information:
Probes (p. 1001)
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Objects Reference
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object:
Evaluate All Results
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
See the Probe Details View (p. 1003) section.
Project
Includes all objects in the Mechanical application and represents the highest level in the object tree.
Only one Project can exist per Mechanical session.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: None - highest level in the
tree.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Model
Insertion Options:
Appears by default in every Mechanical session.
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Solve
Export - this option provides two selections:
Geometry - exports a CAD file in Mechanical's native format, corresponding to a binary Part Manager
Database of PMDB.
Mesh - following mesh generation, exports the mesh, including nodes, elements, and applicable
topology references, in an ACMO binary database format.
Clear Generated Data
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Author
Subject
Prepared for
Information - The
Mechanical application
First Saved
Last Saved
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Remote Point
provides the following
information that will appear on the title page of
the report.
Project data Management
Product Version
Note
The default values can be specified in Tools>Options under
the Miscellaneous section.
The Save Options defaults are applicable only to new projects. These settings will not be changed for existing projects.
These properties are not supported if you are using the
Workbench System Coupling component system in combination with your Mechanical analysis.
Remote Point
Allows scoping of remote boundary conditions.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Remote Points.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Model or Remote
Points object:
Choose Remote Point on Model or Remote
Points context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on the Model or Remote Points object or in the Geometry window
and select Insert> Remote Point.
Additional Related Information:
Remote Point
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Objects Reference
Remote Boundary Conditions
The right mouse button context menu option Promote to Named Selection is available for Remote
Point objects.
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Definition
Suppressed
Behavior
Pinball Region
DOF Selection specify as Program Controlled (default) or Manual. This
property provides control of which DOFs will activate for corresponding
constraint equations. If the Manual setting is selected, the following additional
properties display.
X Component
Y Component
Z Component
Rotation X
Rotation Y
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Result Tracker
Category
Fields
Rotation Z
Remote Points
Houses all Remote Point objects.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment Remote
Point
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Model object:
Choose Remote Point on Model context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on the Model object
or in the Geometry window, select Insert> Remote Point.
Additional Related Information:
Remote Point
Remote Boundary Conditions
Object Property
The Details view property for this object includes the following.
Category
Graphics
Fields
Show Connection Lines
Result Tracker
Provides results graphs of various quantities (for example, deformation, contact, temperature, kinetic
energy, stiffness energy) vs. time.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Solution Information
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Solution Information object:
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Objects Reference
Choose Result Tracker> {name of Result
Tracker} on Solution Information context toolbar.
Note
You will not be able to add a
Result Tracker from the Solution
Information context toolbar if
the solution is in a solved state.
You will need to clear the solution before adding a Result
Tracker.
Click right mouse button on Solution Information object or in the Geometry window> Insert>
{name of Result Tracker}.
Additional Related Information:
Result Tracker Objects
Solution Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Export - available after solution is obtained.
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Note
Properties may differ for Result Trackers in Explicit Dynamics systems. See Explicit Dynamics
Result Trackers (p. 1054) for more information.
Category
Fields
Definition
Type - Read-only indication of result tracker type for Deformation and Temperature objects. For Contact object, specify contact output.
Orientation - appears for a Deformation result tracker object.
Suppression Prior to solving, you can include or exclude the
result from the analysis. The default is value is No.
Scope
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Type
Cut Frequency - appears if Type = Butterworth.
Minimum filtered value - appears if Type = Butterworth.
Maximum filtered value - appears if Type = Butterworth.
Object
Structural
Structural
Beams
Axial Force, Beam Tool, Bending Moment, Direct Stress, Maximum Bending Stress, Maximum
Combined Stress, Minimum Bending Stress, Minimum Combined Stress, Shear Force, ShearMoment Diagram, Torsional Moment
Thermal Directional Heat Flux, Temperature, Thermal Error, Total Heat Flux
Magnetostatic
Current Density, Directional Field Intensity, Directional Flux Density, Directional Force,
Electric Potential, Flux Linkage, Inductance, Magnetic Error, Total Field Intensity, Total
Flux Density, Total Force
Electric
Directional Current Density, Directional Electric Field Intensity, Electric Voltage, Joule
Heat, Total Current Density, Total Electric Field Intensity
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Objects Reference
Category
General
Object
Coordinate Systems Results (group), User Defined Result
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object:
For Direct Stress, Maximum Bending Stress, Maximum Combined Stress,
Minimum Bending Stress, Minimum Combined Stress: Beam Tool
For Directional Deformation, Total Deformation: Beam Tool, Solution
For all other result objects: Solution
Valid Child Tree Objects:
For Beam Tool: Comment, Direct Stress, Directional Deformation, Figure,
Image, Maximum Bending Stress, Maximum Combined Stress, Minimum
Bending Stress, Minimum Combined Stress, Total Deformation
For all other objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Note
Alert and Convergence may also apply.
Insertion Options:
For results and result tools that are direct child objects of a Solution object,
use any of the following methods after highlighting the Solution object:
Open one of the toolbar drop-down menus or result category on the
Solution context toolbar.
Right-click the mouse on Solution object or in the Geometry window, and
the select Insert and then the desired result or result category.
For results that are direct child objects of a specific result tool, use any of the
following methods after highlighting the specific result tool object:
Choose result on the context toolbar related to the result tool.
Right-click the mouse on a specific result tool object Insert and then the
desired result or result category.
Additional Related Information:
"Using Results" (p. 857)
Solution Context Toolbar
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Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object may include the following.
The following applies to many result objects whose direct parent object is Solution. Many exceptions are
noted. For more complete information check individual descriptions for all results and result tools.
Category
Fields
Scope
Definition
Type - result type indication, can be changed within the same result category.
Read-only indication for: Current Density, Electric Potential, Equivalent Plastic
Strain, Strain Energy, Magnetic Error, Structural Error, Temperature, Thermal
Error, User Defined Result, Vector Principal Elastic Strain, Vector Principal
Stress, J-Integral, VCCT, SIFS
Orientation - appears only for: Axial Force, Directional Deformation, Directional Field Intensity, Directional Flux Density, Directional Force, Directional
Heat Flux, Normal Elastic Strain, Normal Stress, Shear Elastic Strain, Shear
Stress, Torsional Moment, Shell Membrane Stress, Shell Bending Stress.
Expression - appears only for User Defined Result.
Input Unit System - appears only for User Defined Result.
Output Unit - appears only for User Defined Result.
Identifier - appears only for User Defined Result.
Coordinate System - only displayed for results that change with respect to a
coordinate system, such as Normal Stress. For these result types you can
specify: default Global Coordinate System, local Coordinate System, or
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Objects Reference
Solution Coordinate System (for most element types the Solution Coordinate
System aligns with the global coordinate system, however, for surface and line
bodies, elements may align themselves on a per element basis and therefore
create random alignments. To correct this, specify a local coordinate system
on each part and choose Solution Coordinate System option to ensure that
the displayed elements have a consistent alignment).
By - Maximum Over ... is the maximum result over an independent variable
for the node, element, or sample point. ... of Maximum is the value of the
independent variable that the maximum occurred for the node, element, or
sample point. Neither option is available for non-cyclic modal results, or linearized stress results.
Display Time - appears if By is set to Time. (See Note below.)
Frequency - appears if By is set to Frequency. (See Note below.)
Set Number - appears if By is set to Set.
Mode - appears for Modal analyses.
Calculate Time History - appears if By is set to Time or Set.
Sweeping Phase - appears if By is set to Frequency, Set (Harmonic Response
analyses), Mode (Damped Modal Analyses), Maximum Over Frequency, or
Frequency of Maximum.
Phase Increment - appears if By is set to Maximum Over Phase or Phase of
Maximum. The entry can be between 1o and 10o. The default value is 1o.
Identifier - appears only for User Defined Result.
Suppressed - suppresses the object if set to Yes.
Contour Start - appears only for Fracture Results.
Contour End - appears only for Fracture Results.
Active Contour - appears only for Fracture Results.
Note
If you specify a Display Time or Frequency value which exceeds
the final time or frequency in the result file, then Mechanical will
not allow the result to be evaluated.
If you specify a Display Time or Frequency value for which no results are available, then Mechanical performs a linear interpolation
to calculate the results at that specified time. The two times or frequencies in the result file that are the closest to the specified
time/frequency are used in the interpolation.
No interpolation is performed for the Fracture Tool results.
That is, for Fracture Results with a Display Time between the
two solution time points, only the data set associated with the
lower of the solution time points is used.
Integration
Point Results
Display Option - appears only for result items that can display unaveraged
contour results.
Average Across Bodies - When you select Averaged as the Display Option,
this property displays. Setting this property to Yes (the default value is No)
averages results across separate bodies.
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Solution
Maximum Occurs On - not available for: Current Density, Electric Potential,
Strain Energy, Vector Principal Stress.
Maximum
Value Over
Time
This category provides read-only properties that display maximum values of the
results you select over time. These properties are only applicable for static, transient,
explicit, and design assessment analyses.
Minimum
Value Over
Time
This category provides read-only properties that display minimum values of the
results you select over time. These properties are only applicable for static, transient,
explicit, and design assessment analyses.
Information Read-only
status indication of time
stepping.
Time
Load Step
Substep
Iteration Number
Note
If a result changes with respect to coordinate systems, then Mechanical rotates this result in
an identical fashion to MAPDL. For an explanation of rotating results to a different coordinate
system, see Additional POST1 Postprocessing in the Basic Analysis Guide.
Solution
Defines result types and formats for viewing a solution.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Any environment object.
Valid Child Tree Objects: All general Results and Result Tools, Commands,
Comment, Figure, Image, Solution Information
Insertion Options: Appears by default for any analysis.
Note
A Solution object cannot be deleted from the tree.
Additional Related Information:
"Understanding Solving" (p. 1023)
Solution Context Toolbar
Adaptive Convergence
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Evaluate All Results
Stop Solution: available only for RSM solutions.
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Objects Reference
Interrupt Solution: available only for RSM solutions.
Clear Generated Data
Open Solver Files Directory: available for Windows OS only.
Worksheet: Result Summary: available following the completion of the solution process. This option
displays the results content in a tabular format.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Element Selection
Energy Based - appears if Element Selection is set to Manual.
Error Based - appears if Element Selection is set to Manual.
Solution Combination
Manages solutions that are derived from the results of one or more environments. See Design Assessment
for additional Solution Combination capabilities.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: all stress and strain result objects, Directional Deformation, Total Deformation, Contact Tool (only for Frictional Stress,
Penetration, Pressure, and Sliding Distance), Fatigue Tool , Stress Tool,
Comment, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Model object:
Choose Solution Combination on Model context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Model object or in the Geometry window> Insert>
Solution Combination.
Additional Related Information:
Solution Combinations
Underdefined Solution Combinations (Troubleshooting)
The Evaluate All Results right mouse button context menu option is available for this object.
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Spot Weld
Solution Information
Allows tracking, monitoring, or diagnosing of problems that arise during a nonlinear solution.
Also allows viewing certain finite element aspects of the engineering model.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections, Solution
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Image, Result Tracker (available only
when Solution is the parent)
Insertion Options::
Automatically inserted under a Solution object of a new environment or of
an environment included in a database from a previous release.
Click right mouse button on Connections object or in the Geometry window>
Insert> Solution Information.
Additional Related Information:
Solution Information
The following right mouse button context menu option is available for this
object.
Export FE Connections
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Solution Information
FE Connection
Visibility
Activate Visibility
Display
Line Color
Color - appears if Line Color is set to Manual.
Visible on Results
Line Thickness
Spot Weld
Defines conditions for individual contact and target pairs for a spot weld, which is used to connect individual surface body parts to form a surface body model assembly , just as a Contact Region object
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Objects Reference
is used to form a solid model assembly. Several Spot Weld objects can appear as child objects under
a Connection Group object. The Connection Group object name automatically changes to Contacts.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Connections object:
Inserted automatically if spot welds are defined
in the CAD model and you choose Create Automatic Connections through a right mouse click
on Connections (or Contacts) object.
Click Spot Weld button on Connections context
toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections (or
Connection Group) object or in the Geometry
window > Insert> Spot Weld.
Additional Related Information:
Spot Welds
Connections Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency
Hide All Other Bodies
Flip Contact/Target
Merge Selected Contact Regions - appears if contact regions share the same geometry type.
Save Contact Region Settings
Load Contact Region Settings
Reset to Default
Rename Based on Definition
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
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Spring
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Contact (p. 507)
Target (p. 508)
Contact Bodies (p. 508)
Target Bodies (p. 508)
Definition
Scope Mode
ed
Spring
An elastic element that regains its undeformed shape after a compression or extension load is removed.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections
Valid Child Tree Objects: Commands, Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Connections object:
Click Body-Ground> Spring or Body-Body> Spring, as applicable on Connections context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Connections object or in the Geometry window>
Insert> Spring.
Additional Related Information:
Connections Context Toolbar
Springs (p. 606)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Enable/Disable Transparency - similar behavior to feature in Contact Region.
Rename Based on Definition - similar behavior to feature in Contact Region.
Promote to Remote Point (Remote Attachment Only)
Promote to Named Selection
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics Properties
Visible
Definition
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Objects Reference
Spring Behavior
Longitudinal Stiffness
Longitudinal Damping
Preload
Suppressed
Spring Length - read only indication.
Scope
Reference
Mobile
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Objects Reference
For Safety Factor, Safety Margin, or Stress Ratio, use any of the following
methods after highlighting Stress Tool object:
Choose Safety Factor, Safety Margin, or Stress Ratio on Stress Tool
context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Stress Tool object or in the Geometry window> Insert> Stress Tool>Safety Factor, Safety Margin, or Stress Ratio.
Additional Related Information:
Stress Tools (p. 904)
Maximum Equivalent Stress Safety Tool (p. 905)
Maximum Shear Stress Safety Tool (p. 907)
Mohr-Coulomb Stress Safety Tool (p. 908)
Maximum Tensile Stress Safety Tool (p. 910)
The right mouse button context menu option Evaluate All Results - is available for Safety Factor,
Safety Margin, Stress Ratio, and Stress Tool.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
For Stress Tool:
Category
Definition
Fields
Theory
Factor - appears only if Theory is set to Max Shear Stress.
Stress Limit - appears only if Stress Limit Type is set to Custom Value.
Stress Limit Type - appears if Theory is set to any stress tool except MohrCoulomb Stress.
Tensile Limit - appears only if Theory is set to Mohr-Coulomb Stress and
Tensile Limit Type is set to Custom Value.
Compressive Limit - appears only if Theory is set to Mohr-Coulomb Stress
and Compressive Limit Type is set to Custom Value.
Tensile Limit Type - appears only if Theory is set to Mohr-Coulomb Stress.
Compressive Limit Type - appears only if Theory is set to Mohr-Coulomb
Stress.
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry - Use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field,
then click Apply.
Definition
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Symmetry
Display Time
Calculate Time History
Use Average
Identifier
Results - Readonly display of
the following
values:
Minimum
Maximum - appears only for Stress Ratio.
Minimum Occurs On
Maximum Occurs On - appears only for Stress Ratio.
Time
Load Step
Substep
Iteration Number
Surface
Represents a section plane to which you can scope results.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Construction Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image.
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after selecting Construction Geometry object:
Click Surface button on Construction Geometry context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Construction Geometry object or in the Geometry window> Insert> Surface.
Additional Related Information:
Surface (Construction Geometry) (p. 459)
Construction Geometry (p. 1313) object reference
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Definition
Fields
Coordinate System
Suppressed
Symmetry
Represents all definitions of symmetry or periodic/cyclic planes within a model. Each symmetry definition
is represented in a Symmetry Region object, each periodic definition is represented in a Periodic Region
object, and each cyclic definition is represented in a Cyclic Region object.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image,
Periodic/Cyclic Region, Symmetry Region
Insertion Options:
Automatically inserted in the tree if model includes symmetry planes defined in DesignModeler (using the Symmetry or Enclosure feature).
For manual insertion, use any of the following methods
after highlighting Model object:
Choose Symmetry on Model context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Model object or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Symmetry.
Note
Only one Symmetry object is valid per
Model.
Additional Related Information:
Symmetry
Symmetry Context Toolbar
Symmetry Region
Defines an individual plane for symmetry or anti-symmetry conditions. The collection of all Symmetry
Region objects exists under one Symmetry object.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Symmetry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options:
Automatically inserted in the tree if model includes symmetry planes defined
in DesignModeler (using the Symmetry or Enclosure feature).
For manual insertion, use any of the following methods after highlighting
Symmetry object:
Choose Symmetry Region on Symmetry context toolbar.
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Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry - appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection.
Named Selection - appears if Scoping Method is set to Named Selection.
Definition
Scope Mode
Type
Coordinate System
Symmetry Normal
Suppress
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Objects Reference
Promote Remote Point (Remote Attachment Only)
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Scope
Fields
Scoping method - Specify as Geometry Selection (default) or
Named Selection or Remote Point (only available when a userdefined Remote Point exists in the tree).
Geometry - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. Displays the type of geometry (face, edge,
vertex) and the number of geometric entities (for example: 1
Face, 2 Edges) to which the boundary has been applied using
the selection tools. Use selection filters to pick geometry, click
in the Geometry field, then click Apply. The Remote Attachment
option is the required Applied By property (see below) setting
if the geometry scoping is to a single face or multiple faces, a
single edge or multiple edges, or multiple vertices.
Named Selection - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to
Named Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Named Selections.
Remote Points - Visible when the Scoping Method is set to
Remote Point. This field provides a drop-down list of available
userdefined Remote Point.
Applied By - Specify as Remote Attachment (default) or Direct
Attachment.
Coordinate System - this property is available when the Applied
By property is set to Remote Attachment. Allows you to assign
the Thermal Point Mass to a local coordinate system if previously
defined using one or more Coordinate System objects. The
Thermal Point Mass is automatically rotated into the selected
coordinate system if that coordinate system differs from the
global coordinate system.
The individual coordinate properties, X/Y/Z, are available when the
Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment. Define coordinate
origins directly. These properties can be designated as a parameter.
X Coordinate
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Location - this property is available when the Applied By property is set to Remote Attachment. Allows you to change the
location of the load. Once relocated, click in the Location field
and then click Apply.
Definition
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Thickness
Pinball Region
Thickness
Allows you to define variable thickness properties on selected faces of surface bodies.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following methods after highlighting
Geometry object or Body object:
Click Thickness button on Geometry context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Geometry object, Body object, or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Thickness.
Additional Related Information:
Specifying Surface Body Thickness (p. 380)
Geometry Context Toolbar
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Search Faces with Multiple Thicknesses
Promote Remote Point
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection.
In this case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field, then click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to Named
Selection.
Definition
Independent Variable
Coordinate System
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Objects Reference
Function - appears if
Thickness is set to a
function.
Number of Segments
Range Minimum
Range Maximum
Note
The above description applies to a Thickness object that you manually insert into the tree.
When you include thickness associated with a surface body that you import from DesignModeler, an automatically generated Thickness object is added as a child object beneath
the associated Surface Body object. Read only object properties in the Scope and Definition
categories are available for these automatically generated Thickness objects. Additionally,
the right-click context menu item Make Thickness Manual is available for the automatically
generated version of the object.
Validation
The Validation object enables you to evaluate the quality of mapping across source and target meshes.
It provides quantitative measures that help in identifying regions on the target where the mapping
failed to provide an accurate estimate of the source data. You can add validation objects under the
Imported Load or Imported Thickness objects.
Applies to: Validation objects.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Objects: Imported Load or
Imported Thickness objects.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting the Imported Load
or Imported Thickness objects:
Select Validation in the Environment/Geometry
Context Toolbar
Click the right-mouse button on the object you
highlighted and select Insert > Validation from
the context menu.
Additional Related Information:
Imported Load
Imported Thickness
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Validation
Mapping Validation in the ANSYS Mechanical
User's Guide
Right-mouse Options:
Analyze: Invokes calculation of Validation object. See Mapping Validation in the ANSYS Mechanical
User's Guide.
Export: Exports the data to a text file in tabbed delimited format. See Exporting Data in the ANSYS
Mechanical User's Guide.
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Definition
Note
* This property is only available when data is imported through
the External Data system.
Settings
Type - Specify Reverse Validation, Distance Based Average Comparison, Source Value, or Undefined Points.
Number of Points - available when Distance Based Average Comparison
is selected. Specifies how many points to use in the distance based average mapping calculations.
Output Type - Specify either Relative Difference or Absolute Difference.
(This is not displayed for the Source Value or Undefined Points types.)
Graphics Controls
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Objects Reference
Category
Fields
Display Minimum appears if object state is solved. Graphics display
will use this value to show only items above this threshold. Must be
greater than the Minimum and less than the Maximum property. (This
is not displayed for the Undefined Points type.)
Display Maximum appears if object state is solved. Graphics display
will use this value to only show items below this threshold. Must be
greater than Minimum and less than Maximum property. (This is not
displayed for the Undefined Points type.)
Display In Parent graphics items can be overlaid on parent objects
when this item is set to On.
Legend Divisions control how many contour colors to use in displaying
graphics data. (This is not displayed for the Undefined Points type.)
Statistics
Velocity
Applies velocity as an initial condition for use in a transient structural analysis or an explicit dynamics
analysis.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Initial Conditions
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure,
Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Initial Conditions
object:
Click Velocity button on Initial Conditions context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Initial Conditions
object or in the Geometry window > Insert>
Velocity.
Additional Related Information:
Define Initial Conditions
Transient Structural Analysis (p. 285)
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Virtual Body
Explicit Dynamics Analysis
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Scope
Scoping Method
Geometry appears if Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In this case, use
selection filters to pick geometry, click the Geometry field, then click Apply.
Named Selection appears if Scoping Method is set to Named Selection.
Definition
Virtual Body
Defines an individual virtual body. Virtual bodies are supported for assembly meshing only.
Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not supported by Mechanical solvers.
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Objects Reference
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Virtual Body Group
Valid Child Tree Objects: Fluid Surface, Comment,
Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use either of the following
methods after highlighting the Geometry object:
Click right mouse button on the Geometry object and
select > Insert> Virtual Body.
Choose Virtual Body on the Geometry context toolbar.
Additional Related Information:
Assembly Meshing
Defining Virtual Bodies
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics Properties
Visible - Toggles visibility of the selected virtual body in the Geometry window.
Definition
Material
Statistics
Nodes - Read-only indication of the number of nodes associated with the virtual body when meshed.
Elements - Read-only indication of the number of elements associated with
the virtual body when meshed.
Mesh Metric - Read-only metric data associated with the virtual body when
meshed.
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Virtual Cell
Note
Virtual Body and Fluid Surface objects are fluids concepts, and as such they are not supported by Mechanical solvers.
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Geometry
Valid Child Tree Objects: Virtual Body, Comment,
Figure, Image
Insertion Options: When you insert the first Virtual
Body object into the tree, the Virtual Body Group
object is inserted automatically.
Additional Related Information:
Assembly Meshing
Defining Virtual Bodies
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
Category
Fields
Graphics Properties
Visible - Toggles visibility of the virtual body group in the Geometry window
Definition
Statistics
Virtual Cell
Defines an individual face or edge group, defined manually or automatically. Virtual Cell objects do
not appear in the tree.
Creation Options:
For automatic creation of virtual cell regions, a Virtual Cell object is created for each region that meets
the criterion specified in the Details view of the Virtual Topology object.
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Objects Reference
For manual creation of Virtual Cell objects, highlight the Virtual Topology object, select one or more
faces or one or more edges in the Geometry window, and then do one of the following:
Choose Merge Cells on the Virtual Topology context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on the Virtual Topology object and select Insert> Virtual Cell from the
context menu.
Click right mouse button in the Geometry window and select Insert> Virtual Cell from the context
menu.
Additional Related Information:
Virtual Topology Overview
Virtual Topology Context Toolbar
"Meshing: Virtual Topology" (in the Meshing help)
Object Properties
The properties for this object include the following. For related information, refer to Using the Virtual
Topology Properties Dialog to Edit Properties.
Category
General
Fields
Cell Class - Read-only indication of cell class for selected Virtual Cell object.
Geometry - Read-only indication of components that make up the Virtual Cell
object.
Suppressed - Read-only indication of suppression status of selected Virtual
Cell object.
Project to Underlying Geometry - Defines whether the mesh should project
to the original underlying geometry (Yes) or faceted geometry (No).
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Object Properties
The properties for this object include the following. For related information, refer to Using the Virtual
Topology Properties Dialog to Edit Properties.
Category
General
Fields
Geometry - Read-only indication showing that one vertex makes up the Virtual
Hard Vertex object.
Suppressed - Read-only indication of suppression status of selected Virtual
Hard Vertex object.
Virtual Hard Vertex Location - Read-only indication of the XYZ location of
the Virtual Hard Vertex object.
Object Properties
The properties for this object include the following. For related information, refer to Using the Virtual
Topology Properties Dialog to Edit Properties.
Category
General
Fields
Geometry - Read-only indication of components that make up the Virtual
Split Edge object.
Suppressed - Read-only indication of suppression status of selected Virtual
Split Edge object.
Split Ratio - Defines the location of the split for the selected Virtual Split Edge
object. Represented as a fraction of the total length of the edge. The default
is 0.5.
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Objects Reference
Note
Virtual Hard Vertex objects can be defined for use in split face operations.
Additional Related Information:
Virtual Topology Overview
Virtual Topology Context Toolbar
"Meshing: Virtual Topology" (in the Meshing help)
Object Properties
The properties for this object include the following. For related information, refer to Using the Virtual
Topology Properties Dialog to Edit Properties.
Category
General
Fields
Geometry - Read-only indication of components that make up the Virtual
Split Face object.
Suppressed - Read-only indication of suppression status of selected Virtual
Split Face object.
Vertices - Read-only indication showing that two vertices were selected.
Virtual Topology
Represents all definitions of face or edge groups, and all definitions of virtual split edges, virtual split
faces, and virtual hard vertices within a model. Each definition is represented in a Virtual Cell, Virtual
Split Edge, Virtual Split Face, or Virtual Hard Vertex object, respectively. Virtual Cell, Virtual Split
Edge, Virtual Split Face, and Virtual Hard Vertex objects do not appear in the tree.
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Virtual Topology
Tree Dependencies:
Valid Parent Tree Object: Model
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Figure, Image
Insertion Options: Use any of the following
methods after highlighting Model object:
Choose Virtual Topology on Model context toolbar.
Click right mouse button on Model object or in the
Geometry window> Insert> Virtual Topology.
Note
Only one Virtual Topology object is
valid per Model.
Additional Related Information:
Virtual Topology Overview
Virtual Topology Context Toolbar
"Meshing: Virtual Topology" (in the Meshing help)
The following right mouse button context menu options are available for this object.
Generate Virtual Cells
Generate Virtual Cells on Selected Entities
Object Properties
The Details view properties for this object include the following.
The Lock position of dependent edge splits setting applies to virtual split edge behavior.
Category
Fields
Definition
Behavior
Advanced
Generate on Update
Merge Face Edges
Lock position of dependent edge splits
Statistics
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1411
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1413
General Information
Body Filtering Property
There are four body filtering properties: Process Solid Bodies, Process Surface Bodies, Process Line
Bodies and Mixed Import Resolution. Their value is set in the Project Schematic and they determine
what bodies will get imported to the Mechanical application. The default setting is:
Yes for Solid and Surface Bodies,
No for Line Bodies and,
None for Mixed Import Resolution.
Material Properties
The CAD system interfaces will process only the isotropic material type.
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Mechanical Troubleshooting
Problem Situations (p. 1415)
Recommendations (p. 1433)
Problem Situations
A Linearized Stress Result Cannot Be Solved.
A Load Transfer Error Has Occurred.
Although the Exported File Was Saved to Disk
Although the Solution Failed to Solve Completely at all Time Points.
An Error Occurred Inside the SOLVER Module: Invalid Material Properties
An Error Occurred While Solving Due To Insufficient Disk Space
An Error Occurred While Starting the Solver Module
An Internal Solution Magnitude Limit Was Exceeded.
An Iterative Solver Was Used for this Analysis
At Least One Body Has Been Found to Have Only 1 Element
At Least One Spring Exists with Incorrectly Defined Nonlinear Stiffness
Animation Does not Export Correctly
Application Not Closing as Expected
Assemblies Missing Parts
CATIA V5 and IGES Surface Bodies
Constraint Equations Were Not Properly Matched
Error Inertia tensor is too large
Failed to Load Microsoft Office Application
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1415
Troubleshooting
Illogical Reaction Results
Large Deformation Effects are Active
MPC equations were not built for one or more contact regions or remote boundary conditions
One or More Contact Regions May Not Be In Initial Contact
One or more MPC contact regions or remote boundary conditions may have conflicts
One or More Parts May Be Underconstrained
One or More Remote Boundary Conditions is Scoped to a Large Number of Elements
Problems Unique to Background (Asynchronous) Solutions
Problems Using Solution
Running Norton AntiVirusTM Causes the Mechanical Application to Crash
The Correctly Licensed Product Will Not Run
The Deformation is Large Compared to the Model Bounding Box
The Initial Time Increment May Be Too Large for This Problem
The Joint Probe cannot Evaluate Results
The License Manager Server Is Down
Linux Platform - Localized Operating System
The Low/High Boundaries of Cyclic Symmetry
The Remote Boundary Condition object is defined on the Cyclic Axis of Symmetry
The Solution Combination Folder
The Solver Engine was Unable to Converge
The Solver Has Found Conflicting DOF Constraints
Problem with RSM-Mechanical Connection
Unable to Find Requested Modes
You Must Specify Joint Conditions to all Three Rotational DOFs
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Problem Situations
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Troubleshooting
green check state (up to date) but the solution itself will still be in an obsolete state because it is not
fully complete. Use the Evaluate Results right mouse button option on a Solution object or a result
object in order to additionally postprocess the partial solution.
See Unconverged Results (p. 876) for further details.
Material Definition
Check the Details view for each part to see that you selected the correct material for each part. Go to
Engineering Data to edit and check your material files and data and to verify the material definitions
(including numbers and units). Note that, depending on the type of result, you will have a minimum
of properties to be set.
Thermal Results:
Thermal conductivity is required. Can be constant or temperature-dependent.
Specific Heat is required in a thermal transient analysis. Can be constant or temperature-dependent.
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Problem Situations
Linear Hard Magnetic Material properties specified. Only Linear Hard Magnetic Material property
is set.
Nonlinear Soft Magnetic Material properties specified: Either only BH Curve or BH Curve and Nonlinear
Orthotropic Permeability are set.
Nonlinear Hard Magnetic Material properties specified: Only Demagnetization BH Curve is set.
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Troubleshooting
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Problem Situations
Example of a "bad" mesh for reduced integration:
Note
Support Requirements
Tabular Data requires at least two rows of data.
The properties Longitudinal Damping and Preload are not applicable for Springs with nonlinear
stiffness.
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Troubleshooting
Reason
It is unclear or ambiguous as to which reaction should be attributed to which support, load, or contact
item. Refer to this Note for details.
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Problem Situations
MPC equations were not built for one or more contact regions or remote
boundary conditions
... Due to potential conflicts with the cyclic symmetry constraints. This may reduce
solution accuracy. Please refer to the Troubleshooting section.
Cyclic symmetry is enforced with the help of constraint equations between pairs of nodes on the low
and high sector boundaries respectively. When such nodes also participate in MPC contact, which requires
constraint equations of its own, conflicts may arise. Please review results carefully, since the MPC contact
will be compromised at these locations.
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Troubleshooting
If initial contact was desired and the contact pair has a significant geometric gap, setting the Pinball Radius manually to a sufficiently large value may be required.
If symmetric contact is active, it is possible that one pair may be initially open and its symmetric pair be
initially in contact. Check the solution output to confirm this.
One or more MPC contact regions or remote boundary conditions may have
conflicts
...With other applied boundary conditions or other contact regions. This may reduce
solution accuracy. Tip: You can graphically display FE Connections from the Solution
Information Object. Refer to Troubleshooting in the Help System for more details.
During solution it was found that one or more contact pairs using MPC (multi point constraint) contact
formulation overlaps with another contact region or boundary condition. The same is true for remote
boundary conditions overlapping with another contact region or boundary condition.
Due to the fact that MPC formulation can cause over constraint if applied to the same nodes more than
once, the program may have not been able to completely bond the desired entities together. You may
check the solution output located in the Worksheet of a Solution Information object to determine
which pairs and nodes are affected by this condition. Specifically this can happen when:
A contact pair entity (either an edge or face) also has a Dirichlet (prescribed displacement/temperature)
boundary condition applied to it. In this case the MPC constraints will not be created at nodes that have
prescribed conditions thus possibly causing parts to lose contact. Sometimes this warning may be disregarded in cases such as a large face with a fixed support at one edge and a contact pair on another. If it
is determined that overlap does indeed exist, consider relocating the applied support or using a formulation
other than MPC.
Two MPC contact pairs share topology (such as a face or an edge). Again it is possible for one or both of
these pairs to lose contact. This message may especially occur when edge/face contact is automatically
generated by the program because often 2 complementary contact pairs (that is, edge part 1/face part 2
and edge part 2/face part 1) are created. Often in this case the message can be ignored after verifying
result correctness and if necessary, deleting/suppressing one of the inverse pairs. This condition may also
occur when 1 part (typically a surface body), is being contacted by 2 or more parts in the same spatial
region. In this case it is possible for one or more of the parts to lose contact. Consider reducing the Pinball
Radius to avoid overlap or changing one or more of the regions in question to use a contact formulation
other than MPC.
When MPC contact is used to connect rigid bodies and joints, the overconstraint situation can sometimes
occur.
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Problem Situations
and the program adds them anyway, you may disable them by setting the Weak Springs option to
Off in the Details view of the Analysis Settings object.
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Troubleshooting
If this happens and you don't want the solve job to continue on the Linux machine it will be necessary
for you to kill the process manually. The ability to solve to two different Linux machines simultaneously
is not allowed.
The solve command may have failed to execute on the remote Linux server. Verify the command's spelling
and/or path. Solve commands are issued to the remote server using the rexec interface. Failures may occur
if the resulting path ($path) is insufficient. $path can be verified by issuing rexec on the command
prompt on the local machine. For example:
rexec machinename -l username echo $path > diagnosticsfile
(where "l" is the letter "el)"
The machinename and username match the entries in the Solve Process Settings, and diagnosticsfile
corresponds to the recipient on the local machine for the command output.
Note
After issuing rexec, if you receive the following message, rexec isn't enabled on the remote
Linux server. This feature must be enabled on the remote Linux server in order for the
solution to proceed.
> rexec:connect:Connection refused
rexec: can't establish connection
If the path to the solve command is unavailable on the remote server, it can be added to user or
system-wide files that initialize the startup shell (for example, .cshrc or /etc/csh.login on Cshells). Consult the Linux server's rexec interface and appropriate shell manual pages for details.
If you cannot make ASCII transfers to a Linux server, changes need to be made on the server. Background
solutions on a remote Linux server use file transfer protocol (ftp). Therefore, the system administrator
must install ftp and enable it. Ftp uses ASCII transfer mode to convert PC text to Linux text. If ASCII mode
is disabled, it is not obvious because error messages do not imply this. On some ftp servers (vsftpd, for
example), by default, the server will pretend to allow ASCII mode, but in fact, will ignore the request. You
will need to ensure that the ASCII upload and download options are enabled to have the server actually
do ASCII mangling on files when in ASCII mode. To enable these options, the system administrator should
consult the operating system documentation. The following vsftp.conf modification procedure is Linux
platform specific and is provided as an example only.
1. In /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf, uncomment the following lines (that is, remove the # at the beginning of these lines):
ascii_upload_enable=YES
ascii_download_enable=YES
2. Restart the server.
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Problem Situations
.
If the geometry that is notated looks valid, but is small compared to the rest of the model, adjusting
the Sizing Control may correct the problem.
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Troubleshooting
This situation can occur if you install the Mechanical application before creating your license file. In this
case, the Mechanical application will run only in read-only mode. When you create your license file
later, you must choose a license under Mechanical APDL Product Launcher in the Start menu. Once
there, select the product that you have licensed to reset the default to the correct product. Otherwise,
the Mechanical application will continue to run in read-only mode.
This situation can also occur if you upgrade your license to a higher Mechanical product. Again, you
must choose a license under Mechanical APDL Product Launcher in the Start menu. Then reset to
the appropriate product. Otherwise, the Mechanical application will continue to run as the lower, previously-licensed product.
The Initial Time Increment May Be Too Large for This Problem
... Check results carefully. Refer to Troubleshooting in the Help System for more details.
This message will appear if the program determines that the initial time increment used in the thermal
transient analysis may be too large based on the "Fourier modulus" (Fo). This dimensionless quantity
can be used as a guideline to define a conservative time step based on thermal material properties and
element sizes. It is defined as:
Fo = k (t) / c (lengthe2)
where:
lengthe = Average element length
t = Time step
k = Thermal Conductivity
c = Specific Heat
= Density
Specifically this warning will be issued if the program finds that the Fourier modulus is greater than
100, that is, Fo > 100. Stated in terms of the initial time step (ITS), this warning appears when the ITS
is 100 times greater than the time step suggested by the Fourier modulus in the form expressed below:
t = lengthe2 / (k / (c ))
This check is done on a per body basis and the results are echoed in the Mechanical APDL output listing.
For example:
********* Initial Time Increment Check And Fourier Modulus *********
Specified Initial Time Increment: .75
Estimated Increment Needed, le*le/alpha, Body 1: 0.255118
Estimated Increment Needed, le*le/alpha, Body 2: 1.30416
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Problem Situations
Estimated Increment Needed, le*le/alpha, Body 3: 0.158196
Estimated Increment Needed, le*le/alpha, Body 4: 0.364406
If this warning is issued make sure that the specified time step sizes are sufficiently fine to accurately
capture the transient phenomenon. The proper use of this guideline depends on the type of problem
being solved and on accuracy expectations.
Resolution
When this error message appears, start the license manager on the other machines designated as license
servers. If you get this message and determine that the license manager is still running, and you are
running in a one-server environment, then the IP address of the license server machine was changed
while the application was running (this is usually caused by connecting to or disconnecting from an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) that dynamically allocates IP addresses). To correct this situation, you
must return the IP address to the same address that the license server had when the application was
started. If the IP address changes after you start the application (either because you connected to or
disconnected from your ISP), you can correct the error by restarting the application. You should not
need to restart the license manager.
You can avoid this problem by remaining connected to or disconnected from the ISP the entire time
you are running the application.
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variable and set to "en-us" (e.g. "setenv LANG en-us" for csh shell) to force ALL applications (including
Workbench) to use the period delimiter consistently throughout. Note that setting LANG to en-us may
also cause some strings to be displayed in English, even if your language preference was set to a nonEnglish language. Within Mechanical, analysis settings for Explicit Dynamics and Rigid Dynamics, as well
as Imported Load mapping settings are not localized.
If you are using a localized operating system (such as French or German), you must set the following
VisualMainWin control on any machines running these applications in order for these applications to
recognize the correct numerical format. ANSYS Workbench must already be installed before setting this
control.
1. cd to:
<wb_install directory>/v140/aisol
The Remote Boundary Condition object is defined on the Cyclic Axis of Symmetry
... This may reduce solution accuracy. Please refer to the Troubleshooting section in
the Help System.
This message is displayed when the software detects that a Remote Boundary Condition object is defined
on the Cyclic Axis of Symmetry. To obtain accurate results, it is necessary to scope that Remote
Boundary Condition to a Remote Point, which should be properly constrained by a Remote Displacement.
In addition, non-physical results might be exposed if the Remote Boundary Conditions Behavior option
is specified as Deformable.
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Problem Situations
At least one environment is checked in the Solution Combination Worksheet.
The selected environments are static structural analyses.
The selected environments do not contain convergence.
The Solution folder within one or more selected environments makes use of Cyclic Solution Display
options other than Program Controlled.
For more information, see Solution Combinations (p. 1019).
Recommendations
When Advanced Contact is NOT Present in the Model ...
1. Check for sufficient supports to prevent rigid body motion (structural) or check for thermal material
curves or convection curves which rise and/or fall sharply over the temperature range (thermal).
2. If you encounter a convergence error during a thermal analysis that is using contact, consider modifying
the Thermal Conductance property.
When Advanced Contact IS Present in the Model ...
1. Check for sufficient supports to prevent rigid body motion or that contact with other parts will prevent
rigid motion.
2. Check that the loading is of a reasonable nature. Unlike linear problems whose results will scale linearly
with the loading, advanced contact is nonlinear and convergence problems may arise if the loading
is too big or small in a real world setting.
3. If the contact type is frictionless, try setting the type to rough. This may help some problems to converge
if any possible sliding is not constrained.
4. Check that the mesh is sufficiently fine on faces that may be in contact. Too coarse a mesh may cause
inaccurate answers and convergence difficulties.
5. Consider softening the normal contact stiffness KN to a value of .1. The default value is 1 and may be
changed by setting the Normal Stiffness. Smaller KN multipliers will allow more contact penetration
which may cause inaccuracies but may allow problems to converge that would not otherwise.
6. If symmetric contact is being used (by default the contact is symmetric), consider using asymmetric
contact pairs (p. 512). This may help problems that experience oscillating convergence patterns due
to contact chattering. The program can be directed to automatically use asymmetric contact in the
Details view of the Contact Folder.
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Recommendations
Recommendations
Microsoft ClearType edge smoothing option may cause font display problem
If you use Microsoft ClearType edge smoothing method with Large size DPI setting, you may see distorted
dimension text in DesignModeler and legend text in the Mechanical application. The problem occurs
when the user minimizes or maximizes the Workbench window. In DesignModeler the display can be
corrected on some machines by nudging the graphics window pane a pixel or two. This will cause a
resize event in the graphics browser which will redraw the dimension text properly. Nudging the
graphics window pane does not correct the problem in the Mechanical application, however. Alternatively,
if the edge smoothing method is set to Standard instead of ClearType, then the text display appears
correctly in both applets. Please note though, this is machine dependent, so the suggestions may not
work on all machines. To ensure the text appears properly, it is recommended to turn off edge
smoothing entirely.
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Callout
Context Menu
Context Toolbar
A toolbar containing options appropriate for the current level in the Tree
Outline (p. 3).
Deprecate
When a function in the API is removed it will be deprecated and undocumented. This means that it will still be available for the next release,
but will be removed in the future. A warning will be provided with a
suggested alternative method of achieving the same function.
Details View
Provides information on the highlighted object in the Tree Outline (p. 3).
Displacement
Double
Data type that can be assigned to real (decimal) numbers, e.g. 2.3462
Drag
Moving an on-screen object in the Tree Outline (p. 3) from one location
to another using the mouse cursor while holding down the left button.
The drag is interpreted as "move" if the object is dragged from the outline
and "copy" if the object is dragged from the outline while holding down
the Ctrl key
Edge
A selectable entity on a part that occurs at the intersection of two surfaces. In a surface model, an edge can also exist on the edge of one
surface.
Elastic Strain
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A selectable area on a part bordered on all sides by edges. Periodic, nonboundary edged faces (like spheres) may occasionally appear.
Factor of Safety
FEA
Fundamental Frequencies
Heat Flux
A measure of heat flow per unit area. The basic unit for heat flux is (Heat
/ Length*Length).
Int
Margin of Safety
Multiple Select
Select more than one surface, edge or vertex by holding the Ctrl key.
Object
Python
This is a non-proprietary scriptable programming language that is commonly used throughout the world. Full details can be found at www.python.org. A number of debuggers are available to enable a script to be
stepped through.
Reference Temperature
Right-Hand Rule
Might occur when the part is free to translate or rotate in one or more
directions. For example, a body floating in space is free to move in the
X-, Y-, and Z-directions and to rotate about the X-, Y-, and Z-directions.
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Stress
A measure of the internal forces inside a body. The basic unit for stress
is (Force / Length*Length).
String
Data type that can be assigned to one or more characters of text, e.g.
Hello World
Temperature
Vertex
The fixed global Cartesian (X, Y, Z) coordinate system defined for a part
by the CAD system.
XML
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Appendix B. Tutorials
This section includes step-by-step tutorials that represent some of the basic analyses you can perform
in the Mechanical Application. The tutorials are designed to be self-paced and each have associated
geometry input files. You will need to download all of these input files before starting any of the tutorials.
To access tutorials and their input files on the ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/
training.
The following tutorials are included within this section:
Steady-State and Transient Thermal Analysis of a Circuit Board
Cyclic Symmetry Analysis of a Rotor - Brake Assembly
Using Finite Element Access to Resolve Overconstraint
Actuator Mechanism using Rigid Body Dynamics
Track Roller Mechanism using Point on Curve Joints and Rigid Body Dynamics
Simple Pendulum using Rigid Dynamics and Nonlinear Bushing
Fracture Analysis of a Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) using Pre-Meshed Crack
Fracture Analysis of an X-Joint Problem with Surface Flaw using Internally Generated Crack Mesh
Fracture Analysis of a 2D Cracked Specimen using Pre-Meshed Crack
Interface Delamination Analysis of Double Cantilever Beam
Delamination Analysis using Contact Based Debonding Capability
Nonlinear Static Structural Analysis of a Rubber Boot Seal
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Tutorials
Features Illustrated
Linked analyses
Attaching geometry
Model manipulation
Mesh method and sizing controls
Constant and time-varying loads
Solving
Time-history results
Result probes
Charts
Procedure
1. Create analysis system.
You need to establish a transient thermal analysis that is linked to a steady-state thermal analysis.
a. Start ANSYS Workbench.
b. From the Toolbox, drag a Steady-State Thermal system onto the Project Schematic.
c. From the Toolbox, drag a Transient Thermal system onto the Steady-State Thermal system such
that cells 2, 3, 4, and 6 are highlighted in red.
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2. Attach geometry.
a. In the Steady-State Thermal schematic, right-click the Geometry cell, and then choose Import
Geometry.
b. Browse to open the file BoardWithChips.x_t. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal;
go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
3. Continue preparing the analysis in the Mechanical Application.
a. In the Steady-State Thermal schematic, right-click the Model cell, and then choose Edit. The
Mechanical Application opens and displays the model.
b. For convenience , use the Rotate toolbar button to manipulate the model so it displays as shown
below.
Note
You can perform the same model manipulations by holding down the mouse wheel
or middle button while dragging the mouse.
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Setting a specific mesh method control and mesh sizing controls will ensure a good quality mesh.
Mesh Method:
a. Right-click Mesh in the tree and choose Insert> Method.
b. Select all bodies by choosing Edit> Select All from the toolbar, then clicking the Apply button in
the Details view.
c. In the Details view, set Method to Hex Dominant, and Free Face Mesh Type to All Quad.
Mesh Body Sizing Board Components:
a. Right-click Mesh in the tree and choose Insert> Sizing.
b. Select all bodies except the board by first enabling the Body selection toolbar button, then holding
the Ctrl keyboard button and clicking on the 15 individual bodies. Click the Apply button in the
Details view when you are done selecting the bodies.
c. Change Element Size from Default to 0.0009 m.
Mesh Body Sizing Board:
a. Right-click Mesh in the tree and choose Insert> Sizing.
b. Select the board only and change Element Size from Default to 0.002 m.
Generate Mesh:
Right-click Mesh in the tree and choose Generate Mesh.
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b. Right-click Steady-State Thermal in the tree and choose Insert> Internal Heat Generation.
c. Type 5e7 in the Magnitude field and press Enter.
General items to note:
The applied loads are shown using color coded labels in the graphics.
Time is used even in a steady-state thermal analysis.
The default end time of the analysis is 1 second.
In a steady-state thermal analysis, the loads are ramped from zero. You can edit the table of load
vs. time to modify the load behavior.
You can also type in expressions that are functions of time for loads.
6. Apply a convection load to the entire circuit board.
The entire circuit board is subjected to a convection load representing Stagnant Air - Simplified
Case.
a. Select all bodies by choosing Edit> Select All.
b. Choose Convection from the Environment toolbar.
c. Import temperature dependent convection coefficient and choose Stagnant Air - Simplified Case.
Note that the Ambient Temperature defaults to 22oC.
i.
Click the flyout menu in the Film Coefficient field and choose Import Temperature Dependent
(adjacent to the thermometer icon).
ii. Click the radio button for Stagnant Air - Simplified Case, then click OK.
7. Prepare for a temperature result.
The resulting temperature of the entire model will be reviewed.
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Tutorials
Right-click Solution in the tree under Steady-State Thermal and choose Insert> Thermal> Temperature.
8. Solve the steady-state thermal analysis.
Choose Solve from the toolbar.
9. Review the temperature result.
Highlight Temperature in the tree.
You have completed the steady-state thermal analysis, which is the first part of the overall objective
for this tutorial. You will perform the transient thermal analysis in the remaining steps.
Items to note in preparation for the transient thermal analysis:
If you highlight Initial Temperature under Transient Thermal in the tree, you will notice in the Details
view, the read only displays of Initial Temperature and Initial Temperature Environment. In general,
the initial temperature can be:
Uniform Temperature - where you specify a temperature for all bodies in the structure at time =
0, or
Non-Uniform Temperature - (as in this example) where you import the temperature specification
at time = 0 from a steady-state analysis.
The initial temperature environment is from the steady-state thermal analysis that you just performed.
By default the last set of results from the steady-state analysis will be used as the initial condition. You
can specify a different set (different time point) if multiple result sets are available.
10. Specify a time duration for the transient analysis.
A time duration of the transient study will be 200 seconds.
Under Transient Thermal, highlight the Analysis Settings object and enter 200 in either the Step
End Time field in the Details view or in the End Time column in the Tabular Data window. Also note
and accept the default initial, maximum, and minimum time step controls for this analysis.
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b. Right-click Transient Thermal in the tree and choose Insert> Internal Heat Generation.
c. Enter the following data in the Tabular Data window:
Time = 0; Internal Heat Generation = 0
Note
Enter each of the following sets of data in the row beneath the end time of 200 s.
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Tutorials
Loads can be specified as one of three types:
Constant remains constant throughout the time history of the transient.
Tabular (Time) (as in this example) define a table of load vs. time.
Function enter a function such as =10*sin(time) to define a variation of load with respect to
time. The function definition requires you to start with a = as the first character.
12. Apply internal heat generation to simulate on/off switching on second chip.
Another chip on the board is energized between 60 and 70 seconds and represents an internal heat
generation load of 1e8 W/m3 during this period.
a. Select the chip shown below by first enabling the Body selection toolbar button, then clicking on
the chip.
b. Right-click Transient Thermal in the tree and choose Insert> Internal Heat Generation.
c. Enter the following data in the Tabular Data window:
Time = 0; Internal Heat Generation = 0
Note
Enter each of the following sets of data in the row beneath the end time of 200 s.
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The Tabular Data window shows the min/max values of temperature at a time point.
By moving the mouse, you can move the bar along the Graph as shown, to any time, click the right
mouse button and Retrieve this Result to review the results at a particular time.
You can also animate the solution.
16. Review the time history of the temperature result for each of the chips.
Temperature probes are used to obtain temperatures at specific locations on the model.
a. Right-click Solution and choose Insert> Probe> Temperature.
b. Select the chip to which internal heat generation was applied in the steady state analysis and click
the Apply button in the Details view.
c. Follow the same procedure to insert two more probes for the two chips with internal heat generations
in the transient thermal analysis.
d. Right-click Solution or Temperature Probe and choose Evaluate All Results.
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17. Plot probe results on a chart.
a. Select the three temperature probes in the tree and select the New Chart and Table button from
the toolbar.
b. Right-click in the white space outside the chart in the Graph window and choose Show Legend.
c. In the Details view, you can change the X Axis variable as well as selectively omit data from being
displayed.
You have completed the transient thermal analysis and accomplished the second part of the overall
objective for this tutorial.
End of tutorial.
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Features Demonstrated
Cyclic Regions
Named Selections based on Criteria
Thermal Steady-State Analysis with Cyclic Symmetry
Static Structural Analysis with Cyclic Symmetry
Modal Analysis with Cyclic Symmetry
Generation of Restart Points
Modal Analysis with Nonlinear Prestress (Linear Perturbation)
Note
The procedural steps in this tutorial assume that you are familiar with basic navigation
techniques within the Mechanical application. If you are new to using the application, consider
running the tutorial: Steady-State and Transient Thermal Analysis of a Circuit Board before
attempting to run this tutorial.
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Tutorials
e. To measure the free vibration response, go to the Toolbox, drag and drop a Modal system onto the
Static Structural system such that cells 2, 3, 4, and 6 are highlighted in red.
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Repeat step e two more times to complete adding the remaining analysis systems. The layout of the
analysis systems and interconnections in the Project Schematic should appear as shown below.
2. Assign materials.
Accept Structural Steel (typically the default material) for the model.
a. In the Steady-State Thermal schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and choose Edit....
The Engineering Data tab opens and displays Structural Steel as the default material.
b. Click the Return to Project toolbar button.
3. Attach geometry.
a. In the Steady-State Thermal schematic, right-click the Geometry cell, and then choose Import
Geometry.
b. Browse to open the file Rotor_Brake.agdb. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal;
go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
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4. Define Connections. Frictional contact exists between the rotor and brake pad, whereas bonded contact
exists between the wall and the rotor.
a. Expand the Connections folder in the tree, then expand the Contacts folder. Within the Contacts
folder, two contact regions were detected automatically and displayed as Contact Region and Contact
Region 2.
b. Right-click the Contacts folder and choose Renamed Based on Definition. The contact region names
automatically change to Bonded - Pad to Rotor and Bonded - Blade to Wall respectively.
c. Highlight Bonded - Pad to Rotor and in the Details view, set Type to Frictional. Note that the name
of the object changes accordingly.
d. In the Friction Coefficient field, type 0.2 and press Enter.
Note
For higher values of contact friction coefficient a damped modal analysis would be
needed. At a level of 0.2 damping effects are being neglected.
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1. Create a Named Selection for this Mesh Control.
a. Right-click on Model and choose Insert> Named Selection.
b. Highlight the Selection object, and set Scoping Method to Worksheet.
c. Program the Worksheet, as shown below, to select the edges at 90 degrees of azimuth in the cylindrical
coordinate system, keeping those in the z-axis range [1mm, 6 mm] (to remove the thickness of the
wall). To add rows to the Worksheet, right-click in the table and select the option from the flyout
menus.
d. Click the Generate button. You should see 11 edges.
e. Rename the object to Edges for Wall Rotor Pad Sector Boundary. The selection should display as
follows:.
Note
It may be useful to undock the Worksheet window and tile it with the Geometry
view as shown above.
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c. Specify a Film Coefficient of air by right-clicking on the property and choosing Import Temperature
Dependent upon which you choose Stagnant Air - Simplified Case.
2. Insulate the upper and lower faces of the Wall.
Select the upper and lower faces of the Wall, then right-click and choose Insert> Perfectly Insulated.
3. Apply a temperature load to the Pad and Rotor.
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Note
Although insignificant in this model, temperature variations and their effect on the
structural material properties are generally important to the formulation of physically
accurate models.
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1. Apply the pressure and boundary conditions to engage the brake pad into the rotor.
a. Select the bottom face of the Pad as shown below. Right-click the Static Structural object in the
tree and choose Insert> Pressure.
b. In the Details view, click the Magnitude flyout menu, choose Function, and specify: =time*time*4000,
then press Enter. This represents a quadratic function reaching 4000 MPa by the end of the load
step.
c. Set up the frictionless supports on the faces of Blade, Wall and Pad as shown below.
g. To ensure that Restart Points are generated, under Restart Controls, set Generate Restart Points
to Manual, and request to retain All Files for load steps and substeps. Maximum Points to Save
should also be set to All.
3. Proceed to solve the model using the standard procedure.
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To review the contact status, insert a Contact Tool in the Solution folder. To display only the contact
results at the frictional contact, unselect Bonded - Wall To Blade in the Contact Tool Worksheet. Insert
three different Contact Status results with display times at 0.03, 0.5 and 0.8 seconds, which should reveal
the progression in contact status as shown below (from left to right):
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Modal Analysis
There are three modal analyses to study the effect of contact status and stress stiffening on the free
vibration response of the structure. Each of these will be based on a different restart point in the static
structural analysis.
To see all available restart points, you can inspect the timeline graph displayed when the Analysis
Settings object of the Static Structural analysis is selected after solving. Restart points are denoted as
blue triangle marks atop the graph:
To select the restart point of interest, go to the Pre-Stress (Static Structural) object under each
Modal Analysis. Make sure Pre-Stress Define By is set to Time and specify the time. The object will
acknowledge the restart point in the Reported Loadstep, Reported Substep and Reported Time
fields.
Configure the Modal analyses as follows:
In Modal 1 set Pre-Stress Time to 0.033 seconds.
In Modal 2 set Pre-Stress Time to 0.5 seconds.
In Modal 3 set Pre-Stress Time to 0.8 seconds.
Because the boundary conditions (that is, the frictionless supports) are automatically imported from
the static analysis, we can proceed directly to solve.
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An interesting alternative to this view is to see the sorted frequency spectrum. You may review this
by setting the X-Axis to Frequency on any of the Total Deformation results in each modal analysis:
At this point, each modal analysis should have two results for Total Deformation to inspect the first
Mode of Harmonic Indices 0 and 2.
Recall the meaning of Harmonic Index solutions and how they apply to the model. Harmonic Index
0 represents the constant offset in the discrete Fourier Series representation of the model and corresponds to equal values of every transformed quantity, for example, displacements in X, Y and Z
directions, in consecutive sectors. Thus deformations that are axially positive in one sector will have
the same axially positive value in the next. The following picture compiles, from left to right, the
mode shapes for the Near, Sliding and Sticking status at Harmonic Index 0:
Notice how increased engagement of the frictional contact in the assembly has the effect of producing
higher frequency vibrations. Also, the mode of vibration goes from being localized at the contact
interface when the contact is Near, but is forced to distribute throughout the wall of the rotor as
the contact sticks.
Note
You may need to specify Auto Scale on the Results toolbar so the mode shapes are
plotted as shown.
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Harmonic Index 2 solutions correspond to N/2 for our sector (90 degrees or N = 4). This Harmonic
Index, sometimes called the asymmetric term in the Fourier Series, represents alternation of quantities in consecutive sectors. A positive axial displacement at a node in one sector becomes negative
in the next, a radially outward displacement in one sector will become inward in the next, and so
on. The following are the results for the first mode of this Harmonic Index:
The lowest mode shows nearly independent vibration of the rotor relative to the blade. On the
highest mode, sticking reduces this relative movement.
For a continued discussion on post-processing for Cyclic Symmetry and especially on features for
postprocessing degenerate Harmonic Indices (those between 0 and N/2), please see Reviewing
Results for Cyclic Symmetry in a Modal Analysis in the Mechanical help.
End of tutorial.
Features Demonstrated
Create Node-based Named Selections
Using Worksheet Criterion
Using Node Selection Tool
Scope FE (node-based) Boundary Conditions
Display FE Connections
Scope Results to FE Nodes
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2. Assign Materials.
For this tutorial we will accept Structural Steel (typically the default material) for the model and add
Aluminum Alloy as a material option.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and select Edit. The Engineering
Data tab opens and displays Structural Steel as the default material.
b. Right-click the box below Structural Steel, where it says "Click here to add new material" and select
Engineering Data Sources.
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c. Select the General Materials check box and then click the Add button for Aluminum Alloy. A book
icon appears in the column next to the Add button (plus symbol) to indicate that the material is selected.
d. Click the Return to Project toolbar button to return to the Project Schematic.
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3. Attach Geometry.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Geometry cell and choose Import Geometry>Browse.
b. Browse to the proper location and open the file Bracket_Assembly.agdb. This file is available in the
ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
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2. Define Unit System: from the Menu bar , select Units> Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
3. Define Part Material and Create Named Selection.
a. For this model, all of the parts have been defined as Structural Steel. However, we want to change
the Material type of the Clevis to Aluminum Alloy. To do this, first expand the Geometry object in
the tree.
b. Select the Clevis object under Geometry. In the Details under the Material category, click the
Structural Steel option in the Assignment field to display the drop-down list. Change the material
to Aluminum Alloy.
c. Right-click on Clevis and select Create Named Selection. Enter the Selection Name "Clevis" and
click the OK button.
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4. Define Connections.
a. Expand the Connections folder in the tree, and then expand the Contacts folder.
b. Right-click the Contacts folder and choose Renamed Based on Definition.
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b. In the Details view, select the Scoping Method option in the Scope field and set it to Named Selection.
c. Select the Named Selection field and select Clevis from the drop-down menu.
d. In the Element Size field, enter 4 (mm).
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e. Right-click the Body Sizing object and select Rename Based on Definition.
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b. Select the inner face of the Clevis (1 Face) as illustrated here. In the Details for the Scope category,
select the Geometry field and click Apply. Enter 1e5 N mm as the Magnitude and change the Behavior to Rigid.
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b. Select the inner face of the circular hole highlighted here. Make sure that the model is oriented as
shown (note the direction of the bolts) and then click the Apply button in the Geometry field. Set
the values of X Component, Y Component, and Z Component, to 0 mm.
c. Finally, lets immobilize the assembly by specifying Fixed Supports on the faces illustrated below.
Under the Supports menu, select Fixed Support, select one of the faces, press and hold the Ctrl
key, and then select the remaining three faces. Once all of the faces are selected, click the Apply
button in the Geometry field.
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The bulk of the result displays in blue, indicating no deformations on the assembly. This cannot
be correct. In addition to that condition, the following Warning Messages display:
Large deformation effects are active which may have invalidated some of your applied supports
such as displacement, cylindrical, frictionless, or compression only. Refer to Troubleshooting in the
Help System for more details.
One or more MPC contact regions or remote boundary conditions may have conflicts with other
applied boundary conditions or other contact regions. Refer to Troubleshooting in the Help System
for more details.
This second message indicates that one of the nodes is likely over-constrained.
You can graphically display FE Connections from the Solution Information object, as illustrated
below. In the Details, specify the Display control as CE Based and the Display Type as Lines.
As you can see there is an abundance of Constraint Equations.
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The warning highlighted here provides a starting point to correct the over-constraint. Node 390 is
identified as a node that is over-constrained; specifically that it has multiple constraints on degree
of freedom 3.
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FE access makes it possible to select a single node using the Node ID. That is, Mechanical allows us
to create a Named Selection that consists of Node 390 so we can that identify it specifically and
view it graphically.
2. Select the Named Selections object and then click the Named Selection button on the toolbar. A Selection object is generated. In the Details for the Selection object, change the Scoping Method to
Worksheet. The Worksheet view automatically displays.
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3. Right-click in the first row of the table and select Add Row.
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7. With node-based Named Selections, it is possible to view the Constraint Equations (CEs) attached to a
single node. Select Solution Information in the tree, select the Graphics tab at the bottom of the window,
and then select Node 390 as the option for the control, Draw Connections Attached To.
You should see the following illustration. The CEs are displayed as lines (note Display Type in the
Details).
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The Display Type specified as Points is illustrated below. You can see Node 390 as well as all of
the other nodes used to calculate CEs. All nodes other than Node 390 are hollow. This indicates that
each node is connected to Node 390.
In addition, the Visible on Results control has been set to Yes. This facilitates the display of the
contour results for the Total Deformation result and the CEs, also shown below.
Here is an illustration of the CEs while the Total Deformation object is selected.
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We have identified the over-constrained node, now, lets correct the issue.
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e. Take a moment to review and consider the criterion you have defined and then click the Generate
button.
3. Convert Edge to Nodes and Remove it from the Geometry. Now, lets use a criterion-based Named
Selection to create a Named Selection for the hole that subtracts (removes) the nodes of the holes edge.
a. Select the Named Selections object and then click the Named Selection button on the toolbar. A
Selection object is generated.
b. Make sure that the Edge selection option is chosen and then select the edge of the hole. In the Details
for the Selection object, the Scoping Method should be set to Geometry. In the Geometry field,
click the Apply button to specify the hole as the Geometry.
c. Right-click on Selection and select Rename. Change the name to "Hole Edge".
d. Select the Named Selections object and then click the Named Selection button on the toolbar. A
new Selection object is generated.
e. Right-click on the new Selection object and select Rename. Change the name to "Hole Edge Nodes".
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In the Details for the Selection object, change the Scoping Method to Worksheet. The Worksheet
view automatically displays. Specify the criteria as illustrated here and then click the Generate button.
One more Named Selection is required. This Named Selection will remove the edge nodes from
the hole nodes.
g. Select the Named Selections object and then click the Named Selection button on the toolbar. A
new Selection object is generated.
h. Right-click on the new Selection object and select Rename. Change the name to "Hole Face Minus
Edge".
i.
In the Details for the Selection object, change the Scoping Method to Worksheet. Specify the criteria as illustrated here and then click the Generate button.
We now have a node-based Named Selection that includes all of the nodes of the hole, minus
the nodes of the inner edge of the hole.
4. Suppress the existing Displacement: select the Displacement object, right-click the mouse, and select
Suppress. If desired, you could instead delete the load.
5. Create Nodal Displacement and Solve. Now lets define the scope of the Nodal Displacement and resolve the analysis.
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a. Select the Static Structural object, click the Direct FE menu in the toolbar, and then select Nodal
Displacement.
b. Node-based boundary conditions can only be scoped to Named Selections. In the Details for the
Nodal Displacement, specify Hole Face Minus Edge as the Named Selection and then specify each
Component (X, Y, and Z) as 0.
The Constraint Equations should appear with a uniform pattern, as illustrated here for the Solution
Information object. And once again, the Visible on Results control has been set to Yes so that
you can view Constraint Equations and contour results (make sure to select the Graphics tab).
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6. Examine Equivalent Stresses. Now, lets examine the Equivalent Stresses on the model.
a. Highlight the Solution object, right-click, and select Insert>Equivalent Stress.
b. Right-click the mouse and select Evaluate Results. The result should appear as illustrated here.
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A zero Displacement was applied and this is reflected in the above result.
c. Examine the stresses on the hole using direct node selection.
i.
ii. Open the Select Mode menu and choose Box Select.
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iv. Right-click the mouse and select Named Selection. Enter "Stress Nodes" as the Selection Name.
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v. Select the Equivalent Stress object, right click the mouse and choose Clear Generated Data.
vi. Right-click the mouse and select Evaluate Results. Results can be scoped to FE-based Named
Selections as illustrated here, where the Equivalent Stress result was scoped to the Named Selection Stress Nodes.
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End of tutorial.
Features Demonstrated
Joints
Joint loads
Springs
Coordinate system definition
Body view
Joint probes
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d. Browse to open the Actuator.agdb file. A check mark appears next to the Geometry cell in the
Project Schematic when the geometry is loaded. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal;
go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
2. Continue preparing the analysis in the Mechanical Application.
a. In the Rigid Dynamics system schematic, right-click the Model cell, and select Edit. The Mechanical
Application opens and displays the model.
The actuator mechanism model consists of four parts: (from left to right) the drive, link, actuator,
and guide.
b. From the Menu bar , select Units>Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
Note
Stiffness behavior for all geometries are rigid by default.
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Prior to defining joints, it is useful to select the Body Views button in the Connections toolbar. The
Body Views button splits the graphics window into three sections: the main window, the reference
body window, and the mobile body window. Each window can be manipulated independently. This
makes it easier to select desired regions on the model when scoping joints.
To define joints:
a. Select the drive pin face and link center hole face as shown below, then select Body-Body>Revolute
in the Connections toolbar.
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b. Select the drive center hole face as shown below, then select Body-Ground>Revolute in the Connections toolbar.
c. Select the link face and actuator center hole face as shown below, then select Body-Body>Revolute
in the Connections toolbar.
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d. Select the actuator face and the guide face as shown below, then select Body-Body>Translational
in the Connections toolbar.
e. Select the guide top face as shown below, then select Body-Ground>Fixed in the Connections
toolbar.
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d. Click the desired new axis to realign the joint coordinate system.
e. Select Apply in the Details view once the desired alignment is achieved.
6. Define a local coordinate system.
A local coordinate system must be created that will be used to define a spring that will be added
to the actuator.
a. Right-click the Coordinate Systems branch in the Outline, then select Insert>Coordinate System.
b. Right-click the new coordinate system, then select Rename. Enter Spring_fix as the name.
c. In the Spring_fix Details view, define the Origin fields using the values shown below:
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7. Add a spring to the actuator.
a. Select the bottom face of the actuator as shown below, then select Body-Ground>Spring in the
Connections toolbar.
b. In the Reference section of the spring Details view, set the Coordinate System to Spring_fix.
c. In the Definition section of the spring Details view, specify:
Longitudinal Stiffness = 0.005 N/mm
Longitudinal Damping = 0.01 N*s/mm
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Right-click the Joint Probe branch, then select Evaluate All Results.
The results from the analysis show that the spring-based actuator is adding energy in to the system
that is reducing the cycle time.
End of tutorial.
Track Roller Mechanism using Point on Curve Joints and Rigid Body Dynamics
This example problem demonstrates the use of a Rigid Dynamics analysis to examine the behavior of
a track-roller mechanism using point on curve joints.
In the example, the center point of an offset roller is placed directly onto a track edge to demonstrate
the offset positioning capabilities of point on curve joints. While this model may not be entirely realistic,
it clearly demonstrates the capabilities of the features highlighted.
Features Demonstrated
Point on curve joints
Reference coordinate system
Mobile coordinate system
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Track Roller Mechanism using Point on Curve Joints and Rigid Body Dynamics
a. Browse to open the file TrackRoller.mechdat. A Rigid Dynamics system will populate the Project
Schematic. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to http://support.ansys.com/
training.
b. Right click the Model cell, and select Edit to open the Mechanical Application. The model shown
below will open.
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e. In the Details view, click to activate the Reference Curve Orientation Surface field.
f.
Click Apply.
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Track Roller Mechanism using Point on Curve Joints and Rigid Body Dynamics
a. In the Details view, click to activate the Reference Coordinate System field.
b. Configure the orientation of the reference coordinate system so that Z is the normal of the curve
orientation surface and X is in the tangent of the curve. The correct orientation is show below.
c. Click Apply.
6. Select and configure the point used in the point on curve joint.
In this example, the center of the first roller (the circle selected below) will be selected as the point
for the first joint. When creating a point on curve joint, the center of a selected geometric entity
(i.e., a vertex, an edge, a surface, or a volume) is considered as the point. To specify a point:
a. Use the edge selection tool to select the outer edge of the roller, as shown below.
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b. In the Details view of the joint, click to activate the Mobile Scope field.
c. Click Apply.
d. In the Details view, click to activate the Mobile Initial Position field.
e. Select Override from the Initial Position drop-down menu.
The Override option is necessary because the center point of the roller is offset from the
track edge. If the Initial Position value of the mobile coordinate system is left to the default
value, Unchanged, the reference coordinate system and mobile coordinate system are assumed to be coincident.
7. Define the mobile coordinate system for the joint.
The center of the roller face will be used as the origin in this model. The orientations of the reference
coordinate system and mobile coordinate system must be the same, or the point on curve joint will
not work properly. To define the mobile coordinate system:
a. In the joint Details view, click to activate the Mobile Coordinate System field.
b. Select the edge of the roller using the edge selection tool. By default, this will configure the mobile
coordinate system so that is corresponds to the reference coordinate system.
c. Ensure that both coordinate systems align as shown below, then click Apply.
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Track Roller Mechanism using Point on Curve Joints and Rigid Body Dynamics
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Click the Solve button.
10. Review the results.
In the Outline view, select Total Deformation from the Solution node. The model displays with
the point selected placed on the specified curve, as shown below.
End of tutorial.
Features Demonstrated
Nonlinear bushings
Reference coordinate system
Mobile coordinate system
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Tutorials
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Note that only the diagonal terms of the stiffness matrix can be defined as nonlinear.
c. In the Tabular Data view, enter the angle and stiffness data pictured below:
The curve defined is displayed in the Graph View next to the table.
6. Solve the model.
Click the Solve button.
7. Observe the defined nonlinear behavior.
In the Outline View, select the Joint Probe under the Solution node to view the pendulum motion
animation.
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End of tutorial.
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Tutorials
Features Illustrated
Importing a meshed model using Finite Element Modeler.
Nodal named selections.
Coordinate systems.
Crack definition.
Fracture Results
Charting.
Procedure
1. Create a Finite Element Modeler (FEM) system.
a. Start ANSYS Workbench.
b. From the Toolbox, under Component System, drag a Finite Element Modeler system onto the
Project Schematic.
2. Import the meshed model.
Import a Mechanical APDL input file into Finite Modeler.
a. In the Finite Element Modeler schematic, right-click the Model cell and select Add Input Mesh >
Browse.
b. In the Open dialog box, for Please select your model format, select Mechanical APDL Input (*.cdb).
c. Browse to open the file 3d_vcct. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to http://
support.ansys.com/training.
d. Right-click the Model cell and select Properties to view the assembly mesh file you imported.
3. Establish a static structural analysis.
a. From the Toolbox, drag a Static Structural system onto the Project Schematic.
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Note
You can perform the same model manipulations by holding down the mouse wheel
or middle button while dragging the mouse.
In the Tree Outline, under Named Selections, right-click the new named selection and select Rename.
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g. Enter crack_front as the name.
h. Right-click the crack_front named selection and select Create Nodal Named Selection.
i.
In the Tree Outline, under Named Selections, right-click the new named selection and select Rename.
j.
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8. Apply loads.
a. In the Tree Outline, select Static Structural.
b. Right-click and select Insert>Fixed Support, or from the Environment Context toolbar, select Supports
> Fixed Support.
c. In the Graphics toolbar, select the Face button.
d. In the Graphics window, select the face on the closed side of the crack.
e. In the Details view, for Geometry, click Apply.
f.
Right-click and select Insert>Displacement, or from the Environment Context toolbar, select Supports
> Displacement.
j.
Right-click and select Insert>Displacement, or from the Environment Context toolbar, select Supports
> Displacement.
m. In the Graphics window, select the bottom edge on the open side of the crack.
n. In the Details view, for Geometry, click Apply.
o. Select the Z Component and select Tabular.
p. In the second row (2), for Z[m], enter -5.e-003.
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9. Define results.
a. In the Tree Outline, right-click on Solution and select Insert > Fracture Tool.
b. In the Details view, for Crack Selection, select Pre-Meshed Crack.
c. Right-click the Fracture Tool folder and select VCCT Results > VCCT (G1), or select the Fracture
Tool folder and, from the Fracture Tool toolbar, select VCCT Results > VCCT (G1).
d. Also add the VCCT (G2), VCCT (G3), and VCCT (GT) results.
10. Solve.
a. In the Tree Outline, under Static Structural, select Analysis Settings.
b. Under Solver Controls, set Fracture to On.
c. Click Solve.
11. View results.
a. Select each result and view the results in the Graphics window.
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12. View the Graph window for each result. The graph plots the distance of the crack front node from the
origin and the energy release rate as it moves along the crack front.
Since the load applied on the crack faces is tensile, the Mode I energy release rate ((VCCT (G1) ) )
dominates in this case. The VCCT(G2) and VCCT(G3) results are approximately zero. The total energy
release rate (VCCT (GT) ) is approximately equivalent to VCCT(G1)
You have completed the fracture analysis and accomplished the overall objective for this tutorial.
End of tutorial.
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Tutorials
Features Illustrated
Importing geometry
Nodal named selections.
Coordinate systems.
Crack definition.
Fracture Results.
Charting.
Procedure
1. Establish a static structural analysis.
a. Start ANSYS Workbench.
b. From the Toolbox, drag a Static Structural system onto the Project Schematic.
2. Import the model.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Geometry cell and select Import Geometry >
Browse.
b. Browse to open the file X_Joint.agdb. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to
http://support.ansys.com/training. See the introductory Appendix B section for downloading instructions.
3. Prepare the analysis in the Mechanical Application.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Model cell, and then choose Edit. The Mechanical
Application opens and displays the model.
b. For convenience, use the Rotate toolbar button to manipulate the model so it displays as shown
below.
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Fracture Analysis of an X-Joint Problem with Surface Flaw using Internally Generated
Crack Mesh
Note
You can perform the same model manipulations by holding down the mouse wheel
or middle button while dragging the mouse.
4. Generate mesh.
a. In the Tree Outline, right-click Mesh and select Insert>Method.
b. In the Graphics window, select the body.
c. In the Details view, for Geometry, click Apply.
d. For Method, select Tetrahedrons.
This method is required for crack mesh generation.
e. In the Tree Outline, select the Mesh object.
f.
In the Details view, under Sizing, set the Relevance Center to Fine.
g. On the Graphics toolbar, select the Face button to toggle Face selection mode.
h. In the Tree Outline, right-click Mesh and select Insert>Sizing.
i.
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j.
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Fracture Analysis of an X-Joint Problem with Surface Flaw using Internally Generated
Crack Mesh
g. For Coordinate System, select the coordinate system you previously defined.
h. In addition, set the following options in the Details view:
Major Radius
18.4
mm
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Minor Radius
9.5
mm
16
35
i.
In the Tree Outline, right-click the Fracture object and select Generate All Crack Meshes.
j.
7. Apply loads.
a. From the Menu bar , choose Units> Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
b. In the Tree Outline, select Static Structural.
c. Right-click and select Insert>Pressure, or from the Environment Context toolbar, select Loads >
Pressure.
d. In the Graphics window, select the top face.
e. In the Details view, for Geometry, click Apply.
f.
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Fracture Analysis of an X-Joint Problem with Surface Flaw using Internally Generated
Crack Mesh
8. Solve.
a. In the Tree Outline, under Static Structural, select Analysis Settings.
b. Under Solver Controls, set Fracture to On.
c. Click Solve.
9. Define results.
a. In the Tree Outline, right-click on Solution and select Insert > Fracture Tool.
b. In the Details view, for Crack Selection, select Crack.
c. Right-click the Fracture Tool folder and select SIFS Results > SIFS (K2), or select the Fracture Tool
folder and, from the Fracture Tool toolbar, select SIFS Results > SIFS (K2).
d. Also add the SIFS (K3) results.
e. In the Tree Outline, right-click the Fracture Tool object and select Evaluate All Results.
10. View results.
a. Select each result and view the results in the Graphics window.
b. View the Graph window for each result. The graph plots the stress intensity factors against the curvilinear abscissa of the crack front, starting from the origin extremity.
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Since the crack surface normal is nearly aligned with the tensile load, the Mode I stress intensity
factor (SIFS [K1]) dominates in this case. The SIFS (K2) and SIFS (K3) results show that Mode II and
Mode III slightly contribute.
You have completed the fracture analysis and accomplished the overall objective for this tutorial.
End of tutorial.
Features Illustrated
Restoring archive.
Engineering Data.
Nodal named selections.
Coordinate systems.
Crack definition.
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Procedure
1. Restore the project archive.
a. Start ANSYS Workbench.
b. Select File > Restore Archive.
c. Browse to open 2D Cracked Specimen.wbpz. This file is available on the ANSYS Customer Portal;
go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
d. Save the project in the desired directory.
2. Check the material properties in Engineering Data.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and choose Edit.
The Engineering Data opens and displays the material windows.
b. Select the Structural Steel material and, in the Properties window, select the Bilinear Isotropic
Hardening law.
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c. Click on Return to Project on the main toolbar to go back to the project schematic.
3. Prepare the analysis in the Mechanical Application.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Model cell, and then choose Edit. The Mechanical
Application opens and displays the model.
b. For convenience, use the Rotate and Zoom toolbar buttons to manipulate the model so it displays
as shown below.
Note
Geometry and mesh controls have already been defined in the project. The geometry
consists of two parts that represent the two different sides of the crack.
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i.
Repeat the last five steps two times to connect the edges couples that correspond to the regions
where the mesh needs to be connected.
5. Generate mesh.
a. Select the Mesh object in the Tree Outline. Note that some mesh controls are already defined in the
model.
b. Right-click the Mesh object and select Generate Mesh.
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g. Right-click the crack_front named selection and select Create Nodal Named Selection.
h. In the Tree Outline, under Named Selections, right-click the new named selection and select Rename.
i.
9. Apply loads.
a. From the Menu bar , choose Units> Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
b. In the Tree Outline, select Static Structural.
c. Right-click and select Insert>Displacement, or from the Environment Context toolbar, select Supports
> Displacement.
d. In the Graphics toolbar, select the Edge button.
e. In the Graphics window, select the bottom edge.
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f.
In the Tabular Data window, enter the evolution of Y Component against X coordinates:
i.
ii. In the second row (2), for X[mm], enter 10 and for Y[mm], enter 0.48.
j.
k. In the Tabular Data window, enter the evolution of scale against time: In the first row (1), for Scale,
enter 0.
l.
Top edge
10. Solve.
a. In the Tree Outline, under Static Structural, select Analysis Settings.
b. Under Step Controls, note that substeps have already been defined because due to the plastic law
the resolution will be nonlinear.
c. Under Solver Controls, set Fracture to On.
d. Click Solve.
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The plasticity is localized around the crack tip which is required for J-Integral calculation.
b. Select the J-Integral (JINT) result and view the results in the Graphics window.
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c. View the Graph window and the tabular data for each result. The tabular data display the J-Integral
results at the crack front node for each integration contour.
Note that the results converge after several contour integrations. J-Integral results start converging
when the integration contour is outside the plastic zone.
You have completed the fracture analysis and accomplished the overall objective for this tutorial.
End of tutorial.
This tutorial also examines how to prepare the necessary materials and mesh controls that work in cooperation with the Interface Delamination feature.
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Features Demonstrated
Engineering Data/Materials
Static Structural Analysis
Match Control
Interface Delamination
Procedure
1. Create static structural analysis.
a. Open ANSYS Workbench.
b. On the Workbench Project page, drag a Static Structural system from the Toolbox to the Project
Schematic. The Project Schematic should appear as follows. The properties window does not display
unless you have made the required selection; right-click a cell and select Properties.
Note
The Interface Delamination feature is only available for Static Structural and Transient
Structural analyses.
2. Assign materials.
This analysis requires the creation of the proper materials using the Engineering Data feature of
Workbench. We will define a new Orthotropic Elastic material for the model as well as a Cohesive
Zone Bilinear material for the Interface Delamination feature.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and choose Edit. The Engineering Data tab opens and displays Structural Steel as the default material.
b. Click the box labeled "Click here to add new material" and enter the name "Interface Body Material".
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c. Expand the Linear Elastic option in the Toolbox and right-click Orthotropic Elasticity. Select Include
Property. The required properties for the material are highlighted in yellow.
d. Define the new material by entering the following property values and units of measure into the
corresponding fields.
Property
Value
Unit
1.353E+05
MPa
9000
MPa
9000
MPa
Poissons Ratio XY
0.24
na
Poissons Ratio YZ
0.46
na
Poissons Ratio XZ
0.24
na
Shear Modulus XY
5200
MPa
Shear Modulus YZ
0.0001
MPa
Shear Modulus XZ
0.0001
MPa
e. Click the box labeled "Click here to add new material" and enter the name CZM Material. This material will specify the formulation used to introduce the fracture mechanism (Cohesive Zone Material
method).
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f.
Expand the Cohesive Zone option in the Toolbox and right-click Exponential for Interface
Delamination. Select Include Property. The required properties for the material are highlighted in
yellow.
g. Define the new material by entering the following property values and units of measure into the
corresponding fields.
Property
Value
2.5E+07 Pa
4E-06
Unit
3. Attach geometry.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Geometry cell and select Import Geometry>Browse.
b. Browse to the proper location and open the file 2D_Fracture_Geom.agdb. This file is available
on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
c. Right-click the Geometry cell and select Properties. In the Properties window, set the Analysis Type
property to 2D.
The Project Schematic should appear as follows:
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4. Launch Mechanical. Right-click the Model cell and then choose Edit. (Tip: You can also double-click the
cell to launch Mechanical).
5. Define unit system. From the menu bar in Mechanical, select Units>Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
6. Define 2D behavior.
a. Highlight the Geometry folder.
b. In the Details pane, specify the 2D Behavior property as Plane Strain. This constrains all of the UZ
degrees of freedom. See the 2D Analyses section for additional information about this property.
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8. Suppress Contact.
Caution
Contact cannot be present for this analysis.
a. Expand the Connections folder and then expand the Contacts folder.
b. Right-click the Contact Region object and select Suppress.
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b. Right-click the new coordinate system object, select Rename, and name the object "High Coordinate
System."
c. In the Details pane of the newly-created Coordinate System object, select the Geometry property
field Click to Change.
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e. Click Apply in the Geometry property. The "High Coordinate System" is defined.
f.
Right-click the Coordinate Systems object again and insert another Coordinate System object. Rename this object "Low Coordinate System."
g. Select the Edge selection filter and highlight an edge in the center of the model. Using the Depth
Picking tool, select the second rectangle in the stack, and then scope the edge as the geometry
(Apply in the Geometry property). This scoping is illustrated below.
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c. Activate the High Geometry Selection property by selecting its field (that is highlighted in yellow).
The Apply and Cancel buttons display. Select the Edge selection tool and highlight one of the edges
in the center of the model. Use the Depth Picking tool to select the topmost geometry. Click the
Apply button.
d. Perform the same steps to specify the Low Geometry Selection property, as illustrated below.
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e. Change the Transformation property from Cyclic to Arbitrary and specify the High Coordinate
System and Low Coordinate System properties using the coordinate systems created in the previous
step of the tutorial. The object should appear as illustrated below.
f.
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Select the Edge selection filter (on the Graphics Toolbar) and, holding the Ctrl key, select the four
side edges.
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g. Right-click the Mesh object and select Insert>Sizing. This mesh sizing control should be scoped to
the four side edges.
h. In the Details view, enter 0.75 mm as the Element Size.
i.
Select the Edge selection filter (on the Graphics Toolbar) and highlight an edge in the center of the
model. Use the Depth Picking tool and, holding the Ctrl key, select both rectangles in the lower left
corner of the graphics window. Continue to hold the Ctrl key, and select an edge of the crack. Again,
use the Depth Picking tool and select both rectangles in the lower left corner of the graphics window.
Still holding the Ctrl key, select the top and bottom edges on the model.
j.
Right-click the Mesh object and select Insert>Sizing. This mesh sizing control should be scoped to
six (top and bottom and the four interface edges) edges.
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e. Select the Match Control that was created earlier in the tutorial for the Match Control property.
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c. In the Details pane, set the Large Deflection property to On to activate geometric nonlinearities.
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13. Define boundary conditions.
a. Select the Edge selection filter and select the two edges on the side of the model that is opposite of
the crack. Select one edge, press the Ctrl key, and then select the next edge.
b. Highlight the Static Structural object, select the Supports menu on the Environment Context Toolbar,
and then select Fixed Support.
c. Highlight the Static Structural object. With the Vertex selection filter active, select the vertex illustrated
below, select the Supports menu, and then select Displacement.
d. Highlight the Displacement object in the tree and enter 10 (mm in the positive Y direction) as the
loading value for the Y Component property.
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e. Create another Displacement. With the Vertex selection filter active, select the bottom vertex and
then select Supports>Displacement. Enter -10 (mm in the negative Y direction) as the loading value
for the Y Component property.
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15. Review the results. Highlight the Directional Deformation and Force Reaction objects. Results appear
as follows:
You may wish to validate results against those outlined in the verification test case (VM248). This is
most easily accomplished by creating User Defined Results using the Worksheet.
End of tutorial.
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This tutorial also examines how to prepare the necessary materials that work in cooperation with the
Contact Debonding feature.
Features Demonstrated
Engineering Data/Materials
Static Structural Analysis
Contact Regions
Contact Debonding
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Procedure
1. Create static structural analysis.
a. Open ANSYS Workbench.
b. On the Workbench Project page, drag a Static Structural system from the Toolbox to the Project
Schematic. The Project Schematic should appear as follows. The properties window does not display
unless you have made the required selection; right-click a cell and select Properties.
2. Define materials.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and choose Edit. The Engineering Data tab opens and displays Structural Steel as the default material.
b. Click the box below the field labeled "Click here to add new material" and enter the name "Interface
Body Material".
c. Expand the Linear Elastic option in the Toolbox and right-click Orthotropic Elasticity. Select Include
Property. The required properties for the material are highlighted in yellow.
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Value
Unit
1.353E+05
MPa
9000
MPa
9000
MPa
Poissons Ratio XY
0.24
NA
Poissons Ratio YZ
0.46
NA
Poissons Ratio XZ
0.24
NA
Shear Modulus XY
5200
MPa
Shear Modulus YZ
0.0001
MPa
Shear Modulus XZ
0.0001
MPa
Once complete, the properties for the material should appear as follows.
e. Now you need to create a new Material that specifies the formulation used to introduce the fracture
mechanism. For this tutorial, the Cohesive Zone Material (CZM) method is used. Click the field labeled
"Click here to add new material" and enter the name CZM Crack Material.
f.
Expand the Cohesive Zone option in the Toolbox and right-click Fracture-Energies based Debonding.
Select Include Property. The required properties for the material are highlighted in yellow.
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g. Define the new material by entering the following property values and units of measure into the
corresponding fields.
Property
Tangential Slip Under Normal Compression
Maximum Normal Contact Stress
Value
Unit
No
NA
1.7E+06 Pa
280
J
m^2
1E-30
Pa
1E-30
J
m^2
1e-8
3. Attach geometry.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Geometry cell and choose Import Geometry>Browse.
b. Browse to the proper location and open the file 2D_Fracture_Geom.agdb. This file is available
on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
c. Right-click the Geometry cell and select Properties. In the Properties window, set the Analysis
Type property to 2D.
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4. Launch Mechanical. Right-click the Model cell and then choose Edit. (Tip: You can also double-click the
cell to launch Mechanical).
5. Define unit system. From the menu bar in Mechanical, select Units>Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).
6. Define 2D behavior.
a. Select the Geometry folder.
b. In the Details pane, set the 2D Behavior property to Plane Strain. This constrains all of the UZ degrees
of freedom. See the 2D Analyses section for additional information about this property.
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7. Apply material.
a. Expand the Geometry folder and select the Part 2 folder.
b. In the Details pane, set the Assignment property to Interface Body Material. Selecting the Part
folder allows you to assign the material to both parts at the same time.
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c. Select the Edge selection filter and highlight an edge in the center of the model. Using the Depth
Picking tool, select the second rectangle in the stack, and then scope the edge as the geometry
(Apply in the Target property).
Verify that Bonded is selected as the contact Type and that Pure Penalty is set as the Formulation.
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e. Right-click the Mesh object and select Insert>Sizing. This mesh sizing control should be scoped to
six (top and bottom and the four interface edges) edges.
f.
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b. Right-click and select Insert>Contact Debonding. You could also select the Contact Debonding
button on the Fracture Context Toolbar.
c. In the Details pane, set the Material property to CZM Crack Material.
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c. Highlight the Static Structural object. With the Edge selection filter active, select the edge illustrated
below, select the Supports menu and then select Displacement.
In the Details pane, enter 10 (mm in the positive Y direction) as the loading value for the Y
Component property.
d. Create another Displacement. With the Edge selection filter active, select the bottom edge, and then
select Supports>Displacement. Enter -10 (mm in the negative Y direction) as the loading value for
the Y Component property.
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You may wish to validate results against those outlined in the verification test case (VM255). This is
most easily accomplished by creating User Defined Results using the Worksheet.
End of tutorial.
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This rubber boot seal example demonstrates geometric nonlinearities (large strain and large deformation),
nonlinear material behavior (rubber), and changing status nonlinearities (contact). The objective of this
example is to show the advantages of the surface-projection-based contact method and to determine
the displacement behavior of the rubber boot seal, stress results.
A rubber boot seal with half symmetry is considered for this analysis. There are three contact pairs
defined; one is rigid-flexible contact between the rubber boot and cylindrical shaft, and the remaining
two are self contact pairs on the inside and outside surfaces of the boot.
Features Demonstrated
Hyperelastic Material Creation
Remote Point
Named Selection
Manual Contact Generation
Large Deflection
Multiple Load Steps
Nodal Contacts
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2. Create Materials.
For this tutorial, we are going to create a material to use during the analysis.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Engineering Data cell and choose Edit. The Engineering Data tab opens. Structural Steel is the default material.
b. From the Engineering Data tab, place your cursor in the Click here to add new material field and
then enter "Rubber Material".
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ii. Enter 1.5 for the Initial Shear Modulus () Value and then select MPa for the Unit.
iii. Enter .026 for the Incompressibility Parameter D1 Value and then select MPa^-1 for the Unit.
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d. Click the Return to Project toolbar button to return to the Project Schematic.
3. Attach Geometry.
a. In the Static Structural schematic, right-click the Geometry cell and choose Import Geometry>Browse.
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b. Browse to the proper folder location and open the file BootSeal_Cylinder.agdb. This file is available
on the ANSYS Customer Portal; go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
3. Define stiffness behavior and thickness: expand the Geometry folder and select the Surface Body
object. Set the Stiffness Behavior to Rigid and enter a Thickness value of 0.01 mm.
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4. In the Geometry folder, select the Solid geometry object. In the Details under the Material category,
open the Assignment property drop-down list and select Rubber Material.
5. Create a Cylindrical Coordinate System: Right-click the Coordinate Systems folder and select Insert>Coordinate System. Highlight the new Coordinate System object, right-click, and rename it to "Cylindrical
Coordinate System".
Specify properties of the Cylindrical Coordinate System:
a. Under the Details view Definition category, change Type to Cylindrical and Coordinate System to
Manual.
b. Under the Origin group, change the Define By property to Global Coordinates.
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6. Insert Remote Point: Right-click on the Model object and select Insert>Remote Point.
7. In Details view, scope the Geometry to cylinders exterior surface, set X Coordinate, Y Coordinate, and
Z Coordinate to 0, and specify the Behavior as Rigid.
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c. Right-click on the Surface Body object under the Geometry folder and select Hide Body. This step
eases the selection of the boots inner surfaces.
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f.
g. Again highlight the Named Selection object and select Insert>Named Selection.
h. Reorient your model and select all of the outer faces of the boot seal as illustrated below and scope
the faces as the Geometry selection. Make sure that the Geometry property indicates that 27 Faces
are selected.
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a. Highlight the Connections folder, right-click, and select Insert>Connections Group.
b. Right-click on the Connections Group and select Insert>Manual Contact Region. Notice that Connection Group is automatically renamed to Contacts and that the new contact region requires
definition.
c. Create a Rigid-Flexible contact between the rubber boot and cylindrical shaft by defining the following
Details view properties of the newly added Bonded-No Selection To No Selection.
Scoping Method set to Named Selections.
Contact set to Boot_Seal_Inner_Surfaces from drop-down list of Named Selections.
Target set to Cylinder_Outer_Surface from drop-down list of Named Selections.
Target Shell Face set to Top.
Type set to Frictional.
Frictional Coefficient Value equal to 0.2.
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Note
The name of the contact, Bonded-No Selection To No Selection, is automatically
renamed to Frictional - Boot_Seal_Inner_Surfaces To Cylinder_Outer_Surface.
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Note
The Bonded-No Selection To No Selection is automatically renamed to Frictional
- Boot_Seal_Inner_Surfaces To Boot_Seal_Inner_Surfaces.
e. Right-click the Contacts folder object and select Insert>Manual Contact Region. Set Contact at inner
surface of the boot seal. Self Contact at outer surface of the boot seal. In details view of the newly
added Bonded-No Selection To No Selection, specify the following properties:
Scoping Method set to Named Selection.
Contact and Target set to Boot_Seal_Outer_Surfaces.
Type set to Frictional.
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Frictional Coefficient Value equal to 0.2.
Detection Method set to Nodal-Projected Normal From Contact.
Note
Bonded-No Selection To No Selection is automatically renamed to Frictional Boot_Seal_Outer_Surfaces To Boot_Seal_Outer_Surfaces.
Analysis Settings
The problem is solved in three load steps, which include:
Initial interference between the cylinder and boot.
Vertical displacement of the cylinder (axial compression in the rubber boot).
Rotation of the cylinder (bending of the rubber boot).
Load steps are specified through the properties of the Analysis Settings object.
1. Highlight the Analysis Settings object.
2. Define the following properties:
Number of Steps equals 3.
Auto Time Stepping set to On (from Program Controlled).
Define By set to Substeps.
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Boundary Conditions
The model is constrained at the symmetry plane by restricting the out-of-plane rotation (in Cylindrical
Coordinate System). The bottom portion of the rubber boot is restricted in axial (Y axis) and radial directions (in Cylindrical Coordinate System).
1. Highlight the Static Structural (A5) object and:
select the two faces (press the Ctrl key and then select each face) of the rubber boot seal as illustrated
here.
right-click and select Insert>Displacement.
2. Set the Coordinate System property to Cylindrical Coordinate System and the Y Component property
to 0.
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3. Highlight the Static Structural (A5) object and select the face illustrated here. Insert another Displacement and set the Y Component to 0 (Coordinate System should equal Global Coordinate System).
4. Insert another Displacement scoped as illustrated here and set the Coordinate System property to
Cylindrical Coordinate System and the X Component property to 0.
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5. Insert a Remote Displacement from the Support drop-down menu on the Environment toolbar.
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2. Specify the Geometry as the boot body only, and set the Definition category property By as Time and
the Display Time property as Last.
3. Highlight the Solution and then select Stress>Equivalent (von-Mises) from the Solution toolbar.
4. Specify the Geometry as the boot body only, and set the Definition category property By as Time and
the Display Time property as Last.
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5. Highlight the Solution and then select Strain>Equivalent (von-Mises) from the Solution toolbar.
6. Specify the Geometry as the boot body only, and set the Definition category property By as Time and
the Display Time property as Last.
Note
The default mesh settings mesh keep mid-side nodes in elements creating SOLID186 elements
(See Solution Information). You can drop mid-side nodes in Mesh Details view under the Advanced group. This allows you to mesh and solve faster with lower order elements.
Although very close, the mesh generated in this example may be slightly different than the
one generated in the Chapter 29: Nonlinear Analysis of a Rubber Boot Seal in the Mechanical
APDL Technology Demonstration Guide.
Review Results
The solution objects should appear as illustrated below. You can ignore any warning messages.
For a more detailed examination and explanation of the results, see the Results and Discussion section
of Chapter 29: Nonlinear Analysis of a Rubber Boot Seal in the Mechanical APDL Technology Demonstration
Guide.
Total Deformation at Maximum Shaft Angle
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Equivalent Elastic Strain at Maximum Shaft Angle (at the end of 3 seconds)
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End of tutorial.
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Mapping Settings
Mapping Control: By default, when Program Controlled is selected, the software will determine the
appropriate algorithm and settings based on the source and target mesh data, as well as the data type
being transferred. See Program Controlled Mapping for additional information. You may choose to
modify the advanced features by setting this to Manual.
Mapping: A read-only field displaying that a "Profile Preserving" algorithm is being used. The following
data is available for transfer:
Pressure
Heat Flux
Heat Generation
Temperature
Heat Transfer Coefficient
Thickness
Weighting: Choose which type of weighting should be performed. This option can be changed only if
Mapping Control is set to Manual.
Triangulation creates temporary elements from the n closest source nodes to find the closest points
that will contribute portions of their data values. For 3D, 4-node tetrahedrons are created, and for 2D,
3-node triangles are created by iterating over all possible combinations of the source points (maximum
number controlled by the Limit property), starting with the closest points. If the target point is found
within the element, weights are calculated based on the targets location inside the element.
Distance Based Average uses the distance from the target node to the specified number of closest
source node(s) to calculate a weighting value.
Shape Function loops over the source elements and tries to locate an element that each target node
can be mapped to. Weights for each of the source nodes are then assigned based on the location of
the target node and the shape function of the element. For each target node, the search efficiency can
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Note
When there is a significant distance between target node and the closest element,
e.g. Shell-Solid submodeling, the node and the element may not be found in the
same box. In order to improve mapping accuracy in such cases, the Bucket Tolerance
Option may be used. See Bucket Tolerance for more details.
Kriging is a regression-based interpolation technique that assigns weights to surrounding source points
according to their spatial covariance values. The algorithm combines the kriging model with a polynomial model to capture local and global deviations. The kriging model interpolates the source points
based on their localized deviations, while the polynomial model globally approximates the source space.
See Kriging Algorithms in the Design Exploration User's Guide for more information.
Note
By default, the Kriging technique uses an adaptive algorithm and ensures that the interpolated values do not exceed specific limits. The adaptive algorithm starts by using the
higher-order Cross Quadratic polynomial to interpolate data. If the interpolated value
of each target point is outside the extrapolation limit you specified, the algorithm reinterpolates data by reducing the polynomial order and the number of source points.
Target nodes whose values are outside the limits when the lowest polynomial type is
used are not assigned a value.
The Kriging algorithm, when used with the higher-order Cross Quadratic or Pure
Quadratic polynomial, may fail to correctly interpolate data for a target point if multiple
source points are spaced close to one another or if the target point is outside the region
enclosed by the source points that are selected for interpolation. This may introduce
gross errors in the estimation of the target value and manifests itself mostly when
mapping data on surface or edge geometries. In such cases, you should change the
Polynomial Type to Constant or Linear and, if necessary, reduce the number of source
points to be included for the interpolation.
UV Mapping can be used to transfer data from one surface to another. Unlike other algorithms, UV
mapping does not require the surfaces to be coincident. This allows for mapping between deformed
and un-deformed geometries, as well as transfers between dissimilar geometry. Element data is required
from both the source and the target mesh. If the source is an MAPDL CDB file containing volumetric
element data, a nodal component must also be specified which will be used to define the surface from
which the data transfer will occur.
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Interpolation
Once the source and target data is converted to UV space, the target nodal UV locations are used
to locate the source element that would contain the target node. The value for the target is then
calculated based on the values provided from the source elements nodes.
Transfer Type: Enables you to choose the dimension of the transfer (for 3D transfers only). This option
is available only for Triangulation, Shape Function, and for adaptive Kriging. For best results, use the
Surface option when mapping data across surfaces and the Volumetric option when mapping data across
volumes.
When used with Triangulation:
The Surface option tries to map each target point by searching triangles that are created from the set
of closest source points. The target point will be projected onto the plane relative to the triangle surface.
If the point is found inside the triangle, the weights are calculated based on the targets projected location inside the triangle.
The Volumetric option tries to map each target point by searching tetrahedrons that are created from
the set of closest source points.
When used with the Shape Function:
The Surface option uses the bucket surface search algorithm to locate a source element that each target
node can be mapped to. This option supports only triangle and quadrilateral source elements; do not
use it if your source is comprised of other element shapes as the algorithm does not account for these
shapes.
The Volumetric option uses the bucket volume search algorithm to locate a source element that each
target node can be mapped to. This option supports triangle, quadrilateral, tetrahedron, hexahedron,
and wedge source elements.
When used with adaptive Kriging, the Surface option uses fewer surrounding source points to interpolate data than the Volumetric option does.
2D Projection: Available only for 2D to 3D data transfers from an External Data system connected to
Mechanical. The default option is Normal To Plane. You will be able to choose between the default as
well as all application and user input coordinate systems.
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Graphics Controls
The following are graphics controls available:
Display Source Points: Toggle display of source point data. This can be helpful in visualizing where the
source point data is in reference to the target mesh.
Display Source Point Ids: Toggle display of source point identifiers. This can be helpful in conjunction
with validation objects when trying to identify nodes with undefined values. Note that if a column is not
defined with the Node ID Data Type, the source point ids will correspond to the row from which they
come in the file. For formatted and delimited files, ids will start after skipped lines.
Display Interior Points: Available when Display Source Points or Display Source Point Ids is set to On.
Toggle allowing source point data to be displayed through the model so that interior points can be seen.
Display Projection Plane: Toggle display of project plane (available only for 2D to 3D mapping).
Legend Controls
Legend Range: Program Controlled (default) or Manual control of the legend minimum and maximum
values. When Program Controlled is selected, the target data's minimum and maximum values will be
used in the legend. When Manual is selected, control of the Maximum and Minimum values can input
and the graphics will be drawn based on these values.
Minimum: When Legend Range is set to Manual, this option is available for inputting the minimum legend
value.
Maximum: When Legend Range is set to Manual, this option is available for inputting the maximum legend
value.
Source Minimum: Read only field providing the source data minimum value.
Source Maximum: Read only field providing the source data maximum value.
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Advanced
Advanced settings are filtered based on the Mapping Control and Weighting type selected in Mapping
Settings (p. 1595).
Pinball: When finding the closest source points, a bounding box is created around the target point based
on the value of the pinball. Any point outside of the bounding box will not be used. By default, the Program
Controlled value is 0.0, which calculates the distance based on .05% of the source region's bounding box
size. The bounding box will automatically resize if the mapping is unable to find the minimum number
of points required to calculate weighing factors. (Note that resizing occurs only for Program Controlled.)
The Pinball option is not available when Weighting is set to Kriging or Shape Function.
Note
In certain cases when Pinball is set to Program Controlled, the process of searching for
source nodes around a target node can take a long time. In the image below, the target
nodes are located on the red face. The target nodes (A) closest to the vertical body will
quickly find nodes in the +Y axis direction. Target nodes (B) further down the X axis will
take longer to find.
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As an example, consider the case shown in the image below. The two red dots indicate
target nodes in regions A and B. For each target node, the triangulation algorithm will
begin its search for source nodes within the perimeter of a psuedo cube (bounding box)
centered at its location. For the first pass, the edge length of the cube is set to be 0.05%
of the maximum bounding box length of the source region. The algorithm looks to find
n source points (set by the limits property) in the positive and negative X, Y, and Z axes
of the cube. If n source points cannot be found in any of the six directions (X, Y, and
Z), the size of the search region is doubled and the process repeated. The search process
continues until the required number of source points are found in all directions or until
the search region extends beyond the limits of the source bounding box.
During the first pass, for the target node in region A, the algorithm is able to find the required number of source nodes. However, for the target node in region B, sufficient nodes
cannot be found in the +Y direction and the size of the search area is increased. As illustrated in the figure below, for the target node in region B, the algorithm runs through
several iterations before it is able to find the required number of source nodes. This results
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in an increase in time as well as the possible inclusion of source nodes that are significantly
further away from the target node.
Please note that for each target node the pinball is reset to its initial size (0.05% of the
maximum bounding box length) before the search begins.
For such cases it is recommended that you specify a pinball value so that the search box
can be controlled to only find nodes within a certain region. This allows for triangulation
to quickly search for source nodes, as well as to ignore source nodes that are sufficiently
far away from the target node.
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Limit: Number of nearby points considered for interpolation. Defaults to 20. Lower values will reduce
processing time, however, some distorted or irregular meshes will require a higher Limit value to successfully encounter nodes for triangulation.
When Weighting is set to Kriging, the minimum value that can be used is based on the selected
Polynomial type.
Weighting
Minimum Limit
Maximum Limit
Triangulation
20
Kriging (Constant)
3 (3D), 2 (2D)
Kriging (Linear)
4 (3D), 3 (2D)
7 (3D), 5 (2D)
10 (3D), 6 (2D)
Outside Option: Enables you to ignore or choose a different weighting algorithm for target points that
cannot be found within tetrahedrons/triangles when Triangulation is used. This option is available only
for Triangulation. Defaults to Distance Based Average.
Distance Based Average: The mapping will use a weighted average based on distances to the closest
Number of Points.
Ignore: Target points will be ignored and no value will be applied.
Projection: Triangles will be created from the closest Number of Points and the target point will be
projected onto the plane relative to the triangle surface. If the point is found inside the triangle, the
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weights are calculated based on the targets projected location inside the triangle. This option is available
only for 3D transfers when the Transfer Type is set to Volumetric.
Number of Points: When Weighting is set to Distance Based Average, or when Outside Option is set
to Distance Based Average or Projection, this option is available to specify how many closest source
points should be used when calculating weights. Valid range is from 1 to 8 for Distance Based Average
and 3 to 20 for Projection. Defaults to 3.
Outside Distance Checking: When Weighting is set to Triangulation and Outside Option is set to
Distance Based Average or Projection, this option enables you to specify a Maximum Distance cutoff
beyond which source points will be ignored. Defaults to Off. The maximum number of source points is
limited to the value specified by the Number of Points setting.
If the Outside Option is set to Distance Based Average, only source points that lie on or within a
sphere (centered at the targets location and radius defined by the Maximum Distance value) will provide
contributions.
If the Outside Option is set to Projection, the algorithm only uses triangles with centroids that lie on
or inside a sphere (centered at the targets location and radius defined by the Maximum Distance
value).
In Figure 33: Outside Nodes (Pink) with Mesh Overlay (p. 1603), all the pink nodes on the surface are
found Outside the source points and will use the Outside Distance Checking based on the Maximum Distance specified.
Figure 33: Outside Nodes (Pink) with Mesh Overlay
In Figure 34: Maximum Distance set to 0.005 (m) (p. 1604), the circle is at the mouse location with radius
set to 0.005 (m). Nodes within this radius will be mapped. The source nodes are drawn as black dots
and come from an extremely coarse mesh.
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In Figure 35: Mapped Nodes (p. 1604), the Outside nodes get mapped because they are located
within the Maximum Distance.
Figure 35: Mapped Nodes
The result of the import is shown in Figure 36: Imported Data using Maximum Distance for Outside
Nodes (p. 1605). Transparent areas show target nodes that do not get mapped because there are no
source nodes within the Maximum Distance.
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Figure 36: Imported Data using Maximum Distance for Outside Nodes
When Weighting is set to Kriging, this option allows you to ignore target points that lie outside the
source bounding box. Defaults to Off. When this option is set to On, the Bounding Box Tolerance
property enables you to include target points that lie outside the source bounding box by specifying
a tolerance value. The algorithm adds this tolerance value to the source bounding box when it checks
to see if a target point should be ignored or not.
Scale: When weighting is set to Shape Function, the scaling factor (%) determines the number of buckets
used to distribute the source elements. Defaults to 50% (2 buckets).
Edge Tolerance: Dimensionless mapping tolerance (default = 0.05).
Shape Function for Surface/Edge topology.
Bucket Tolerance: When there is a significant distance between target node and the closest element,
e.g. Shell-Solid submodeling, the node and the element may not be found in the same box. In order to
improve mapping accuracy in such cases, the Bucket Tolerance Option may be used. When a Bucket
Tolerance Value greater that 0 is specified, then a bounding region is created around the target node
using the Bucket Tolerance Value and all the boxes associated with the region are used to find the appropriate element. To improve the mapping efficiency, the search is restricted only to the element within
the bounding region.
Correlation Function: When weighting is set to Kriging, this property enables you to change the mathematical function that is used to model the spatial correlation between the sample points. Defaults to
Gaussian.
Polynomial: When weighting is set to Kriging, this property enables you to change the mathematical
function that is used to globally approximate the sample. Defaults to Adaptive.
Extrapolation Tolerance: You can use this option with adaptive Kriging to ensure that the interpolated
value for each target point lies within specific limits. The tolerance is applied to the source range (based
on the source points used for each target point) to determine if the interpolated value is satisfactory or
if the data needs to be re-interpolated by reducing the polynomial order and the number of source points.
For example, consider a target point having source values between 99 and 100. The default tolerance
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Advanced Shell-Solid
Advanced shell-solid settings are filtered based on the Mapping Control and Weighting type selected
in Mapping Settings (p. 1595). They are only available for Shell-Solid submodeling. In the case of imported
cut boundary conditions, Shape Function is the only available Weighting type.
Bucket Tolerance Factor: This value is used to calculate the Bucket Tolerance Value for shell-solid
submodeling. The Bucket Tolerance Value is calculated by scaling the maximum shell thickness with
the Bucket Tolerance Factor.
Figure 37: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Bucket Tolerance Factor = 1.0
As shown in Figure 37: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Bucket Tolerance Factor = 1.0 (p. 1606) and Figure 38: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Bucket Tolerance Factor = 1.2 (p. 1606), the gap between the nodes
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in the filleted region is greater than the maximum shell thickness for the model. Hence using a Bucket
Tolerance Factor equal to 1 results in nodes in the fillet not finding appropriate matching elements.(1)
When Bucket Tolerance Factor of 1.2 is used, then additional buckets are included in the search resulting in better mapping results.(2)
Note
Increasing the Bucket Tolerance Factor increases the number of buckets searched to find
the matching element hence, may decrease the efficiency of the mapping. An appropriate
value should be chosen so that the resulting bounding region includes the matching element
but not too big so as to negatively affect the efficiency of the search.
Shell Thickness Factor: For shell models with variable thickness, the gap between the target
node, and matching element may be large. Shell Thickness Factor is used to exclude any
matching element which has a gap greater than Thickness* Shell Thickness Factor.
Thickness is the average element thickness of the matching element.
Figure 39: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Shell Thickness Factor = 0.6
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Note
Increasing the Shell Thickness Factor to allow submodel nodes to be found can produce
poor submodel results as shown in Figure 39: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Shell Thickness
Factor = 0.6 (p. 1607) and Figure 40: Shell-Solid Submodeling with Shell Thickness Factor =
1.2 (p. 1608). where large Shell Thickness Factor causes the target nodes on the web region
to be matched with the base (3), whereas the target nodes are more appropriately matched
for a smaller Shell Thickness Factor (4).
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Coordinate System: Available when Alignment is set to Program Controlled. One of the available
coordinate systems must be selected as a reference point for Program Controlled alignment. The mesh
nodal data is transformed related to the ZX plane of the selected coordinate system. A mean Z value
is determined so that the nodes can be split into 2 groups, an upper and lower section. The nodes in
each section are then sorted based on their X position. If there are nodes at the same X position, these
points are then sorted based on their Z location. For the Rear Bottom and Front Bottom points, the
minimum sorted Z point will be used, and for the Rear Top and Front Top, the maximum Z point
will be used.
Nodes: Available when Alignment is set to Manual for UV Source Controls. The user must list the 4
node locations in the text entry separated by commas. The order must be input as Front Bottom, Rear
Bottom, Rear Top, Front Top.
Target Front-Bottom, Target Rear-Bottom, Target Front-Top, Target Front-Top: Available when
Alignment is set to Manual for UV Target Controls. The user must select geometric vertices for each
alignment point.
Nodes Only
Nodes Only
Nodes Only
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Manual Mapping
When manual mode is selected, you will be able to control advanced settings for the mapper. Based
on the mesh data provided from the source and target, you will be able to choose the type of weighting
algorithm.
If the source mesh contains only points, you will be able to select from the following:
Triangulation
Distance Based Average
Kriging.
If the source mesh also contains element data, you will have the items listed above as well as:
Shape Function
Element shapes supported during mapping when Shape Function is selected:
Element Shape
Supported
3 Node Triangle
X (2D) (3D)
6 Node Triangle
X (2D) (3D)
4 Node Quadrilateral
X (2D) (3D)
8 Node Quadrilateral
X (2D) (3D)
4 Node Tetrahedron
X (3D)
10 Node Tetrahedron
X (3D)
8 Node Hexahedron
X (3D)
20 Node Hexahedron
X (3D)
6 Node Wedge
X (3D)
15 Node Wedge
X (3D)
2D to 3D Mapping
Mapping point data from 2D to 3D analyses is possible using the External Data system connected to a
downstream Mechanical system. This mapping is performed by collapsing the 3D mesh data into a 2D
plane and calculating target point weighting factors from the source point data.
2D results in the XY Plane:
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You will be able to select the 2D project plane to use based on the available coordinate systems as well
as an option to select normal to the 2D source point data (Normal To Plane). Using the Graphics
Controls described above, you will be able to turn on and off visualization of the source point data
and the 2D projection plane.
Source point and 2D projection plane displayed:
When selecting Cartesian coordinate systems, the projection will be done on the XY Plane. If the coordinate system is cylindrical, the projection will be rotated about the Z axis into the ZX Plane. Normal
To Plane will project the target points into the source point plane.
3D mapped data using cylindrical coordinate system projection:
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Notes
When mapping point cloud data, the mapping utility does not know where body boundaries are. If you
have a model with contact between two bodies, the mapping may pick up points from both bodies
causing undesired results.
Mapping Validation
Mapping Validation objects can be inserted under imported data objects* to allow for an evaluation
of how the mapping operation performed, by either right-clicking and selecting Insert > Validation
from the context menu, or by clicking the Validation button in the toolbar. To perform a validation,
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Mapping Validation
right-click the Validation object and select Analyze. The following sections describe different methods
to help analyze and determine if the mapping and interpolation that was performed produced an accurate representation of the mapped value data transferred from the source mesh onto the target mesh.
*Mapping Validation is supported on the following analysis:
External Data Import
Submodeling
Not supported for Shell-Solid Submodeling
Thermal-Stress Analysis
One-way Acoustic Coupling Analysis
Definition
The variable to display the validation information can be identified using the following properties:
1. File Identifier*: A list of variables obtained from the parent object will be listed in the File Identifier drop
down. The validation information will be displayed based on the selected item.
2. Row: The row of the parent worksheet.
3. Data: The data type for the imported load.
4. Component: The vector component (X, Y, Z).
5. Complex Component: The real/imaginary component for complex loads.
6. Shell Face: Top/Bottom for loads applied to shells.
Note
File Identifier* property is only available for data imported through the External Data system.
Properties 2-6 are not available for data imported through the External Data system. Instead
the validation information is displayed for the variable identified using the File Identifier
property.
Settings
Within the Settings category, the Type of validation must be specified by selecting Reverse Validation,
Distance Based Average Comparison, or Source Value:
Reverse Validation. Reverse Validation takes the results of the imported data (based on the File Identifier) and maps these values back onto the source points. These newly mapped values are compared to
the source variables original values.
Distance Based Average Comparison. Distance Based Average Comparison compares the results from
the parent (based on the File Identifier) to mapped results obtained by using the distance-based average
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Graphics Controls
There are multiple display options available: Scaled Spheres, Colored Spheres, Colored Diamonds,
Colored Points, Contours, and Isolines. Colored Spheres and Scaled Spheres consume more memory
and take longer to display on the screen due to the number of sides being drawn for each sphere.
Colored Diamonds consume less memory and time, and Colored Points use the least amount. Contours
and Isolines option will only be available when source mesh element connectivity is provided. Use External Data with an MAPDL CDB formatted file containing elements. All displays will be based on the
range entered in the Display Minimum/Display Maximum fields. Display items that are colored will
have a discrete legend displayed based on the Display Minimum and Display Maximum, divided
equally into ranges. Scaled Spheres, Colored Spheres, and Colored Diamonds can be scaled based
on the Scale field value.
If the Display option is set to Isolines, a Line Thickness option will be available to control how the
isolines are drawn. This setting will be respected when drawing isolines on the parent object when
Display In Parent is On.
If the Display In Parent property is set to On, the validation data will also be displayed when the parent
object is selected. The validation data that is displayed in the parent object respects the Active Row
and, if available, the Data/Component option selected in the details pane of the Imported Load object.
If the Component property in the details pane of the Imported Load object is set to All or Total, the
displayed data represents the vector magnitude of the validation results corresponding to the source
identifiers defined in the worksheet of the active row.
If the Component property is set to X, Y or Z component for vectors , the displayed data represents the
validation results in the global X, Y or Z directions for the source identifiers defined in the worksheet of
the active row.
If the Component property is set to XX/YY/ZZ/XY/YZ/ZX component for tensors, the displayed data represents the validation results in the global coordinate system for the source identifiers defined in the
worksheet of the active row.
If the Data property is set to Temperature or Convection Coefficient, the displayed data represents the
validation result for the corresponding source identifier selected in the worksheet of the active row.
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Mapping Validation
Legend Divisions control how many contour colors to use and must be within the range from 3 to 14.
Statistics
The Maximum and Minimum read-only fields show the full range of available results from the validation.
Number Of Items shows how many items are currently being displayed in the graphics window. This
number is based on the Display Minimum and Display Maximum values.
Once a validation has been performed, the data can be exported to a file by simply right-clicking the
Validation object and selecting Export.
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*BOUNDARY_NON_REFLECTING
Specifies impedance boundaries. Impedance boundaries can only be applied on solid elements in LSDYNA.
Card
SSID = ID of segment on whose nodes the boundary is applied (see *SET_SEGMENT bellow).
AD = 0.0 (default) for setting the activation flag for dilatational waves to on.
AS = 0.0 (default) for setting the activation flag for shear waves to on.
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_NODE_ID
See *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_SET
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_RIGID_ID
See *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_SET
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_SET_ID
Specifies velocity and displacement boundary conditions.
Card required for keyword option ID.
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*BOUNDARY_SPC_SET
Specifies Fixed Support, Simple Support and Fixed Rotation constraints.
Card
NSID = ID of set of nodes to which the boundary is applied.
CID = ID of the associated coordinate system. 0 specifies the global coordinate system.
DOFX = 0 or 1 for free or fixed translation, respectively, along the x direction. It is set to 0 for Fixed Rotation
and to 1 otherwise.
DOFY = 0 or 1 for free or fixed translation, respectively, along the y direction. It is set to 0 for Fixed Rotation
and to 1 otherwise.
DOFZ = 0 or 1 for free or fixed translation, respectively, along the z direction. It is set to 0 for Fixed Rotation
and to 1 otherwise.
DOFRX = 0 or 1 for free or fixed translation, respectively, along the x direction. It is set to 0 for Simple
Support and to 1 otherwise.
DOFRY = 0 or 1 for free or fixed translation, respectively, along the y direction. It is set to 0 for Simple
Support and to 1 otherwise.
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*CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODIES
Specifies rigid bodies to be merged into one part. The resulting Part ID matches the ID of the rigid body
designated as the master.
This keyword is created for rigid bodies which belong to the same multibody part. By constraining the
rigid bodies together using a single multibody part you avoid specifying conflicting motion on the
nodes shared among the rigid bodies. All boundary conditions applied to the master body will also be
applied to all the slaves. Any boundary conditions that were applied to the slaves will be ignored.
The body that is selected to be master is the first one that appears in the multibody-part list.
Card
PIDM = ID of the master rigid body.
PIDS = ID of the slave rigid body.
*CONSTRAINED_SPOTWELD
Specifies spot welds between non-contiguous nodal pairs of shell elements. This keyword is created
when a spot weld contact is defined in the Mechanical application.
Card
N1 = ID of the first node used in the weld.
N2 = ID of the second node present in the weld.
SN = Normal force at weld failure.
SS = Shear force at weld failure.
N = Exponent of normal force.
M = Exponent of shear force.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL
Specifies friction or frictionless contacts between line bodies (beams). This keyword is created if the
contact is specified using Body Interactions and the geometry contains line bodies.
All the parameter cards are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE
Specifies nodes-to-surface friction or frictionless contacts. This keyword is created if the contact is specified
using a Contact Region and the Behavior is set to Asymmetric.
Card1 - mandatory
SSID = ID for the set of slave nodes involved in the contact.
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*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE
Specifies friction or frictionless contacts between parts. This keyword is created if the contact is specified
using Body Interactions.
Card1 - mandatory
SSID = ID for the set of parts created for the bodies in the Body Interaction. If the contact is applied to
all the bodies in the geometry then this parameter is set to 0.
MSID = 0.
SSTYP =2, the slave entities are parts. If the contact is applied to all the bodies in the geometry then this
parameter is set to 5.
MSTYP = 2, the master entities are parts. If the contact is applied to all the bodies in the geometry then
this parameter is set to 0.
SBOXID = It is not used, will be left blank.
MBOXID = It is not used, will be left blank.
SPR = 1 (constant) requests that forces on the slave side of the contact be included in the results files
NCFORC (ASCII) and INTFOR (binary). These two results files are not currently specified in the exported K
file and are not created. The user will need to manually specify the *DATABASE_NCFORC and *DATABASE_BINARY_INTFOR keywords to obtain them.
MPR = 1 (constant) requests that forces on the master side of the contact be included in the results files
NCFORC (ASCII) and INTFOR (binary). These two results files are not currently specified in the exported K
file and are not created. The user will need to manually specify the *DATABASE_NCFORC and *DATABASE_BINARY_INTFOR keywords to obtain them.
Card2 - mandatory
FS = Friction Coefficient value from the inputs for frictional contact.
FD = Dynamic Coefficient value from the inputs for frictional contact.
DC = Decay Constant value from the inputs for frictional contact.
VC = 0 (LS-DYNA default).
VDC = 10 (constant). This parameter specifies the percentage of the critical viscous damping coefficient
to be used in order to avoid undesirable oscillation in the contact.
Card3 - mandatory, left blank for defaults to be used.
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*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
Defines specific surface-to-surface friction or frictionless contacts. This keyword is created if the contact
is specified using a Contact Region and the Behavior is set to Symmetric.
Card1 - mandatory
SSID = ID for the set of slave segments involved in the contact.
MSID = ID for the set of master segments involved in the contact.
SSTYP = 0, the slave entities for the contact are segments.
MSTYP = 0, the master entities for the contact are segments.
SBOXID, MBOXID, SPR and MPR are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Parameter Card2 and Card3 are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Card A
SOFT = 2 except for asymmetric contacts like NODES_TO_SURFACE and unbreakable bonded contacts for
which it is set to 1.
SOFSCL = left blank, the default value of 0.1 will be used. This scale factor is used to determine the stiffness
of the interface when SOFT is set to 1. For SOFT = 2 scale factor SLSFAC (see *CONTROL_CONTACT) is
used instead.
LCIDAB = left blank.
MAXPAR= left blank.
SBOPT = 3.
DEPTH = 5.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK
Specifies breakable symmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contact when the
Breakable option is set to Stress Criteria and the contact Behavior is set to Symmetric.
Card 1 is the same as in *CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET.
Card2 - mandatory
FS = Normal Stress Limit value for the bonded contact.
FD = Shear Stress Limit value for the bonded contact.
DC = 0 (LS-DYNA default). This parameter is not required for bonded contacts.
VC and VDC are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Card3 - mandatory, is left blank.
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*CONTACT_ONEWAY_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK
Specifies breakable asymmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contact when
the Breakable option is set to Stress Criteria and the contact Behavior is set to Asymmetric.
Parameter cards are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK.
Card A is not used for this keyword.
*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
Specifies non breakable asymmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contacts that
are not designated as Breakable whose Behavior is set to Asymmetric. This keyword is not used for
Body Interactions as these types of contacts are always symmetric.
Card1 - mandatory
SSID = ID for the set of slave nodes involved in the contact.
MSID = ID for the set of master segment or for the set of parts involved in the contact.
SSTYP = 4. SSID indicates the ID for a set of nodes.
MSTYP = 0, MSID indicates the ID for a set of segments.
SBOXID, MBOXID, SPR and MPR are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Card 2 left blank.
Card 3
SFS = left blank, the default value of 1.0 will be used. Default slave penalty stiffness scale factor for SLSFAC
(see *CONTROL_CONTACT).
SFM= left blank, the default value of 1.0 will be used. Default master penalty stiffness scale factor for
SLSFAC (see *CONTROL_CONTACT).
SST = the negative value of:
"Maximum Offset" is the Definition parameter available for bonded contacts and body interactions.
"Maximum Offset" is obtained from the inputs of the Contact Region of Bonded type.
MST = SST.
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*CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
Specifies general non-breakable bonded contacts that are symmetric. This keyword is created for Bonded
and non-breakable contacts which are defined by Contact Regions that are Bonded, non-breakable
and whose Behavior is set to Symmetric.
Card1 - mandatory
SSID = ID for a set of slave segments or a set of parts involved in the contact.
MSID = ID for the set of master segments or the set of parts involved in the contact.
SSTYP = specifies whether the ID used in SSID represents parts or segments. It is set to 0 if SSID represents
a set of segments and 2 if it represents a set of parts.
MSTYP = SSTYP.
SBOXID, MBOXID, SPR and MPR are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Cards 2 and 3 are the same as in *CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET.
Card A is the same as for *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE.
*CONTROL_ACCURACY
Specifies control parameters that can improve the accuracy of the calculation.
Card
OSU = 1. Global flag for objective stress updates. Required for parts that undergo large rotations. When
set to 1 the flag is on.
INN = 4. Invariant node numbering for shell and solid elements. When set to 4 the flag is on for both shell
and solid elements.
*CONTROL_BULK_VISCOSITY
Sets the bulk viscosity coefficients globally.
Card
Q1 = Quadratic Artificial Viscosity from the "Damping Controls" in the Analysis Settings.
Q2 = Linear Artificial Viscosity from the "Damping Controls" in the Analysis settings.
TYPE = -2. Internal energy dissipated by the viscosity in the shell elements is computed and included in
the overall energy balance.
*CONTROL_CONTACT
Specifies the defaults for computations of contact surfaces.
Card 1
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*CONTROL_ENERGY
Specifies the controls for energy dissipation options.
Card
HGEN = 2. Hourglass energy is computed and included in the energy balance. Results are reported in
ASCII files GLSTAT and MATSUM.
RWEN = 2 (default).
SLNTEN = 2. Sliding interface energy dissipation is computed and included in the energy balance. Results
are reported in ASCII files GLSTAT and SLEOUT.
RYLEN = 2. Rayleigh energy dissipation is computed and included in the energy balance. Results are reported in ASCII file GLSTAT.
*CONTROL_HOURGLASS
Specifies the global hourglass parameters.
Card
IHQ = 1 if Hourglass Damping of type Standard is selected in the Analysis Settings. Also this parameter
is equal to 1 if the Flanagan Belytschko option is selected but both the coefficients are zero.
= 5 if the Flanagan Belytschko option is selected and the Stiffness Coefficient is non-zero.
= 3 if the Flanagan Belytschko option is selected, the Stiffness Coefficient is zero and the Hex Integration Type of the Solver Controls is set to Exact.
= 2 if the Flanagan Belytschko option is selected, the Stiffness Coefficient is zero and the Hex Integration Type of the Solver Controls is set to 1pt Gauss.
QH = Viscous Coefficient of the Hourglass Damping section of the Analysis Settings if IHQ is equal to
1, 2, or 3.
= Stiffness Coefficient if IHQ is 5.
*CONTROL_SHELL
Specifies global parameters for shell element types.
Card
WRPANG = 20 (default).
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*CONTROL_SOLID
Specifies global parameters for solid element types.
Card
ESORT = 1, full automatic sorting of tetrahedron and pentahedron elements to treat degeneracies. Degenerate tetrahedrons will be treated as ELFORM = 10 and pentahedron as ELFORM = 15 solids respectively
(see *SECTION_SOLID).
*CONTROL_TERMINATION
Specifies the termination criteria for the solver.
Card
ENDTIM = End Time in the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings.
ENDCYC = Maximum Time Steps of the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings.
DTMIN = 0.01 (constant).
ENDENG = Maximum Energy Error from the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings.
ENDMAS = Maximum Part Scaling from the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings, if Automatic
Mass Scaling is set to Yes. If Automatic Mass Scaling is set to No, the default value of 0.0 is used.
*CONTROL_TIMESTEP
Specifies conditions for determining the computational time step.
Card
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*DAMPING_GLOBAL
Specifies the mass weighted nodal damping applied globally to the nodes of deformable bodies and
the center of mass of rigid bodies.
Card
LCID = 0, a constant damping factor will be used as specified in VALDMP.
VALDMP = Static Damping from the Damping Controls section of the Analysis Settings.
*DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the binary D3PLOT results plotting file.
Card
DT = Time from the Output Controls section of the Analysis Settings if Save Results on is set to Time.
= End Time divided by the Number of Points if Save Results On is set to Equally Spaced Points.
*DATABASE_BINARY_RUNRSF
Specifies the sampling parameters for the RUNRSF restart file.
Card
CYCL = Time Steps from the Output Controls section of the Analysis Settings if Save Restart Files on
is set to Time Steps.
= Maximum Time Steps divided by the Number of Points if Save Results On is set to Equally
Spaced Time Points.
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*DATABASE_ELOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the ELOUT results file (stores stress and strain results).
Card
DT = (see *DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT).
*DATABASE_FORMAT
Specifies the format in which to write binary results files like D3PLOT and D3THDT.
Card
IFORM = 0, binary results will be written only in the LS-DYNA format.
*DATABASE_GLSTAT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the GLSTAT results file (stores general energy results).
Card
DT = (see *DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT).
*DATABASE_MATSUM
Specifies the sampling parameters for the MATSUM results file (stores general energy and velocity results
as the GLSTAT file but it stores them per body. It is necessary for rigid bodies).
Card
DT = (see *DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT).
*DATABASE_NODOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the NODOUT results file (stores displacement and velocity results).
Card
DT = (see *DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT).
*DEFINE_COORDINATE_SYSTEM
Specifies a local coordinate system with three points: one at the local origin, one on the local x-axis
and one on the local x-y plane.
Card1
CID = ID of the coordinate system, must be unique.
XO = global X-coordinate of the origin.
YO = global Y-coordinate of the origin.
ZO = global Z-coordinate of the origin.
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*DEFINE_CURVE
Specifies magnitudes that are given in tabular format. Some keywords require magnitudes to be specified
as a load curve. Should a constant be needed, it may be represented as a curve by repeating its value
for time steps 0 and 1.
Card1
LCID = ID for load curve, is incremented every time a new load curve is defined.
Card2, 3, 4...
A = abscissa value, usually time.
O = ordinate (function) value.
*DEFINE_VECTOR
Specifies a vector by defining the coordinates of two points. This keyword defines the local coordinate
system with respect to which a *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION is prescribed. The ID of this coordinate
system is specified with parameter CID.
Card
VID = ID of the vector.
XT = 0, the local x-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
YT = 0, the local y-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
ZT = 0, the local z-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
XH = 1 if the vector has a component in the x direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
Otherwise, this is set to 0.
YH = 1 if the vector has a component in the x direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
Otherwise, this is set to 0.
ZH = 1 if the vector has a component in the x direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
Otherwise, this is set to 0.
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*ELEMENT_BEAM
Specifies beam elements.
Card
EID = ID of the element.
PID = ID of the part it belongs to.
N1 = ID of nodal point 1.
N2 = ID of nodal point 2.
N3 = ID of nodal point 3, used for cross section orientation.
*ELEMENT_SHELL
Specifies three, four, six and eight noded shell elements.
Card
EID = ID of the element.
PID = ID of the part it belongs to.
N1 = ID of nodal point 1.
N2 = ID of nodal point 2.
N3 = ID of nodal point 3.
N4 = ID of nodal point 4.
N5-8 = ID of mid side nodes for six and eight noded shells.
*ELEMENT_SHELL_THICKNESS_OFFSET
This keyword is the same as *ELEMENT_SHELL above with two additional cards for specifying thicknesses
per node and the offset of the shell.
Card1 - the same as *ELEMENT_SHELL
Card2
THIC1 = shell thickness at node 1.
THIC2 = shell thickness at node 2.
THIC3 = shell thickness at node 3.
THIC4 = shell thickness at node 4.
1630
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*ELEMENT_SOLID
Specifies 3D solid elements including 10-noded tetrahedrons (second order). Apart from the second
order case the two cards are combined into one.
Card1
EID = ID of the element.
PID = ID of the part it belongs to.
Card2
N1 = ID of nodal point 1.
N2 = ID of nodal point 2.
N3 = ID of nodal point 3.
N4 = ID of nodal point 4.
.
.
.
N10 = ID of nodal point 10.
*END
Terminates the keyword file. It has no parameter cards.
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*EOS_GRUNEISEN
Specifies a shock equation of state. This keyword is created when a Shock EOS linear equation of state
is present in the properties of a material that is used in the simulation and the Johnson Cook plasticity
model is also present. The bilinear version of this equation of state is not currently supported.
Card1
EOSID = ID of the keyword, must be unique between the *EOS keywords.
C = parameter C1 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
S1 = parameter S1 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
S2 = Parameter Quadratic S2 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
S3 = 0.
GAMAO = Gruneisen Coefficient for a Linear Shock EOS property.
A = 0.
Card2 - mandatory, left blank.
*EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL
Specifies the coefficients for a linear polynomial elastic EOS. The *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL keyword
is only created when the Johnson Cook strength property is added to the material model (which requires
an EOS), but no other EOS has been specified. It is not directly available from the Engineering Data
workspace, however.
Card1
EOSID = ID of the keyword, must be unique between the *EOS keywords.
C0 = 0.
C1 = elastic bulk modulus
C2 = 0.
C3 = 0.
C4 = 0.
C5 = 0.
C6 = 0.
Card2 - mandatory, left blank.
*HOURGLASS
Defines hourglass and bulk viscosity properties that are referenced in the *PART keyword via its HGID
parameter (see *PART keyword bellow).
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*INITIAL_VELOCITY_GENERATION
Specifies initial translational and rotational velocities.
Card1
ID = ID of part where the initial velocity is applied.
STYP = 2, the velocity is applied to a whole part. In Workbench initial velocities can only be applied to
whole parts.
OMEGA = angular velocity about the rotational axis.
VX = initial translational velocity in the x direction.
VY = initial translational velocity in the y direction.
VZ = initial translational velocity in the z direction.
IVATN = 0 (default) slave bodies of a multibody part are not assigned the initial velocities of the master
part.
Card2
XC = x coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
YC = y coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
ZC = z coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
NX = 0 if there is no angular velocity around the x-axis.
= 1 if there is angular velocity around the x-axis.
NY = 0 if there is no angular velocity around the y-axis.
= 1 if there is angular velocity around the y-axis.
NZ = 0 if there is no angular velocity around the z-axis.
= 1 if there is angular velocity around the z-axis.
PHASE = 0 (default), velocities are applied immediately.
*INITIAL_VELOCITY_RIGID_BODY
Specifies initial translational and rotational velocities at the center of gravity for rigid bodies.
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1633
*INTEGRATION_BEAM
Specifies the particulars of the integration method required for complex or user-defined cross sections
of beam elements.
Card1
IRID = incremented every time a new keyword is required.
NIP = 0, number of integration points are not specified, instead ICST is used below to choose a standard
cross sectional area.
RA = 0, number of integration points are not specified, instead ICST is used below to choose a standard
cross sectional area.
ICST = 1-21 depending on the cross sectional area specified in the GUI for the beam geometry.
Card2
D1-D4 = cross sectional dimensions for width and height.
SREF = 1, orientation for s-axis.
TREF = 1, orientation for t-axis.
*KEYWORD
Marks the beginning of a keyword file.
*LOAD_BODY_X
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the x direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
LCID = ID of the load curve that represents the magnitude of the load (see *DEFINE_CURVE).
SF = 1.0 (default), load curve scale factor.
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*LOAD_BODY_Y
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the y direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
(see *LOAD_BODY_X).
*LOAD_BODY_Z
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the z direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
(see *LOAD_BODY_X).
*LOAD_NODE_POINT
Applies a concentrated force to a node.
Card
NODE = ID of the node on which the force is applied.
DOF = 1, 2 or 3 depending on the force direction x, y or z.
LCID = ID of the load curve that describes the magnitude of the force (see *DEFINE_CURVE).
SF = 1.0 (default), load curve scale factor.
CID = ID of local coordinate system used. Set to 0 for the global coordinate system.
*LOAD_NODE_SET
Applies a concentrated nodal force to a set of nodes.
Card
(see *LOAD_NODE_POINT. Note that parameter NODE here is replaced by NSID which is the ID of the
set of nodes where the force is applied).
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*LOAD_RIGID_BODY
Applies a concentrated nodal force to a rigid body. The force is applied at the center of mass.
Card
(see *LOAD_NODE_POINT. Note that parameter NODE here is replaced by PID which is the ID of the
part the force is applied on).
*LOAD_SEGMENT
Applies a distributed pressure load over a triangular or quadrilateral face defined by three, four, six
(second order triangles) or eight (second order quadrilateral) nodes.
Card
LCID = ID of the load curve that describes the magnitude of the pressure (see *DEFINE_CURVE).
SF = 1.0 (default), load curve scale factor.
AT = arrival time for pressure is assigned the time at load step 1 if pressure is given in tabular form or 0
if constant pressure.
N1-N4 = IDs of nodes that define the face. For triangles N4 = N3.
N5-N8 = IDs of mid-side nodes for second order triangles or quadrilaterals.
Materials keywords
The following are descriptions for *MAT keywords natively supported by the LS-DYNA export feature.
More generally, any *MAT keyword may be introduced into the export file with the help of Commands
objects in the Mechanical application (termed Keyword Snippet when referring to the LS-DYNA solver).
To use it, insert a Keyword Snippet under a Geometry body in the Tree Outline. The program will
automatically substitute the MID parameter in accordance with the *PART keyword (see below) of the
associated body. All other parameters in the Keyword Snippet are transcribed literally, overriding any
values that would otherwise derive from the Engineering Data workspace.
If the *MAT keyword is entered in a Keyword Snippet anywhere else in the Tree Outline, it will be exported literally and Engineering Data EOS information will also be exported, if present. This practice is
not recommended, however, and a warning is provided in the header of Keyword Snippet objects
when detected.
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
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1640
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
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1641
*NODE
Defines nodes. All the parameters are obtained from mesh definitions of the model.
Card
NID = ID of the node.
X = x coordinate.
Y = y coordinate.
Z = z coordinate.
*PART
Defines geometry bodies.
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*SECTION_BEAM
Defines cross sectional properties for beam, truss, spot weld and cable elements.
Card1
SECID = ID of the section.
ELFORM = 1. The element formulation option is changed to 3 if the Beam Solution Type option of the
Analysis Settings is set to Truss.
SHRF = 1.0 (default). If the cross sectional shape is rectangular or complex (see CST bellow) then SHRF is
set to 0.833.
QR = 2 (default), quadrature rule is 2x2 Gauss. If the cross sectional area of the beam is complex or userdefined, this parameter becomes IRID and is assigned the negative value of the IRID parameter in the
corresponding *INTEGRATION_BEAM keyword (see above for details).
CST = 0 for solid cross sections
= 1 for hollow cross sections
= 2 for complex or user defined cross sections. Such cross sections include: hollow rectangular, I, C,
L, T, Z, trapezoidal, U and hat shapes.
Card2
for solid types
TS1 = width of beam. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 1.
TS2 = TS1. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 2.
TT1 = height of beam. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 1. Set to zero circular solids.
TT2 = TT1. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 2. Set to zero circular solids.
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*SECTION_SHELL
Defines section properties for shell elements.
Card1
SECID = ID of the section.
ELFORM = 2, if the Full Shell Integration option of the Solver Controls of the Analysis Settings is set
to No.
= 16 (default) if the Full Shell Integration option of the Solver Controls of the Analysis Settings is
set to Yes.
SHRF = Shell Shear Correction Factor option of the Solver Controls of the Analysis Settings. The default
value is set to 0.8333.
NIP = Shell Sublayers option of the Solver Controls of the Analysis Settings. The default value is 3.
Card2
T1 = thickness of body.
T2-T4 = T1, shell thickness at nodes 2, 3 and 4.
*SECTION_SOLID
Defines section properties for solid elements.
Card
SECID = ID of the section.
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*SET_NODE_LIST
Defines a set of nodes. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify all the node IDs in the
set.
Card1
SID = ID of the set.
Card2
NID1-NID8 = IDs for eight of the nodes in the set.
*SET_PART_LIST
Defines a set of parts. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify all the part IDs in the set.
Card1
SID = ID of the set.
Card2
PID1-PID8 = IDs for eight of the parts in the set.
*SET_SEGMENT
Defines triangular and quadrilateral segments. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify
all the segments in the set.
Card1
SID = ID of the set.
Card2
N1-N4 = IDs of nodes that define one of the segments. For triangular segments N4=N3.
*TITLE
Defines a job title.
Card
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1647
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Topics
Overview (p. 1649)
URI Address and Path Considerations (p. 1650)
Using Strings and Languages (p. 1651)
Guidelines for Editing XML Files (p. 1652)
About the TaskML Merge Process (p. 1652)
Using the Integrated Wizard Development Kit (WDK) (p. 1653)
Using IFRAME Elements (p. 1653)
TaskML Reference (p. 1654)
Standard Object Groups Reference (p. 1686)
Tutorials (p. 1689)
Wizard Development Kit (WDK) Groups (p. 1699)
Overview
From a programming perspective, the Mechanical Wizard system is best described as a "task browser."
As a "web browser" used to view and navigate pages on the Internet, a task browser is used to view
and navigate tasks in an engineering system. A web browser accesses HTML files and resources on a
network; a task browser accesses TaskML files and resources on a network.
TaskML is an XML vocabulary that defines the rules and data necessary to display and process pages
of tasks in the Mechanical application. Like HTML, TaskML allows for general scripting and for inserting
arbitrary HTML content and user interface controls. Basic wizard customization using TaskML is similar
to working with HTML and requires only a text editor.
The Mechanical Wizard runs as a web application (specifically, a dynamic HTML page) inside of a web
browser control (Microsoft Internet Explorer). The web browser control is hosted by the Mechanical
application. Consequently, the Mechanical Wizard system has full access to the capabilities of the web
browser and the Mechanical application. Development of the Mechanical Wizard involves use of the
HTML, CSS, XML, JScript web standards, and, for access to and automation of the application, use of
the Mechanical application object model. The Mechanical Wizard displays tasks organized into groups.
A task displays a caption and a status or descriptive icon. Activating a task (by clicking) typically involves
automatic navigation to a particular context and selection in the user interface and display of a "callout"
with a text message pointing to a specific control. Custom tasks may perform any operation via TaskML
elements or scripting.
The Mechanical Wizard responds to events that occur in the Mechanical application. Adding a load is
an example of an event. When such an event occurs, each task is given the opportunity to determine
its status or take an action.
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1649
Note
Standard network security conditions apply to these URIs. As a general rule, if a user cannot
open a linked file in their web browser, the file cannot be accessed by the Mechanical Wizard.
Standard Protocols
http://webserver/share/Wizard.xml
ftp://ftp.webserver.com/pub/Wizard.xml
file:///C:/folder/Wizard.xml
SIMWIZ Protocol
The SIMWIZ protocol supports paths relative to the location of the Mechanical Wizard (specifically, relative to the location of the file Default.htm in the Mechanical Wizard folder). The SIMWIZ protocol allows
custom TaskML files published to any arbitrary location to reuse standard TaskML files and other components of the system.
simwiz://Tasks/StandardTasks.xml
Relative Paths
All relative paths are relative to the location of the file containing the link. Note that this behavior is
different from version 6.0, in which relative links were relative to the location of the Mechanical Wizard.
folder/Wizard.xml
./folder/Wizard.xml
../folder/Wizard.xml
/rootfolder/Wizard.xml
1650
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The Mechanical Wizard determines which strings to use by matching the Language setting in the Wizard
page of the Control Panel to the xml:lang attribute of a language element. If no language element
with a matching xml:lang attribute exists, or if no string element with the necessary ID exists, the
Mechanical Wizard takes the string from the language element with the xml:lang attribute set to "enus" (English, United States). If the default English string doesn't exist, the Mechanical Wizard takes the
first string with a matching ID or displays the string ID in place of the text.
to
</language>
3. Paste the copy into the<string> element below the last <language> close tag.
4. Change the language code from en-us to the code appropriate for the localization.
5. Localize each <string> element within the new <language> element. String IDs must remain unchanged.
6. Test the new language by entering the language code in the Language setting in the Wizard page of
the Control Panel.
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1651
Note
XML is case-sensitive. All TaskML tags are lower-case.
Attribute values must be in quotes.
Use only the five predefined XML entity references for special characters if needed: & (&),
< (<) > (>) " (") ' (&apo;).
White space (new lines, tabs, etc) is generally discarded. However, within a string element extra
white space may result in multiple spaces between words. At this release there is no way to
insert a line break within a string element.
string elements contain only text; string (p. 1661) elements may not contain any XML or HTML
elements.
XML comments are allowed.
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1653
Security Restrictions
Due to the cross-frame scripting security model enforced by the web browser control, custom IFRAME
HTML pages should reside in the same location as the Mechanical Wizard. IFRAME pages from a different
domain as the parent page cannot access the parent via script.
IFRAME Toolkit
The WDK includes the following resources for developing IFRAMEs:
The file MechanicalWizard\WDK\Info_IFRAME.htm contains a template HTML document for an
IFRAME. View the source for descriptions of recommended HTML elements and JScript functions.
The file MechanicalWizard\System\IFrame.js implements generic functions for use in IFRAMEs.
The following files demonstrate use of IFRAMEs:
MechanicalWizard\WDK\Tools_IFrame.htm contains implementation for the WDK: Tools IFRAME.
See MechanicalWizard\WDK\Tools_Merge.xml for corresponding TaskML.
MechanicalWizard\Panels\InsertGeometry_IFrame.htm contains implementation for the
Insert Geometry panel Options group. See MechanicalWizard\Panels\InsertGeometry.xml for
corresponding TaskML.
MechanicalWizard\TipoftheDay\IFrame.htm contains implementation for Tip of the Day. See
MechanicalWizard\Panels\Startup.xml for corresponding TaskML.
TaskML Reference
This reference describes each element defined in TaskML. See XML Notes for general usage guidelines.
The Overview Map contains a diagram showing the basic structure of TaskML.
Document Element (p. 1655)
External References (p. 1656)
Object Grouping (p. 1657)
Status Definitions (p. 1659)
Language and Text (p. 1660)
Tasks and Events (p. 1662)
Wizard Content (p. 1664)
Rules (p. 1667)
Scripting (p. 1685)
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TaskML Reference
simulation-wizard (p. 1655) document element
Merge (p. 1656) elements
Script (p. 1656) elements
object-groups (p. 1658) collection
statuses (p. 1660) collection
strings (p. 1661) collection
tasks (p. 1663) collection
task (p. 1663) elements
update-event (p. 1664) element
Rules (p. 1667) sequence
activate-event (p. 1662) element
Rules (p. 1667) sequence
body (p. 1664) element
group (p. 1665) elements
taskref (p. 1666) elements
iframe (p. 1666) elements
eval (p. 1685) statements
eval (p. 1685) statements
Document Element
simulation-wizard (p. 1655)
simulation-wizard
Identifies the start of a TaskML file.
<simulation-wizard
version="1.0">
Attributes
version
Specifies the version of the TaskML vocabulary. The current version is "1.0."
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1655
Element Information
Parents
Children
Merge (p. 1656), Script (p. 1656), object-groups (p. 1658), statuses (p. 1660), strings (p. 1661), tasks (p. 1663),
body (p. 1664)
End
Tag
Required
External References
Merge (p. 1656)
Script (p. 1656)
Merge
Merges an external TaskML file.
<merge
src="url" />
Attributes
src
Specifies the URL of the TaskML file to merge.
Table 108: Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
About the TaskML Merge Process (p. 1652) and URI Address and Path Considerations (p. 1650).
Script
Specifies an external JScript file to load into the Mechanical Wizard.
<merge
src="url" />
Attributes
src
Specifies the URL of the JScript file to load.
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TaskML Reference
Remarks
JScript files use the .js file extension.
Code in the JScript file outside of any function is evaluated immediately upon loading.
The eval element may directly call functions defined in the JScript file.
Table 109: Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
URI Address and Path Considerations (p. 1650).
Object Grouping
object-group (p. 1657)
object-groups (p. 1658)
object-type (p. 1658)
object-group
Organizes objects by placing them in an assigned group.
<object-group
name="group_name">
Attributes
name
Specifies the name of the group.
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
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1657
See Also
object (p. 1671), select-first-object (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), Standard Object Groups Reference (p. 1686).
object-groups
Contains an unordered collection of object group definitions.
<object-groups>
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
See Also
Standard Object Groups Reference (p. 1686).
object-type
Specifies an Outline object by its internal identifiers.
<object-type
class="id_Constant"
type="id_Constant" />
Attributes
class
Identifies the class ID constant.
type
Identifies the type ID constant. Applies only for a class of "id_Load" or "id_Result."
Remarks
ID constants are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
The class attribute corresponds to the "Class" property of the Mechanical application objects.
The type attribute corresponds the "loadType" or "ResultType" property of specific the Mechanical application objects.
Element Information
Parents
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TaskML Reference
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
Standard Object Groups Reference (p. 1686).
Status Definitions
status (p. 1659)
statuses (p. 1660)
status
Defines a task status.
<status
id="statusID"
css-class="status-class"
tooltip="statusID_Tooltip" />
Attributes
id
Unique identifier for the status.
css-class
Specifies the class in the skin (cascading style sheet) to apply to the task. The style class defines the
visual appearance of task status.
tooltip
Optional. Specifies the string ID of text to display in a tooltip when the cursor hovers over the task.
Defaults to "statusID_Tooltip."
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
set-status (p. 1684).
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1659
statuses
Contains an unordered collection of status definitions.
<statuses>
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
See Also
set-status (p. 1684).
data
Data placeholder within a string.
<string id="stringID">string text<data />string text</string>
Remarks
Used only with the Lookup method on a Strings object as defined in StringLookupObject.js. Allows
JScript functions to retrieve a localized string containing arbitrary data.
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
language
Contains an unordered collection of strings in a specified language.
1660
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TaskML Reference
<language
[xml:lang="en us"]>
Attributes
xml:lang
Specifies the language code. Defaults to "en-us" (English, United States).
Remarks
The language code corresponds to the Language setting in the Wizard page of the Control Panel.
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
string
Specifies the text for a given string ID.
<string
id="stringID">string text</string>
Attributes
id
Unique identifier assigned to the string.
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
strings
Contains an unordered collection of languages.
<strings>
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1661
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
activate-event
Contains a sequence of rules to process when the user clicks on a task.
<activate-event
tab="{design | print | report | help | any}">
Attributes
tab
Optional. Selects a specific tab before processing the activate event rules.
design Selects the Design View tab. Default behavior if attribute omitted.
print
report
help
any
Element Information
Parents
Children
if, set-icon (p. 1684), set-caption (p. 1683), set-status (p. 1684), select-first-object (p. 1680), select-allobjects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682), select-first-parameterfield (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), click-button (p. 1674), display-task-callout (p. 1677),
display-outline-callout (p. 1675), display-details-callout (p. 1674), display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677),
display-tab-callout (p. 1676), display-status-callout (p. 1676), open-url (p. 1678), display-help-topic (p. 1675), send-mail (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685), update (p. 1669), debug (p. 1667)
End
Tag
Required
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TaskML Reference
task
Defines a task.
<task
id="uniqueID"
caption="uniqueID_Caption"
tooltip="uniqueID_Tooltip"
disable-if-missing="group_name"
hide-if-missing="group_name"
check-ambiguity="{model | environment | solution}"
icon="url"
deemphasize="{yes | no}">
Description
id
caption
Optional. Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the task caption. Defaults to
"uniqueID_Caption" if not specified.
tooltip
Optional. Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the task tooltip. Defaults to
"uniqueID_Toolip" if not specified.
disable-if-missing
Optional. Disables the task if an object matching the group name does not exist.
hide-if-missing
Optional. Hides the task if an object matching the group name does not exist.
check-ambiguity
Optional. Automatically tests for ambiguity of an outline level prior to processing event
rules.
icon
Optional. Specifies the URI of an image to use as the task icon. See URI Address and
Path Considerations.
deemphasize
Children
End
Tag
Required
tasks
Contains an unordered collection of task definitions.
<tasks>
Element Information
Parents
1663
End
Tag
Required
update-event
Contains a sequence of rules to process when the user navigates or modifies information in the Mechanical application.
<update-event>
Element Information
Parents
Children
if, set-icon (p. 1684), set-caption (p. 1683), set-status (p. 1684), select-first-object (p. 1680), select-allobjects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682), select-first-parameterfield (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), click-button (p. 1674), display-task-callout (p. 1677),
display-outline-callout (p. 1675), display-details-callout (p. 1674), display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677),
display-tab-callout (p. 1676), display-status-callout (p. 1676), open-url (p. 1678), display-help-topic (p. 1675), send-mail (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685), debug (p. 1667)
End
Tag
Required
Wizard Content
body (p. 1664)
group (p. 1665)
iframe (p. 1666)
taskref (p. 1666)
body
Specifies content to display inside the Mechanical Wizard.
<body title="stringID">
Attribute
title
Optional. Specifies the string ID of text to display in the title of the panel containing the Mechanical
Wizard. Defaults to the text "Mechanical Wizard."
Element Information
Parents
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TaskML Reference
Children
End
Tag
Required
group
Defines a collapsible group of tasks or iframes.
<group
id="uniqueID"
caption="uniqueID_Caption"
description="uniqueID_Description"
emphasize="{yes | no}"
collapsed="{yes | no}"
onupdate="foo()">
Attributes
id
Arbitrary unique identifier assigned to the group.
caption
Optional. Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the group caption. Defaults to "uniqueID_Caption"
if not specified.
description
Optional. Specifies the string ID for a brief paragraph to display at the top of the group. Defaults to
"uniqueID_Description" if not specified. If the string ID is undefined the group contains no description.
emphasize
Optional. Emphasizes the group via different visual styles. Defaults to "no."
collapsed
Optional. Initially displays the group collapsed. After first use the collapsed status of each group is
persisted. Defaults to "no."
onupdate
Optional. JScript expression to evaluate on the Update event prior to processing the update-event (p. 1664)
rules for tasks the group contains.
Element Information
Parents
Children
End
Tag
Required
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iframe
Inserts an HTML IFRAME element within a group. The IFRAME may contain any arbitrary web page and
may communicate with the Mechanical Wizard via script.
<iframe
src="uri" />
Attributes
src
Specifies the URI of the web page to load into the IFRAME. See the topic on IFRAME Elements for notes
on security restrictions.
Table 112: Element Information
Parents
group
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
Using IFRAME Elements (p. 1653).
taskref
Inserts a task into a group.
<taskref
task="uniqueID" />
Attributes
task
Specifies the ID of a task defined elsewhere in the merged TaskML file.
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
See Also
task (p. 1663).
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TaskML Reference
Rules
Statements (p. 1667)
Conditions (p. 1670)
Actions (p. 1673)
Statements
and (p. 1667)
debug (p. 1667)
if then else stop (p. 1668)
not (p. 1669)
or (p. 1669)
update (p. 1669)
and
Performs a logical conjunction on two conditions. Equivalent to the JScript && operator.
condition1 <and> condition2 </and>
Element Information
Parents
if
Children
Conditions: level (p. 1671), object (p. 1671), changeable-length-unit (p. 1670), assembly-geometry (p. 1670), geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670), zero-thickness-sheet (p. 1672)Actions: select-firstobject (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682),
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685)
End
Tag
Required
debug
Attempts to launch a script debugger to debug the JScript code corresponding to the rules in the current
event. Equivalent to the JScript debugger keyword.
<debug />
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
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Remarks
eval (p. 1685) statement. The not (p. 1669) operator negates the value of a condition. The and (p. 1667) and
or (p. 1669) operators perform logical operations on two conditions within an if statement.
The then statement contains a sequence of rules to process when the resolved value of the condition
is true. An if statement must contain one then statement.
The else statement contains a sequence of rules to process when the resolved value of the condition
is false. The else statement is optional. If used it must follow the close of the then statement.
The if...then...else structure is equivalent to the if...else statement in JScript:
if( condition )
{ statements }
else { statements }
The stop statement ends processing of an event at a specific point. If a stop statement is not included
within a then or else statement, rules following the if statement are processed. The stop statement is
equivalent to the JScript return statement.
Children
Operators: and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669) Conditions: level (p. 1671), object (p. 1671), changeablelength-unit (p. 1670), assembly-geometry (p. 1670), geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670), zero-thicknesssheet (p. 1672) Actions: select-first-object (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680),
select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682), select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681), select-zero-thicknesssheets (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685)
if
Children
set-icon (p. 1684), set-caption (p. 1683), status (p. 1659), select-first-object (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682), select-first-parameterfield (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), click-button (p. 1674), display-task-callout (p. 1677),
display-outline-callout (p. 1675), display-details-callout (p. 1674), display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677),
display-tab-callout (p. 1676), display-status-callout (p. 1676), open-url (p. 1678), display-help-topic (p. 1675), send-mail (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685), update (p. 1669), debug (p. 1667)
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End
Tag
Required
not
Performs logical negation on a condition. Equivalent to the JScript ! operator.
<not> condition </not>
Element Information
Parents
if
Children
Conditions: level (p. 1671), object (p. 1671), changeable-length-unit (p. 1670), assembly-geometry (p. 1670), geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670), zero-thickness-sheet (p. 1672) Actions: select-firstobject (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682),
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685)
End
Tag
Required
or
Performs a logical disjunction on two conditions. Equivalent to the JScript || operator.
condition1 <or> condition2 </or>
Element Information
Parents
if
Children
Conditions: level (p. 1671), object (p. 1671), changeable-length-unit (p. 1670), assembly-geometry (p. 1670), geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670), zero-thickness-sheet (p. 1672) Actions: select-firstobject (p. 1680), select-all-objects (p. 1679), select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682),
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681), select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682), eval (p. 1685)
End
Tag
Required
update
Forces an Update event to fire. In general, this statement is necessary only if preceding rules in the
event cause the status of other tasks to become out of sync.
<update />
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End
Tag
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Conditions
assembly-geometry (p. 1670)
changeable-length-unit (p. 1670)
geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670)
level (p. 1671)
object (p. 1671)
zero-thickness-sheet (p. 1672)
assembly-geometry
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection contains an assembly or a single part.
<assembly-geometry />
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
changeable-length-unit
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection does not explicitly specify a length unit (e.g.
for ACIS geometry types). Useful in prompting the user to verify a correct length unit setting.
<changeable-length-unit />
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
geometry-includes-sheets
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection contains sheet parts.
<geometry-includes-sheets />
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
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End Tag
Return
Value
level
Tests the level of the current selection in the Outline.
<level
type="{project | model | environment | solution}"
condition="{is-ambiguous | is-not-ambiguous | is-selected | is-not-selected}" />
Attributes
type
Identifies the level. A level consists of a container (e.g., the Environment) and all children excluding
other containers.
condition
Specifies a condition to test.
is-ambiguous
Returns true if a specific container cannot be resolved given the current Outline selection.
is-not-ambiguous
Returns true if a specific container is identified given the current Outline selection.
is-selected
is-not-selected
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
object
Tests the Outline tree for an object matching the given criteria. Searches only non-ambiguous objects
given the current selection.
<object
type="group_name"
state="{any | stateless | fully-defined | under-defined | suppressed |
not-updated | updated | obsolete | error | bad-license}"
name-regexp="regular_expression"
condition="{exists | does-not-exist | is-selected | is-not-selected}" />
Note
It was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
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Attributes
type
Optional. Identifies an object group name or an object type constant as a search criteria. If omitted, the
object type is not considered.
Object groups are defined by using the object-group (p. 1657) element. Refer to the Standard Object
Groups Reference (p. 1686).
Type constants for specific objects (prefixed by "id_") are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
state
Optional. Specifies an object state as a search criteria. If omitted, the default of "any" is used, meaning
that object state is not considered.
States are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
name-regexp
Optional. Specifies a regular expression of an object's name as a search criteria. For example, "part"
matches any object that includes "part" in its name (e.g. "part 2"). If omitted, object names are not
considered. See the Microsoft Scripting site under JScript for a regular expressions reference.
condition
Specifies a condition to test.
exists
does-not-exist
is-selected
is-not-selected
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
zero-thickness-sheet
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection contains any sheet with zero thickness specified.
Useful in prompting the user to enter valid information for sheet thickness.
<zero-thickness-sheet />
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TaskML Reference
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
valid-emag-geometry
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection meets the requirements for performing an
electromagnetic simulation.
<valid-emag-geometry />
enclosure-exists
Tests if the geometry in context of the current selection contains an enclosure body for electromagnetic
simulation.
<enclosure-exists />
Actions
click-button (p. 1674)
display-details-callout (p. 1674)
display-help-topic (p. 1675)
display-outline-callout (p. 1675)
display-status-callout (p. 1676)
display-tab-callout (p. 1676)
display-task-callout (p. 1677)
display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677)
open-url (p. 1678)
select-all-objects (p. 1679)
select-field (p. 1680)
select-first-object (p. 1680)
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681)
select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682)
select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682)
send-mail (p. 1682)
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click-button
Simulates a toolbar button click.
<click-button
toolbar="key"
button="key" />
Attributes
Use the WDK command View Current Toolbar Keys to determine values for the attributes below.
toolbar
Specifies the key for the toolbar.
button
Specifies the key for the button.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
See Also
display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677).
display-details-callout
Displays a callout pointing to the currently selected Details field.
<display-details-callout
message="stringID" />
Attributes
message
Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the callout.
Remarks
Before using this action:
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TaskML Reference
Use select-first-object (p. 1680) or select-all-objects (p. 1679) to select one or more Outline objects prior to
accessing the Details control.
Use select-field (p. 1680) to select a Details field.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
display-help-topic
Displays a topic from a Windows HTML Help file.
<display-help-topic
href="uri"
topic="path" />
Attributes
href
Optional. Defines the URI of the CHM file. Defaults to simwiz://../HHelp/DesignSpace.chm,
the location of the ANSYS Workbench Help system relative to the standard Mechanical Wizard location.
NOTE: The default value no longer exists - Please specify a valid help system path. See URI Address
and Path Considerations (p. 1650).
topic
Optional. Specifies an internal path to a desired topic.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
None
display-outline-callout
Displays a callout pointing to the currently selected Outline object.
<display-outline-callout
message="stringID" />
Attributes
message
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1675
Remarks
Use select-first-object (p. 1680) or select-all-objects (p. 1679) to select one or more Outline objects prior to
displaying the callout.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
display-status-callout
Displays a callout pointing to a status bar panel.
<display-status-callout
panel="index"
message="stringID" />
Attributes
panel
Specifies the index of the status bar panel. The index of the leftmost panel is 1.
message
Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the callout.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
display-tab-callout
Displays a callout pointing to a tab.
<display-tab-callout
tab="{design | print | report | help}"
message="stringID" />
Attributes
tab
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TaskML Reference
One of the following keywords:
design Design View tab.
print
report
Report Preview
tab.
help
message
Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the callout.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
display-task-callout
Displays a callout pointing to the task itself.
<display-task-callout
message="stringID" />
Attributes
message
Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the callout.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
display-toolbar-callout
Displays a callout pointing to a toolbar button.
<display-toolbar-callout
toolbar="key"
button="key"
message="stringID" />
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Attributes
Use the WDK command View Current Toolbar Keys to determine values for the toolbar and button
attributes below.
toolbar
Specifies the key for the toolbar.
button
Specifies the key for the button.
message
Specifies the string ID of the text to display in the callout.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
See Also
click-button (p. 1674).
open-url
Opens a new web browser window and navigates to a given URI (URL).
<open-url
href="uri" />
Attributes
href
Any valid URI. See URI Address and Path Considerations (p. 1650).
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
None
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TaskML Reference
select-all-objects
Selects a set of objects based on given criteria. Searches only non-ambiguous objects given the initial
selection.
<select-all-objects
type="group_name"
state="{any | stateless | fully-defined | under-defined | suppressed |
not-updated | updated | obsolete | error | bad-license}"
name-regexp="regular_expression" />
Note
It was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
Attributes
type
Optional. Identifies an object group name or an object type constant as a search criteria. If omitted, the
object type is not considered.
Object groups are defined by using the object-group (p. 1657) element. Refer to the Standard Object
Groups Reference (p. 1686).
Type constants for specific objects (prefixed by "id_") are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
state
Optional. Specifies an object state as a search criteria. If omitted, the default of "any" is used, meaning
that object state is not considered.
States are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
name-regexp
Optional. Specifies a regular expression of an object's name as a search criteria. For example, "part"
matches any object that includes "part" in its name (e.g. "part 2"). If omitted, object names are not
considered. See the Microsoft Scripting site under JScript for a regular expressions reference.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
See Also
select-first-object (p. 1680).
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1679
select-field
Selects a field in the Details control by name.
<select-field
name="stringID" />
Attributes
name
Specifies the string ID for name of the field. Use the Details Field String ID section in the WDK Tools
group to determine the string ID of a field.
Remarks
Use select-first-object (p. 1680) or select-all-objects (p. 1679) to select one or more Outline objects prior to
accessing the Details control.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
See Also
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682).
select-first-object
Selects the first object matching given criteria. Searches only non-ambiguous objects given the initial
selection.
<select-first-object
type="group_name"
state="{any | stateless | fully-defined | under-defined | suppressed |
not-updated | updated | obsolete | error | bad-license
}"
name-regexp="regular_expression" />
Note
It was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
Attributes
type
Optional. Identifies an object group name or an object type constant as a search criterion. If omitted,
the object type is not considered.
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TaskML Reference
Object groups are defined by using the object-group (p. 1657) element. Refer to the Standard Object
Groups Reference (p. 1686).
Type constants for specific objects (prefixed by "id_") are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
state
Optional. Specifies an object state as a search criteria. If omitted, the default of "any" is used, meaning
that object state is not considered.
States are defined in the script file DSConstants.js.
name-regexp
Optional. Specifies a regular expression of an object's name as a search criterion. For example, "part"
matches any object that includes "part" in its name (e.g., "part 2"). If omitted, object names are not
considered. See the Microsoft Scripting site under JScript for a regular expressions reference.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
See Also
select-all-objects (p. 1679).
select-first-parameter-field
Selects the first parameter field in the Details control.
<select-first-parameter-field />
Remarks
Parameter fields contain a check box to the left of the name. If checked, the parameter field is exposed
for use in the Parameter Workspace.
Use select-first-object (p. 1680) or select-all-objects (p. 1679) to select one or more Outline objects prior to
accessing the Details control.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
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1681
See Also
select-field (p. 1680), select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682).
select-first-undefined-field
Selects the first undefined Details field.
<select-first-undefined-field />
Remarks
The Details control highlights undefined fields in yellow.
Use select-first-object (p. 1680) or select-all-objects (p. 1679) to select one or more Outline objects prior to
accessing the Details control.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
See Also
select-field (p. 1680), select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681).
select-zero-thickness-sheets
Selects all parts containing zero-thickness sheet geometry.
<select-zero-thickness-sheets />
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
select-enclosures
Selects any enclosure bodies in the current geometry.
<select-enclosures />
send-mail
Opens a new email and fills in envelope information and default text. Does not send the email.
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TaskML Reference
<send-mail
to="addr;addr"
cc="addr;addr"
bcc="addr;addr"
subject="stringID"
body="stringID" />
Attributes
to
Semicolon-delimited list of email addresses.
cc
Optional. Semicolon-delimited list of email addresses.
bcc
Optional. Semicolon-delimited list of email addresses.
subject
Optional. Default subject line.
body
Optional. Default body text.
Element Information
Parents
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
None
set-caption
Sets the caption of the task.
<set-caption
caption="stringID" />
Attributes
caption
Specifies the string ID of the text.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
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Return
Value
True if successful.
See Also
task (p. 1663).
set-icon
Sets the task icon to an image at a given URL.
<set-icon
src="url" />
Attributes
src
Specifies the URI of the icon. See URI Address and Path Considerations (p. 1650).
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
See Also
task (p. 1663).
set-status
Sets the status of the task.
<set-status
status="{non-status | incomplete | complete | information | undefined |
indeterminate | solve | obsolete | ambiguous | caution |
warning | disabled | hidden}" />
Note
It was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
Attributes
status
A status keyword. Status keywords are defined by using the status (p. 1659) element.
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TaskML Reference
Remarks
The element definition shown above lists the standard statuses. The TaskML file MechanicalWizard\Data\Statuses.xml defines the standard statuses and is merged automatically while loading
any wizard.
Element Information
Parents
activate-event (p. 1662), if, and (p. 1667), or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then,
else
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
True if successful.
Scripting
eval (p. 1685)
eval
Evaluates a JScript expression.
<eval
code="expression" />
Attributes
code
A string of valid JScript code. For example, "foo()" evaluates the global function foo.
Remarks
Use the Script (p. 1656) element to make custom JScript available for use with the eval statement.
If the eval statement is a task rule, the expression is evaluated when the rule is processed as part of an
event. Using eval in this context allows:
custom code to determine the status of a task
the task to perform any arbitrary operation
The file MechanicalWizard\WDK\Tools_Merge.xml demonstrates use of the eval statement
to:
Execute global functions defined in a script file referenced by a Script (p. 1656) element.
Access the DOM to manipulate the DHTML page containing the wizard.
Call methods on global objects to automate the Mechanical Wizard.
If the eval statement exists inside of a body or group element, the expression evaluates at that point
in the generation of the wizard DHTML. Using eval in this context allows for programmatically genRelease 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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1685
Element Information
Parents
As an action or condition: activate-event (p. 1662), update-event (p. 1664), if, and (p. 1667),
or (p. 1669), not (p. 1669), then, else For evaluation as the wizard loads: body (p. 1664),
group (p. 1665)
Children
None
End Tag
Return
Value
Class
project
id_Project
model
id_Model
environment
id_Environment
solution
id_AnswerSet
1686
Type
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Class
geometry
id_PrototypeGroup
part
id_Prototype
contact
id_ContactGroup
contact region
id_ContactRegion
mesh
id_MeshControlGroup
mesh control
id_MeshControl
global load
id_Acceleration
Type
id_Rotation
load
id_Load
structural
load
id_Load
id_SurfacePressure
id_Load
id_SurfaceForce
id_Load
id_EdgeForce
id_Load
id_VertexForce
id_Load
id_CylinderBoltLoad
id_Load
id_ForceAtAPoint
id_Load
id_SurfaceMoment
id_Load
id_SurfaceRotation
id_Load
id_EdgeRotation
id_Load
id_VertexRotation
id_Load
id_EdgeMoment
id_Load
id_VertexMoment
id_Load
id_SurfaceDisplacement
id_Load
id_EdgeDisplacement
id_Load
id_VertexDisplacement
id_Load
id_SurfaceSupport
id_Load
id_FixedEdgeSupport
id_Load
id_FixedVertexSupport
id_Load
id_CylinderRadialSupport
id_Load
id_CylinderRadialAndAxialSupport
id_Load
id_SurfaceFrictionlessSupport
id_Load
id_CylinderFixedSupport
id_Load
id_CylinderPinnedSupport
id_Load
id_SimpleEdgeSupport
id_Load
id_SimpleVertexSupport
displacement load
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Class
Type
thermal
load
id_Load
id_SurfaceHeatFlux
id_Load
id_SurfaceTemperature
id_Load
id_EdgeTemperature
id_Load
id_VertexTemperature
id_Load
id_SurfaceConvection
id_Load
id_SurfaceInsulation
id_Load
id_SurfaceHeat
id_Load
id_EdgeHeat
id_Load
id_VertexHeat
id_Load
id_InternalPartHeat
stress tool
id_StressSafetyTool
stress tool
result
id_Result
id_StressSafetyMargin
id_Result
id_StressSafetyFactor
id_Result
id_StressRatio
result
id_Result
structural
result
id_Result
id_EquivalentStress
id_Result
id_MaximumPrincipalStress
id_Result
id_IntermediatePrincipalStress
id_Result
id_MinimumPrincipalStress
id_Result
id_MaximumShearStress
id_Result
id_StressIntensity
id_Result
id_XComponentStress
id_Result
id_YComponentStress
id_Result
id_ZComponentStress
id_Result
id_XYShearStress
id_Result
id_YZShearStress
id_Result
id_XZShearStress
id_Result
id_EquivalentStrain
id_Result
id_MaximumPrincipalStrain
id_Result
id_IntermediatePrincipalStrain
id_Result
id_MinimumPrincipalStrain
id_Result
id_MaximumShearStrain
id_Result
id_StrainIntensity
id_Result
id_XComponentStrain
id_Result
id_YComponentStrain
id_Result
id_ZComponentStrain
id_Result
id_XYShearStrain
id_Result
id_YZShearStrain
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Tutorials
Group Name
thermal result
Class
Type
id_Result
id_XZShearStrain
id_Result
id_TotalDisplacement
id_Result
id_XComponentDisplacement
id_Result
id_YComponentDisplacement
id_Result
id_ZComponentDisplacement
id_Result
id_Temperature
id_Result
id_TotalHeatFlux
id_Result
id_XComponentHeatFlux
id_Result
id_YComponentHeatFlux
id_Result
id_ZComponentHeatFlux
id_Result
id_MaximumPrincipalThermalStrain
id_Result
id_IntermediatePrincipalThermalStrain
id_Result
id_MinimumPrincipalThermalStrain
id_Result
id_XComponentThermalStrain
id_Result
id_YComponentThermalStrain
id_Result
id_ZComponentThermalStrain
fatigue tool
id_FatigueTool
fatigue result
id_Result
id_FatigueLife
id_Result
id_FatigueSafetyFactor
id_Result
id_FatigueDamage
id_Result
id_FatigueBiaxialityIndication
id_Result
id_FatigueRainflowMatrix
id_Result
id_FatigueDamageMatrix
id_Result
id_FatigueSensitivity
id_Result
id_Frequency
frequency
Tutorials
Tutorial: Adding a Link (p. 1689)
Tutorial: Creating a Custom Task (p. 1691)
Tutorial: Creating a Custom Wizard (p. 1692)
Tutorial: Adding a Web Search IFRAME (p. 1693)
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Steps
To add a link to the web site MatWeb:
Open the TaskML file MechanicalWizard\Tasks\Links.xml in a text editor such as Notepad.
All standard wizards Merge (p. 1656) the Links.xml file; changes made to this file automatically appear
in all standard wizards.
Create a new task (p. 1663) definition by adding the following to the tasks (p. 1663) section:
<tasks>
<task id="DesignSpaceHomePage" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.designspace.com" />
</activate-event>
</task>
<task id="DesignSpaceResources" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.designspace.com/designspace/user_support/" />
</activate-event>
</task>
<task id="MatWeb" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.matweb.com/" />
</activate-event>
</task>
</tasks>
The value for the string id uses the built-in naming convention of the task id and "_Caption" to simplify
the task element by omitting the caption attribute. The new string applies to the default language
code "en-us." To support other languages, define a new string inside each language (p. 1660) section.
Insert the new task into the Links group (p. 1665) by modifying the body (p. 1664) section as follows:
<body>
<group id="Standard_Links" collapsed="yes">
<taskref task="DesignSpaceHomePage" />
<taskref task="DesignSpaceResources" />
<taskref task="MatWeb" />
</group>
</body>
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Tutorials
Save the file.
Open a wizard in the Mechanical application. The Links group will contain a new link to the MatWeb
website.
Steps
Copy the file MechanicalWizard\Tasks\InsertStructuralLoad.xml to a file named Insert100psi.xml in a different folder.Generally, the easiest way to create a custom task is to modify
a similar existing task instead of starting from scratch.
task (p. 1663) element as follows:
<task id="Insert100psi" disable-if-missing="geometry" check-ambiguity="environment">
The other attributes on the task element disable the task if the Outline contains no geometry and
prompts the user to select a particular Environment if the current selection is ambiguous.
Create an object-groups (p. 1658) section at the top of the file:
<simulation-wizard version="1.0">
<object-groups>
<object-group name="pressure">
<object-type class="id_Load" type="id_SurfacePressure" />
</object-group>
</object-groups>
...
</simulation-wizard>
This creates a custom object-group (p. 1657) named "pressure" that contains a single object-group (p. 1657)
corresponding to the Pressure object type in the Outline. This object group is available in addition to
the Standard Object Groups Reference (p. 1686) to wizards merging this task.
Modify the strings (p. 1661) section as follows:
<strings>
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Insert100psi_Caption">
Insert Pressure
</string>
<string id="Insert100psi_Message">
Use the Structural button to insert a Pressure load.
Enter 100 psi for Magnitude.
</string>
</language>
</strings>
The value for the first string id uses the built-in naming convention of the task id and "_Caption" to
simplify the task element by omitting the caption attribute. The value for the second string id is arbitrary
and referenced by the display-details-callout action defined below. The strings apply to the default
language code "en-us." To support other languages, define new strings inside each language (p. 1660)
section.
Modify the update-event (p. 1664) as shown:
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1691
Note
***Please note that it was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
The first if statement checks for an under-defined pressure. The second if statement ensures that the
Outline selection is at the Environment level so that the user can insert a Pressure. The click-button
action ensures that the surface selection mode is active.
Save the file.
Proceed to the tutorial Creating a Custom Wizard to use this custom task.
Steps
Copy the file MechanicalWizard\StressWizard.xml to a file named CustomWizard.xml
in the same folder as the file Insert100psi.xml created in the previous tutorial.
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Tutorials
Change "InsertStructuralLoad.xml" to "Insert100psi.xml" in the Merge (p. 1656) element:
<merge src="Insert100psi.xml" />
This merge makes the custom task definition available to this wizard. Note that the URI to the file
containing the task is relative to the location of the file containing the wizard. See URI Address and
Path Considerations (p. 1650).
Modify the strings (p. 1661) section as follows:
<strings>
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Title_Caption">
Tutorial Wizard
</string>
<string id="Title_Description">
Demonstrates a custom wizard with a task for inserting a 100 psi Pressure.
</string>
</language>
</strings>
This taskref adds the task (p. 1663) to the body (p. 1664) of the wizard by its id.
Save the file.
In the Mechanical application, click the Choose Wizard option from the top of a standard wizard.
Choose "browse for a custom wizard definition.".
Select the file CustomWizard.xml.
Test the Insert Pressure task. The task should behave in the same way as the standard Insert Loads task
but with specific instructions for defining a 100 psi pressure.
Steps
Create a new text file with the following contents:
<html>
<head>
<script src="System/IFrame.js"></script>
<link ID="Skin" REL="stylesheet">
<script>
function IFrame_onload() { Skin.href = g_Wizard.GetSkin() }
</script>
<style>
INPUT { width: 100%; margin-bottom: 4px; }
</style>
</head>
<body scroll="no">
<center>
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Note
It was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
Note
The script file MechanicalWizard/System/IFrame.js contains generic functions for
use with IFRAMEs.
The link element initially lacks a href element. The script block implements the IFRAME_onload
function (called by IFrame.js) and sets href to the url returned by the GetSkin method on
the g_Wizard object. The file MechanicalWizard\WDK\Info_IFRAME.htm contains an
inaccuracy in that the link is not automatically assigned.
The style element provides some additional formatting rules.
The body element has the scroll element set to "no" to preserve margins and prevent scrollbars
from appearing. As long as a reference to IFrame.js appears in the IFRAME the Mechanical
Wizard will autosize the height such that scrollbars are unnecessary.
The contents of the body is based on free code published by Google.
Note use of the target attribute to prevent the linked pages from opening in place of the
Mechanical Wizard.
Save the file as Search.htm in the Mechanical Wizard folder. The files must reside together for web
browser security to permit cross-frame scripting.
Open the file CustomWizard.xml from the previous tutorial.
Add the following group at the bottom of the body:
<group id="Search" collapsed="yes">
<iframe src="simwiz://Search.htm" />
</group>
Note the use of the "groupID_Caption" shortcut for the string id.
Save the file and open the wizard in the Mechanical application.
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Tutorials
Links.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<simulation-wizard version="1.0">
<strings>
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Standard_Links_Caption">
Links
</string>
<string id="DesignSpaceHomePage_Caption">
DesignSpace.com
</string>
<string id="DesignSpaceResources_Caption">
DesignSpace Resources
</string>
<string id="MatWeb_Caption">
MatWeb Materials
</string>
</language>
</strings>
<tasks>
<task id="DesignSpaceHomePage" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.designspace.com" />
</activate-event>
</task>
<task id="DesignSpaceResources" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.designspace.com/designspace/user_support/" />
</activate-event>
</task>
<task id="MatWeb" icon="simwiz://Icons/Link.gif">
<activate-event>
<open-url href="http://www.matweb.com/" />
</activate-event>
</task>
</tasks>
<body>
<group id="Standard_Links" collapsed="yes">
<taskref task="DesignSpaceHomePage" />
<taskref task="DesignSpaceResources" />
<taskref task="MatWeb" />
</group>
</body>
</simulation-wizard>
Insert100psi.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<simulation-wizard version="1.0">
<object-groups>
<object-group name="pressure">
<object-type class="id_Load" type="id_SurfacePressure" />
</object-group>
</object-groups>
<strings>
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Insert100psi_Caption">
Insert Pressure
</string>
<string id="Insert100psi_Message">
Use the Structural button to insert a Pressure load.
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1695
Note
***Please note that it was necessary to word wrap the long line of code in the above example.
CustomWizard.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<simulation-wizard version="1.0">
<merge src="Tasks/InsertGeometry.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/VerifyLengthUnit.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/DefineSheetThickness.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/AssignMaterial.xml" />
<merge src="Insert100psi.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/InsertDisplacementLoad.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/ThermalStressNote.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/InsertStructuralResults.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/StressStiffeningNote.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/Solve.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/ViewResults.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/ViewReport.xml" />
<merge src="Tasks/StandardTasks.xml"/>
<strings>
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Tutorials
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Title_Caption">
Tutorial Wizard
</string>
<string id="Title_Description">
Demonstrates a custom wizard with a task for inserting a 100 psi Pressure.
</string>
</language>
</strings>
<body>
<group id="Title">
<taskref task="ChooseWizard"/>
</group>
<group id="RequiredSteps" emphasize="yes">
<taskref task="InsertGeometry"/>
<taskref task="VerifyLengthUnit"/>
<taskref task="DefineSheetThickness"/>
<taskref task="AssignMaterial"/>
<taskref task="Insert100psi"/>
<taskref task="InsertDisplacementLoad"/>
<taskref task="ThermalStressNote"/>
<taskref task="InsertStructuralResults"/>
<taskref task="StressStiffeningNote"/>
<taskref task="Solve"/>
<taskref task="ViewResults"/>
<taskref task="ViewReport"/>
</group>
<group id="Standard_OptionalTasks" />
<group id="Standard_ParameterTasks" />
<group id="Standard_GeneralTasks" />
<group id="Standard_AdvancedTasks" />
<group id="Standard_Links" />
</body>
</simulation-wizard>
Search.htm
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!doctype HTML public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Frameset//EN">
<html>
<!--(==============================================================)-->
<!--(Document created with RoboEditor. )============================-->
<!--(==============================================================)-->
<head>
<title>Search</title>
<!--(Meta)==========================================================-->
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<meta
<!--(Links)=========================================================-->
<link ID=Skin REL=stylesheet>
<!--(Style Sheet)===================================================-->
<style>
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1697
<body scroll=no>
<form method=GET
action="http://www.google.com/search"
target=_blank>
<p style="text-align: center;"
align=center><a HREF="http://www.google.com/"
target=_blank><img src="http://www.google.com/logos/Logo_40wht.gif"
ALT=Google
style="width: 128px;
height: 53px;
border-style: none;"
width=128
height=53
border=0></a><br>
<input TYPE=text
name=q
size=25
maxlength=255
value><br>
<input type=submit
name=btnG
VALUE="Google Search"></p>
</form>
</body>
</html>
CustomWizardSearch.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<simulation-wizard version="1.0">
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/InsertGeometry.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/VerifyLengthUnit.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/DefineSheetThickness.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/AssignMaterial.xml" />
<merge src="Insert100psi.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/InsertDisplacementLoad.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/ThermalStressNote.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/InsertStructuralResults.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/StressStiffeningNote.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/Solve.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/ViewResults.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/ViewReport.xml" />
<merge src="simwiz://Tasks/StandardTasks.xml"/>
<strings>
<language xml:lang="en-us">
<string id="Title_Caption">
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Actions
display-outline-callout (p. 1675)
display-details-callout (p. 1674)
display-task-callout (p. 1677)
display-toolbar-callout (p. 1677)
display-tab-callout (p. 1676)
display-status-callout (p. 1676)
send-mail (p. 1682)
open-url (p. 1678)
display-help-topic (p. 1675)
select-zero-thickness-sheets (p. 1682)
select-first-undefined-field (p. 1682)
select-first-parameter-field (p. 1681)
select-enclosures (p. 1682)
Flags (Conditions)
changeable-length-unit (p. 1670)
assembly-geometry (p. 1670)
geometry-includes-sheets (p. 1670)
zero-thickness-sheet (p. 1672)
valid-emag-geometry (p. 1673)
enclosure-exists (p. 1673)
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1701
1702
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Introduction
In general, materials have a complex response to dynamic loading and the following phenomena may
need to be modeled.
Non-linear pressure response
Strain hardening
Strain rate hardening
Pressure hardening
Thermal softening
Compaction (e.g., porous materials)
Orthotropic response (e.g., composites)
Crushing damage (e.g., ceramics, glass, concrete)
Chemical energy deposition (e.g., explosives)
Tensile failure
Phase changes (i.e., solid-liquid-gas)
The modeling of such phenomena can generally be broken down into three components:
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1703
Equation of State
An equation of state describes the hydrodynamic response of a material.
This is the primary response for gases and liquids, which can sustain no shear. Their response to dynamic
loading is assumed hydrodynamic, with pressure varying as a function of density and internal energy.
This is also the primary response for solids at high deformation rates, when the hydrodynamic pressure
is far greater than the yield stress of the material.
Material Effects
Metals
Elasticity
Shock Effects
Plasticity
Isotropic Strain Hardening
Kinematic Strain Hardening
Isotropic Strain Rate Hardening
Isotropic Thermal Softening
Ductile Fracture
Brittle Fracture (Fracture Energy based)
Dynamic Failure (Spall)
Concrete/Rock
Elasticity
Shock Effects
Porous Compaction
Plasticity
Strain Hardening
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Material Effects
Strain Rate Hardening in Compression
Strain Rate Hardening in Tension
Pressure Dependent Plasticity
Lode Angle Dependent Plasticity
Shear Damage/Fracture
Tensile Damage/Fracture
Solid/Sand
Elasticity
Shock Effects
Porous Compaction
Plasticity
Pressure Dependent Plasticity
Shear Damage/Fracture
Tensile Damage/Fracture
Rubbers/Polymers
Elasticity
Viscoelasticity
Hyperelasticity
Orthotropic
Orthotropic Elasticity
The Engineering Data properties supported by explicit analysis are described below. Please note that
additional material modeling options, particularly in the areas of composite materials and reactive materials, are available in the ANSYS Autodyn product.
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Linear Elastic
URANIUM
URANIUM2
URANIUM3
W 4% Ni 2%FE
ZINC
ZIRCONIUM
ZIRCONIUM2
Density
Density is the initial mass per unit volume of a material at time = 0.0.
Note
The temperature dependence of the linear elastic properties is not available for explicit dynamics systems. Only a single value can be used. The first defined values in temperature
dependent data will be used in the solver.
Linear Elastic
Young's Modulus
Poisson's Ratio
Note
The temperature dependence of the linear elastic properties is not available for explicit dynamics systems. Only a single value can be used. The first defined values in temperature
dependent data will be used in the solver.
Isotropic Elasticity
Define isotropic linear elastic material behavior by specifying
Young's Modulus
Poisson's ratio
Note
The temperature dependence of the linear elastic properties is not available for explicit
dynamics systems. Only a single value can be used. The first defined values in temperature dependent data will be used in the solver.
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Orthotropic Elasticity
Define orthotropic linear elastic material behavior by specifying:
Young's Modulus in direction X
Young's Modulus in direction Y
Young's Modulus in direction Z
Poisson's ratio XY
Poisson's ratio YZ
Poisson's ratio XZ
Shear Modulus XY
Shear Modulus YZ
Shear Modulus XZ
Note
The coordinate system X, Y, Z relates to the local coordinate system assigned to the
body. This material can only be applied to solid bodies.
Viscoelastic
To represent strain rate dependent elastic behavior, a linear viscoelastic model can be used. The long
term behavior of the model is described by the long term or elastic shear modulus G. Viscoelastic
behavior is introduced via an instantaneous shear modulus and a viscoelastic decay constant .
The viscoelastic deviatoric stress at time increment n+1 is calculated from the viscoelastic stress at time
increment n and the deviatoric strain increments at time increment n via
+ =
+ (
where
is the instantaneous shear modulus of the material. This value is derived from linear elastic
properties or defined directly using the equation of state, shear modulus property
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Hyperelasticity
The deviatoric viscoelastic stress is added to the elastic stress to give the total stress at the end of each
cycle.
Note
The model must be combined with either the linear elastic property or an equation of state
property (including shear modulus).
The model can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 113: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Instantaneous Shear
Modulus (High rate)
Units
Stress
Notes
1/ time
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
VTXX
Viscoelastic stress XX
Yes
No
No
VTYY
Viscoelastic stress YY
Yes
No
No
VTZZ
Viscoelastic stress ZZ
Yes
No
No
VTXY
Viscoelastic stress XY
Yes
No
No
VTYZ
Viscoelastic stress YZ
Yes
No
No
VTZX
Viscoelastic stress ZX
Yes
No
No
Test Data
Uniaxial Test Data
Biaxial Test Data
Shear Test Data
Volumetric Test Data
Hyperelasticity
Following are several forms of strain energy potential () provided for the simulation of nearly incompressible hyperelastic materials. The different models are generally applicable over different ranges of
strain as illustrated in the table below, however these numbers are not definitive and users should
verify the applicability of the model chosen prior to use.
Currently hyperelastic materials may only be used in solid elements for explicit dynamics simulations.
Model
Neo-Hookean
30%
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Mooney-Rivlin
Polynomial
Ogden
Up to 700%
Neo-Hookean
The strain energy function for the Neo-Hookean hyperelastic model is,
( )+
( )
where is the deviatoric first principal invariant, J is the Jacobian and the required input parameters
are defined as:
= initial shear modulus of the material
d= incompressibility parameter.
and the initial bulk modulus is defined as:
K = 2/d
Mooney-Rivlin
The strain energy function of a hyperelastic material can be expanded as an infinite series in terms of
the first and second deviatoric principal invariants
( ) ( ) +
and , as follows,
( )
The 2, 3, 5 and 9 parameter Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic material models have been implemented and
are described in turn below.
( )+ ( )+
( )
where:
C10, C01 = material constants
d = material incompressibility parameter.
The initial shear modulus is defined as:
= ( + )
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Hyperelasticity
and the initial bulk modulus is defined as:
K = 2/d
( )+ ( )+ ( )( )+
( )
( )+ ( )+ ( )( )+ ( ) + ( ) +
( )
( )+ ( )+ ( )( )
+ ( ) + ( ) + ( ) ( )
+ ( )( ) + ( ) + ( ) +
( )
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Polynomial
The strain energy function of a hyperelastic material can be expanded as an infinite series of the first
and second deviatoric principal invariants l1 and l2. The polynomial form of strain energy function is
given below:
(
=
) ( ) +
( )
1st, 2nd, and 3rd order polynomial hyperelastic material models have been implemented in the solver
where N is 1, 2 or 3 respectively.
Cmn = material constants
dk = material incompressibility parameters.
The initial shear modulus is defined as:
= ( + )
and the initial bulk modulus is defined as:
K = 2/d1
Yeoh
The Yeoh hyperelastic strain energy function is similar to the Mooney-Rivlin models described above
except that it is only based on the first deviatoric strain invariant. It has the general form,
= ( ) +
( )
= ( )+
( )
where:
N=1
C10 = material constant
d1 = incompressibility parameter
The initial shear modulus is defined as:
= 2c10
and the initial bulk modulus is defined as:
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Hyperelasticity
K = 2/d1
= ( )+ ( ) +
( ) +
( )
= ( )+ ( ) + ( )
+
( ) +
( ) +
( )
Ogden
The Ogden form of the strain energy function is based on the deviatoric principal stretches of the leftCauchy-Green tensor and has the form,
( + + )+ ( )
1717
( )
( + + )+
( + + )
( ) +
( )
where:
p= deviatoric principal stretches of the left-Cauchy-Green tensor
J = determinant of the elastic deformation gradient
p, p and dp = material constants
The initial shear modulus is given as:
( )
=
+
+
( + + )+
( + + )
( + + )+ ( ) + ( )
( )
where:
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Plasticity
p= deviatoric principal stretches of the left-Cauchy-Green tensor
J = determinant of the elastic deformation gradient
p, p and dp = material constants
The initial shear modulus is given as:
= ( + + )
and the initial bulk modulus is:
Plasticity
All stress-strain input should be in terms of true stress and true (or logarithmic) strain and result in all
output as also true stress and true strain. For small-strain regions of response, true stress-strain and
engineering stress-strain are approximately equal. If your stress-strain data is in the form of engineering
stress and engineering strain you can convert:
strain from engineering strain to logarithmic strain using:
engineering stress to true stress using:
tr
Note
This stress conversion is only valid for incompressible materials.
The following Plasticity models are discussed in this section:
Bilinear Isotropic Hardening
Multilinear Isotropic Hardening
Bilinear Kinematic Hardening
Multilinear Kinematic Hardening
Johnson-Cook Strength
Cowper-Symonds Strength
Steinberg-Guinan Strength
Zerilli-Armstrong Strength
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Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
Note
You can define up to 10 stress strain pairs using this model in explicit dynamics systems.
Temperature dependence of the curves is not directly supported. Temperature dependent
plasticity can be represented using the Johnson-Cook plasticity model.
Custom results variables available for this model:
Name
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
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Plasticity
strain curve is assumed to be zero beyond the last user-defined stress-strain data point. No segment
of the curve can have a slope of less than zero.
Note
You can define up to 10 stress strain pairs using this model in explicit dynamics systems.
Temperature dependence of the curves is not directly supported. Temperature dependent
plasticity can be represented using the Johnson-Cook plasticity model.
This model is available for solid elements in explicit dynamics systems.
Custom results variables available for this model:
Name
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
SUBL_EPS
No
No
No
Note
This material property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Johnson-Cook Strength
Use this model to represent the strength behavior of materials, typically metals, subjected to large
strains, high strain rates and high temperatures. Such behavior might arise in problems of intense impulsive loading due to high velocity impact.
With this model, the yield stress varies depending on strain, strain rate and temperature.
The model defines the yield stress Y as
= + +
where
The expression in the first set of brackets gives the stress as a function of strain when = 1.0 sec-1
and TH = 0 (i.e. for laboratory experiments at room temperature). The constant A is the basic yield stress
at low strains while B and n represent the effect of strain hardening.
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Note
A specific heat capacity property should be defined to enable the calculation of temperature
hence thermal softening effects.
Name
Symbol
Units
Stress
Hardening Constant
Stress
Hardening Exponent
None
None
None
Melting Temperature
Tmelt
Temperature
Notes
None
None
Option List:
None
1st Order (Default)
Implicit (Autodyn component system only)
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
TEMP
Temperature**
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
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Plasticity
**Temperature will be non-zero only if a specific heat capacity is defined.
Cowper-Symonds Strength
The Cowper-Symonds strength model lets you define the yield strength of isotropic strain hardening,
strain rate dependent materials. The yield surface is defined as
( +
) +
where
A is yield stress at zero plastic strain
B is the strain hardening coefficient
n is the strain hardening exponent
D and q are the strain rate hardening coefficients
It should be noted that, in the implementation within the AUTODYN solver, the plastic strain rate ( r st)
used in the Cowper Symonds model has a minimum value of unity to allow for compatibility with the
linear strain rate correction method. The consequence of this is that for plastic strain rates less then
unity, the material will exhibit a strain rate hardening effect equal to that for a strain rate of unity.
The plastic flow algorithm used in this model has an option to reduce high frequency oscillations that
are sometimes observed in the yield surface under high strain rates. A first order strain rate correction
is applied by default. An additional implicit strain rate correction is available that can be used in cases
where the first order strain rate correction doesnt suffice, although at the cost of extra CPU time usage.
Note that the strain rate constants should be input assuming that the units of strain rate are 1/second.
The Cowper-Symonds strength model can be used in all element types and in combination with all
equations of state and failure properties.
Name
Symbol
Units
Stress
Hardening Constant
Stress
Hardening Exponent
None
None
None
None
Notes
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Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
Steinberg-Guinan Strength
In this formulation the authors have assumed that while yield stress initially increases with strain rate,
experimental data on shock-induced free surface velocity versus time records indicate that at high strain
rates (greater than 105sec-1) strain rate effects become insignificant compared to other effects and that
the yield stress reaches a maximum value which is subsequently strain rate independent.
They have also postulated that the shear modulus increases with increasing pressure and decreases
with increasing temperature and in doing this they have attempted to include modeling of the
Bauschinger effect into their calculations. They have therefore produced expressions for the shear
modulus and yield strength as functions of effective plastic strain, pressure and internal energy (temperature).
The constitutive relations for shear modulus G and yield stress Y for high strain rates are :
= +
= + +
subject to
t
+
(
[ ]
where
= effective plastic strain
T = temperature (degrees K)
= compression = 0/
and the primed parameters with the subscripts p and T are derivatives of that parameter with respect
to pressure and temperature at the reference state (T = 300 K, p= 0, = 0).
The subscript zero also refers to values of G and Y at the reference state.
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Plasticity
If the temperature of the material exceeds the specified melting temperature the shear modulus and
yield strength are set to zero.
Note
A specific heat capacity property should be defined to enable the calculation of temperature
hence the melting effect.
Table 114: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Stress
Ymax
Stress
Hardening Constant
None
Hardening Exponent
None
Derivative dG/dP
G'P
None
Derivative dG/dT
G'T
Stress/Temperature
Derivative dY/dP
Y'P
None
Melting Temperature
Tmelt
Temperature
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
TEMP
Temperature**
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
Zerilli-Armstrong Strength
While the Johnson-Cook model predicted the behavior of most materials in the Taylor tests, the model's
prediction and test results for OFHC (oxygen free high conductivity) copper did not agree well.
In an approach seeking to improve on Johnson-Cook, Zerilli and Armstrong proposed a more sophisticated constitutive relation obtained through the use of dislocation dynamics.
The effects of strain hardening, strain-rate hardening and thermal softening (based on thermal activation
analysis) have been incorporated into the formulation. The effect of grain size has also been included.
The relation has a relatively simple expression and should be applicable to a wide range of fcc (face
centered cubic) materials.
A relation for iron has also been developed and is also applicable to other bcc (body centered cubic)
materials.
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1725
= +
[ +
= +
[ +
] +
where
= effective plastic strain
= normalized effective plastic strain rate
T = temperature (degrees K)
The parameters Y0, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and n are material constants.
Note
A specific heat capacity property should be defined to enable the calculation of temperature
hence the melting effect.
Table 115: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Y0
Stress
Hardening Constant #1
C1
Stress
Hardening Constant #2
C2
Stress
Hardening Constant #3
C3
None
Hardening Constant #4
C4
None
Hardening Constant #5
C5
Stress
Hardening Constant n
None
Notes
None
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
1726
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Brittle/Granular
Name
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
TEMP
Temperature**
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
SUBL_EPS
No
Yes
No
Brittle/Granular
A number of properties are available to allow modeling of brittle/granular materials such as concrete,
rock, soil, glass and ceramics.
Drucker-Prager Strength Linear
Drucker-Prager Strength Stassi
Drucker-Prager Strength Piecewise
Johnson-Holmquist Strength Continuous
Johnson-Holmquist Strength Segmented
RHT Concrete Strength
MO Granular
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1727
Note
This property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 116: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Stress
Slope (degrees)
None
Slope in degrees
Description
Yes
No
No
Pressure
Yes
No
No
Material Pressure
Note
This material property can only be applied to solid bodies.
P
The Stassi yield condition takes the form:
2
0 + 3 ( 1)
3
where
J2Y is the second invariant of the deviatoric stress yield
Y0 is the yield strength in simple tension
k is the ratio between the yield strengths in compression and tension
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Brittle/Granular
p is the pressure
Note
This property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 117: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units Notes
Y0
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
Pressure
Pressure
Yes
No
No
Piecewise Linear
Pressure P
The yield stress is a piecewise linear function of pressure.
In tension (negative values of pressure), such materials have little tensile strength and this is modeled
by dropping the yield stress rapidly to zero as pressure goes negative to give a realistic value for the
limited tensile strength.
Note
You can use up to 10 pressure-yield points to define the material strength curve.
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1729
Symbol
Units
Y vs P
Stress
Notes
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
Pressure
Material Pressure
Yes
No
No
Intact Surface, =
Damage, =
Fractured, =
As the material undergoes inelastic deformation, damage is assumed to accumulate which degrades
the overall load carrying capacity of the materials. The Johnson-Holmquist Damage model was developed
1730
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Brittle/Granular
for the simulation of the compressive and shear induced strength and failure of brittle materials. Damage
is accumulated as the ratio of incremental plastic strain over the current estimated fracture strain. The
effective fracture strain is pressure dependent as described below.
Figure 45: Johnson-Holmquist Damage Model
There are two methods for the application of damage to the material strength. The default Gradual
failure type results in damage being incrementally applied to the material strength as it accumulates.
If the Instantaneous failure type is selected, damage accumulates over time, however it is only applied
to the failure surface when its value reaches unity. The material strength instantaneously transitions
from intact to fully failed in this case.
The model includes an option to represent volumetric dilation of the material due to shear deformation
(Bulking). The work done in deforming the material inelastically in shear can be converted into a pressure
increase, hence volumetric dilation (if unconstrained). The amount of work which is converted into
dilation pressure is controlled through the Bulking constant, B. This can have values ranging from 0.0
(representing no shear induced dilatancy) to 1.0 (producing maximum dilatancy effects).
Note
If the Bulking constant, B is greater than zero then the Johnson-Holmquist model should be
used in conjunction with a polynomial equation of state or linear elasticity.
This property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 119: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
HEL
Stress
None
None
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1731
Symbol
Units
None
None
None
Maximum Fracture
Strength Ratio
F Max
None
Damage Constant D1
D1
None
Damage Constant D2
D2
None
Bulking Constant
None
Hydrodynamic Tensile
Limit
Stress
Notes
Failure Type
Option list:
Gradual (Default)
Instantaneous
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_Pl_STN
Yes
No
No
EFF_Pl_STN_RATE
Yes
No
No
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DAMAGE
Damage
Yes
No
No
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
PRES_BULK
Dilation pressure
Yes
No
No
ENERGY_DAM
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1= elastic, 2= plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4 = bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction 1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed direction 3)
1
Johnson G. R. & Holmquist T. J. (1993). An Improved Computational Constitutive Model for Brittle Materials, Joint AIRA/APS Conference,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 1993.
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Brittle/Granular
>1.0
Failure Strain,
=1.0
S1
SFMAX
P3
T
>1.0
Pressure, P
=1.0
D=1.0
P1
Pressure, P
Equivalent Stress,
P2
Pressure, P
max
f
D<1.0
Volumetric strain,
Note
If the Bulking constant, B is greater than zero then the Johnson-Holmquist model should be
used in conjunction with a polynomial equation of state or linear elasticity.
This property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Holmquist, T.J. & Johnson, G.R. (2002). Response of silicon carbide to high velocity impact.
Journal of Applied Physics, pp 5858-5866, Vol 91, No. 9, May 1, 2002.
Table 120: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
HEL
Stress
S1
Stress
Stress
Stress
Stress
P
S
C
FMax
None
Stress
None
Damage Constant
D1
None
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1733
D2
None
Bulking Constant
None
Stress
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
No
No
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DAMAGE
Damage
Yes
No
No
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
PRES_BULK
Dilation pressure
Yes
No
No
ENERGY_DAM
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4 = bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction 1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
, , . It is particularly useful for modeling the dynamic loading of concrete. It can also be used for other
brittle materials such as rock and ceramic.
The RHT constitutive model is a combined plasticity and shear damage model in which the deviatoric
stress in the material is limited by a generalized failure surface of the form:
(58)
This failure surface can be used to represent the following aspects of the response of geological materials
Pressure hardening
Strain hardening
Strain rate hardening in tension and compression
Third invariant dependence for compressive and tensile meridians
Strain softening (shear induced damage)
Coupling of damage due to porous collapse
The model is modular in nature and is designed such that individual aspects of the material behavior
can be turned on and off. This gives the model significant practical usefulness. Further details of how
the model represents the various aspects of the material behavior are now presented.
1734
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Brittle/Granular
Fracture surface
The fracture surface is represented through the expression
*
YTXC = fc' AFail (P Pspall
FRATE )
NFail
(59)
Y
Pure shear
strength
Biaxial tensile
strength
R3 =
where
cos (3 ) =
3 3 .J3
(60)
2 2 J2
Q2 = Q2,0 + BQ.P *
and
1735
Tensile
meridian
Q 2 = 1.0
Compressive
meridian
Q 2 = 0.5
Strain Hardening
Strain hardening is represented in the model through the definition of an elastic limit surface and a
hardening slope. The elastic limit surface is scaled down from the fracture surface by user defined
ratios; (elastic strength/fc) and (elastic strength/ft). The pre-peak fracture surface is subsequently defined
through interpolation between the elastic and fracture surfaces using the hardening
Gelastic
G
Gplastic
slope, elastic
. This is shown in Figure 49: Bi-linear strain hardening function (p. 1737) for the
Y * = Yelastic +
pl
pl ( pre softening )
(Yfail Yelastic )
where
pl ( pre softening ) =
1736
Yfail Yel
Gelastic
3G
Gelastic Gplastic
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Brittle/Granular
Figure 49: Bi-linear strain hardening function
f c
f c*comprat
pl (pre-soft)
pl
Shear Damage
Damage is assumed to accumulate due to inelastic deviatoric straining (shear induced cracking) using
the relationships
D=
failure
p
pl
failure
p
(61)
D2
spall
= D1 (P P
where D1 and D2 are material constants used to describe the effective strain to fracture as a function
of pressure. Damage accumulation can have two effects in the model
Strain softening (reduction in strength)
The current fracture surface (for a given level of damage) is scaled down from the intact surface using
the expression
Yfractured
= (1 D )Yfailure
+ DYresidual
(62)
where
M
Yresidual
= Min B (P ) ,YXTC SFMAX
(63)
The term Y XTC*SFMAX is used to limit the maximum residual shear strength (for completely damaged
material) to be a fraction (SFMAX) of the current fracture strength.
Reduction in shear stiffness
The current shear modulus is defined through the expression
(64)
1737
FRATE
where
Tensile Failure
By default, tensile failure is achieved using a hydrodynamic tensile limit. The maximum tensile pressure
in the material is limited to
P = max [D * Pmin , P ( , e )]
(65)
Using this option, no additional user input is required since the value of Pmin is derived from ft, which
forms part of the input for the strength model.
Note that the principal tensile stress and crack softening failure properties may also be used in conjunction with this model.
1738
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Brittle/Granular
Data for concrete with cube strengths of 35MPa and 140MPa are included in the distributed material
library.
The model is formulated such that input can be scaled with the cube strength, fc i.e. you can retrieve
one of the two concretes in the library, change its cube strength to match the concrete you want to
model and the remaining terms will automatically scale proportionately. The resulting data set will be
approximate and we recommend validation of the material data against experimental characterization
tests in all cases.
Note
This property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 121: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Compressive Strength
fc
Stress
Tensile Strength
ft/fc
None
Shear Strength
fs/fc
None
AFAIL
None
NFAIL
None
Tens./Comp. Meridian
ratio
Q2.0
None
BQ
None
Hardening Slope
None
Elastic Strength/ft
None
Elastic Strength/fc
None
None
None
None
None
Maximum fracture
strength ratio
SFMAX
None
None
Notes
Gel/(Gel-Gpl)
Option:
Yes (default)
No
Damage constant D1
D1
None
Damage constant D2
D2
None
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1739
Symbol
Units
None
None
Notes
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
EFF_PL_STN_RATE
Yes
No
No
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DAMAGE
Damage
Yes
No
No
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1=elastic, 2= plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4 = bulk failure, 5= failed principal
direction 1, 6= failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
234
MO Granular
This model is an extension of the Drucker-Prager model that takes into account effects associated with
granular materials such as powders, soil and sand. In addition to pressure hardening, the model also
represents density hardening and variations in the shear modulus with density.
The yield stress is made up of two components, one dependent on the density and one dependent on
the pressure,
y = p +
where y, p and denote the total yield stress, the pressure yield stress and the density yield stress
respectively.
The unload/reload slope is defined by the shear modulus which is defined as a function of the zero
pressure density of the material.
Note
The yield stress is defined by a yield stress - pressure and a yield stress - density curve with
up to 10 points in each curve.
2
Riedel W., Thoma K., Hiermaier S., Schmolinske E.: Penetration of Reinforced Concrete by BETA-B-500, Numerical Analysis using a New
Macroscopic Concrete Model for Hydrocodes. Proc. (CD-ROM) 9. Internationales Symposium , Interaction of the Effects of Munitions
with Structures, Berlin Strausberg, 03.-07. Mai 1999, pp 315 - 322
3
W. Riedel, Beton unter dynamischen Lasten: Meso- und makromechanische Modelle und ihre Parameter, Ed.: Fraunhofer-Institut fr
Kurzzeitdynamik, Ernst-Mach-Institut EMI, Freiburg/Brsg., Fraunhofer IRB Verlag 2004, ISBN 3-8167-6340-5, http://www.irbdirekt.de/irbbuch/
4
Werner Riedel, Nobuaki Kawai and Ken-ichi Kondo, Numerical Assessment for Impact Strength Measurements in Concrete Materials,
International Journal of Impact Engineering 36 (2009), pp. 283-293 DOI information: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2007.12.012
1740
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Equations of State
The shear modulus is defined by a shear modulus - density curve with up to 10 points.
All three curves must be defined.
This model can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 122: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Stress
Tabular data
Tabular data
Tabular data
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
Equations of State
Background information is discussed in this section along with available EOS models:
Background
Bulk Modulus
Shear Modulus
Ideal Gas EOS
Polynomial EOS
Shock EOS Linear
Shock EOS Bilinear
JWL EOS
Background
A general material model requires equations that relate stress to deformation and internal energy (or
temperature). In most cases, the stress tensor may be separated into a uniform hydrostatic pressure (all
three normal stresses equal) and a stress deviatoric tensor associated with the resistance of the material
to shear distortion.
Then the relation between the hydrostatic pressure, the local density (or specific volume) and local
specific energy (or temperature) is known as an equation of state.
Hooke's law is the simplest form of an equation of state and is implicitly assumed when you use linear
elastic material properties. Hooke's law is energy independent and is only valid if the material being
modeled undergoes relatively small changes in volume (less than approximately 2%). One of the alternative equation of state properties should be used if the material is expected to experience high volume
changes during an analysis.
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1741
Bulk Modulus
Bulk Modulus A bulk modulus can be used to define a linear, energy independent equation of state.
Combined with a shear modulus property, this material definition is equivalent to using linear elasticity
i.e., Young's Modulus and Poisson's ratio.
Shear Modulus
Shear Modulus A shear modulus must be used when a solid or porous equation of state is selected
to fully define the elastic stiffness of a material. To represent fluids, specify a small value.
=
This form of equation is known as the Ideal Gas equation of state and only the value of the adiabatic
exponent needs to be supplied.
In order to avoid complications with problems with multiple materials where initial small pressures in
the gas would generate small unwanted velocities the equation is modified for use in these cases
= st
where pshift is a small initial pressure defined to give a zero starting pressure.
The definition of a non-zero adiabatic constant, c, will turn the energy dependent ideal gas equation
of state into the following energy independent adiabatic equation of state
Note
This equation of state can only be applied to solid bodies. A specific heat capacity should
be defined with this property to allow the calculation of temperature.
Table 123: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Adiabatic exponent
None
Adiabatic constant
None
1742
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Equations of State
Name
Symbol
Units
Pressure shift
Pshift
Pressure
Notes
This equation of state can only be used with solid elements. Custom results variables available for this
model:
Name
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
No
No
Polynomial EOS
This is a general form of the Mie-Gruneisen form of the equation of state and it has different analytic
forms for states of compression and tension.
This equation of state defines the pressure as
> 0 (compression):
p = A1 + A2 2 + A3 3 + (B0 + B1 ) p0e
< 0 (tension)
p = T1 + T2 2 + B0 p0e
where
= compression = /0-1
0 = solid, zero pressure density
e = internal energy per unit mass
A1, A2, A3, B0,, B1, T1 and T2 are material constants
If T1 is input as 0.0 it is reset to T1 = A1 in the solver.
The validity of this equation depends upon the ability to represent the variation of pressure at e = 0
(or some other reference curve) as a simple polynomial in of no more than three terms. This is probably
true as long as the range in density variation (and hence range in ) is not too large.
The Polynomial equation of state defines the Gruneisen parameter as
(v ) =
B0 + B1
1+
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1743
B0 = B1
= B0 = cons tan t
B1 = 0
= B0 / ( 1 + )
/ v = B0 / v 0 = cons tan t
B0 B1 0
= B0 + ( B1 - B0 ) ( v 0 - v ) / v 0
i .e. is linear in v .
Note
This equation of state can only be used with solid elements.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
A specific heat capacity should be defined with this property to allow the calculation of
temperature.
Table 124: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Parameter A1
A1
Stress
Parameter A2
A2
Stress
Parameter A3
A3
Stress
Parameter B0
B0
None
Parameter B1
B1
None
Parameter T1
T1
Stress
Parameter T2
T2
Stress
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
No
No
1744
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Equations of State
U = c0 + su p
It is then convenient to establish a Mie-Gruneisen form of the equation of state based on the shock
Hugoniot:
p = pH + p (e - eH )
where it is assumed that = 0 0 = constant and
pH =
p0c02 (1 + )
2
1 - (s - 1)
1 pH
eH =
2 p0 1 +
Note that for s>1 this formulation gives a limiting value of the compression as the pressure tends to
infinity. The denominator of the first equation above becomes zero and the pressure therefore becomes
infinite for
1 (s-1)= 0
giving a maximum density of = s 0 (s-1). However, long before this regime is approached, the assumption of constant is probably not valid. Furthermore, the assumption of linear variation between the
shock velocity U and the particle velocity up does not hold for too large a compression.
is known as the Gruneisen coefficient and is often approximated to ~2s-1 in the literature.
The Shock EOS linear model lets you optionally include a quadratic shock velocity, particle velocity relation of the form:
Us = C0 + S1u p + S2u p2
The input parameter, S2, can be set to a non-zero value to better fit highly non-linear Us - up material
data.
Data for this equation of state can be found in various references and many of the materials in the explicit material library.
Note
This equation of state can only be applied to solid bodies.
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1745
Symbol
Units
Notes
Gruneisen coefficient
None
Parameter C1
C1
Velocity
Parameter S1
S1
None
Parameter Quadratic S2
S2
1/Velocity
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
No
No
1746
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Equations of State
Figure 51: Fit to Shock Velocity-Particle Velocity Relationship
Shock Velocity
U2 = c 2+ s 2.u p
U1 = c 1+ s 1.u p
VB
VE
Particle Velocity
In the input you are prompted for values of the parameters c1, c2, s1, s2, VE/Vo, VB/Vo, o and o. Then
U1 = c1 + s1u p
U2 = c2 + s2u p
U = U1 for v VB
U = U1 +
U = U2 for v VE
(U2 U1 )(v VB )
for VE < v < VB
(VE VB )
Note
This equation of state can only be applied to solid bodies.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
A specific heat capacity should be defined with this property to allow the calculation of
temperature.
Table 126: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Gruneisen coefficient
None
Parameter C1
C1
Velocity
Parameter S1
S1
None
Parameter C2
C2
Velocity
Parameter S2
S2
None
VB/V0
None
VE/V0
None
Notes
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1747
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
No
No
JWL EOS
The JWL equation of state describes the detonation product expansion down to a pressure of 1 kbar
for high energy explosive materials and has been proposed by Jones, Wilkins and Lee according to the
following equation
The standard JWL equation of state can be used in combination with an energy release extension
whereby additional energy is deposited over a user-defined time interval. Thermobaric explosives show
this behavior and produce more explosive energy than conventional high energy explosives through
combustion of inclusions, like aluminum, with atmospheric oxygen after detonation.
1748
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Equations of State
This option is activated when the additional specific energy is specified different from zero.
Burn on Compression
In this process the detonation wave is not predefined but the unburned explosive is initially treated
similarly to any other inert material. However, as an initiating shock travels through the unburned explosive and traverses elements within the explosive the compression of all explosive elements is monitored. If and when the compression in a cell reaches a predefined value the chemical energy is allowed
to be released at a controlled rate.
Burn on compression may be defined in one of two ways:
Pre-burn bulk modulus KBK is zero. The elements start to release their energy when the element compression
exceeds a specified fraction of the Chapman-Jouguet compression:
> BCJCJ, where CJ = PCJ/(DCJ2)
Pre-burn bulk modulus KBK is non zero. The elements start to release their energy when the element
pressure exceeds a specified fraction of the Chapman-Jouguet pressure:
P = KBK(/01) > BCJPCJ
The critical threshold compression and the release rate are parameters that must be chosen with care
in order to obtain realistic results. The burn on compression option may give unrealistic results for unconfined regions of explosive since the material is free to expand at the time of initial shock arrival and
may not achieve sufficient compression to initiate energy release in a realistic time scale.
Typically, a burn logic based upon compression is more successful in Lagrangian computations rather
than Eulerian.
Note
The constants A, B, R1, R2 and should be considered as a set of interdependent parameters
and one constant cannot be changed unilaterally without considering the effect of this
change on the other parameters.
This equation of state can only be applied to solid bodies.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
A specific heat capacity should be defined with this property to allow the calculation of
temperature.
Table 127: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Parameter A
Stress
Parameter B
Stress
Parameter R1
R1
None
Parameter R2
R2
None
Parameter
None
Notes
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1749
Symbol
Units
DCJ
Velocity
Notes
Energy/mass
C-J Pressure
PCJ
Stress
Burn on compression
fraction
BCJ
None
KBK
Stress
Adiabatic constant
None
Energy/mass
Begin Time
Time
End Time
Time
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
No
No
BURN_FRAC
Burn Fraction
Yes
No
No
Porosity
The following Porosity models are discussed in this section:
Porosity-Crushable Foam
Compaction EOS Linear
Compaction EOS Non-Linear
P-alpha EOS
Porosity-Crushable Foam
This is a relatively simple strength model designed to represent the crush characteristics of foam materials under impact loading conditions (non-cyclic loading).
The model principal stress vs volumetric strain behavior is shown below.
1750
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Porosity
The strength model must be used with isotropic elasticity and the following incremental elastic update
of pressure and stress deviators is used.
P n +1 = P n + K vn +1 / 2 f n +1 / 2
Sijn +1 = S n + 2G ( ijn +1 / 2 ij n +1 / 2 )f n+1 / 2
The magnitude of the resulting principal stresses is compared against the allowable principal compaction
stress, for the current volumetric strain. If the principal stress exceeds the maximum allowable, it is reduced to the allowable value.
i ,n+1
i ,n+1
After scaling back of the principal stresses they are transformed back to the global system to give the
final stress update. Note that the return of the principal stress back to the compaction stress is performed
independently in each of the principal directions, implying zero plastic Poisson's ratio.
The compaction curve can be defined as a piecewise linear principal stress vs volumetric strain curve.
The volumetric strain is defined as the natural log of the volume ratio, where V0 is the original volume
and V is the current volume.
v =
V0
V
In tension, the model additionally includes the possibility to apply a tension cut-off to the maximum
allowable principal tensile stress. If the tensile stress exceeds this value, it is maintained at this value.
The model cannot currently be used with other failure properties.
Note
This property must be used in combination with isotropic elasticity.
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
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1751
Symbol
Units
Notes
Tabular data
Stress
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
No
No
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
Porous Materials
Porous materials are extremely effective in attenuating shocks and mitigating impact pressures. The
material compacts to its solid density at relatively low stress levels but, because the volume change is
relatively large, a large amount of energy is irreversibly absorbed thereby attenuating shocks by
lengthening the wave in time and reducing it in amplitude as more material is compacted.
Cellular porous materials contain a population of microscopic cells separated by cell walls. When stressed
the initial elastic compression is assumed to be due to elastic buckling of the cell walls and the plastic
flow to be due to plastic deformation of these cell walls. Materials with low initial porosity has fewer
cells and thicker cell walls so that the stress required to cause buckling and subsequent deformation
of the cell walls will be greater.
Once some plastic flow has taken place, even if the fully compacted density hasn't been reached, unloading to zero stress and reloading to the elastic limit will be elastic. This phenomenological behavior
is illustrated in the following figure.
1752
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Porosity
pressure
Plastic compaction
Fully
compacted
Elastic
loading
Elastic
unloading
(variable slope)
density
K = 0c 2
The level of compaction in the material is given by
s
0
Initially, o will be equal to the value defined in the density property of the material. Material property
s is the solid zero pressure density of the material and corresponds to the fully compacted material
density. For a porous material the initial density will be less than the solid density hence the value of
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1753
Note
It is important when using the model to ensure that the input data is such that the elastic
loading line from the initial porous density intersects the plastic compaction curve at the
intended position.
This property must be used in combination with a shear modulus to define the total elastic
stiffness of the material.
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
The input data for the porous model is as follows:
Name
Symbol
Solid Density
Units
Notes
Density at zero pressure for fully compacted
material
Compaction Curve
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
ALPHA
Porosity (Alpha)
Yes
No
No
1754
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Porosity
K ( ) =
dP
d
Note
It is important when using the model to ensure that the input data is such that the elastic
loading line from the initial porous density intersects the plastic compaction curve at the
intended position.
This property must be used in combination with a shear modulus to define the total elastic
stiffness of the material.
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
The input data for the porous model is as follows:
Name
Symbol
Solid Density
Units
Notes
Density at zero pressure for fully compacted material
Compaction Curve
Nonlinear Unloading
Curve
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
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1755
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
ALPHA
Porosity (Alpha)
Yes
No
No
P-alpha EOS
Although the compaction models give good results for low stress levels and low materials, it is very
desirable to obtain a single formulation for the modeling of a porous material which gives a good
representation over a wide stress range and variety of materials.
Such a model has been derived by Hermann (1960)5 and this is available in explicit dynamics.
Hermann's P-alpha model uses a phenomenological approach to devising a representation which gives
the correct behavior at high stresses but at the same time provides a reasonably detailed description
of the compaction process at low stress levels.
The principal assumption is that the specific internal energy is the same for a porous material as for
the same material at solid density at identical conditions of pressure and temperature. Then the
porosity, , is given by
v
vs
(66)
where v is the specific volume of the porous material and vs is the specific volume of the material in
the solid state and at the same pressure and temperature (note that vs is only equal to 1/solid at zero
pressure). becomes unity when the material compacts to a solid. If the equation of state of the solid
material, neglecting shear strength effects, is given by
p = f (v , e )
(67)
v
p = f ,e
(68)
This function can be any of the equations of state which describe the compressed state of material, i.e.,
Linear, Polynomial and Shock, but not those describing the expanded state.
In order to complete the material description the porosity must be specified as a function of the
thermodynamic state of the material, say,
= g (p , e )
(69)
There is not enough data usually available to determine the function g(p,e) completely but fortunately
most problems of interest involve shock compaction of the porous material, i.e. the region of interest
lies on or near the Hugoniot. On the Hugoniot, pressure and internal energy are related by the RankineHugoniot conditions so therefore along the Hugoniot equation Equation 69 (p. 1756) can be expressed
as
= g (p )
1756
(70)
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Porosity
with the variation with energy implicitly assumed. It is assumed this equation Equation 70 (p. 1756) remains
valid in the neighborhood of the Hugoniot (tacitly assuming that the compaction strength is insensitive
to the small changes in temperature in extrapolating small distances from the Hugoniot).
The general behavior of the compacting porous material has been described earlier and the P- model
is constructed to reproduce this behavior. The P- variation to provide this performance is shown
schematically in the figure below. The material deforms elastically up to a pressure pe and subsequent
deformation is plastic until the material is fully compacted at a pressure ps.
p p
= 1 + ( p 1) 1
ps pe
(71)
but cubic and exponential forms have also been proposed and the parameters adjusted to fit experimental data.
The exponent in the Butcher and Karnes equation has been changed to a user defined material
parameter, n. This allows for more flexibility in the fitting procedure. The parameters p, ps and pe are
shown in the above figure.
Other workers have developed the basic P- model of Herrmann to give better fits to experimental
data for specific materials.
Carroll & Holt (1972) 7 modified the equation of state of the porous material to give
1 v
p = f ,e
(72)
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1757
Note
The solid equation of state must be defined using one of the following properties
Bulk modulus
Polynomial EOS
Shock EOS Linear
Shock EOS Bilinear
This property must be used in combination with a shear modulus to define the total elastic
stiffness of the material.
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
The Poisson's ratio is assumed to be zero when calculating effective strain.
Table 129: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Solid Density
solid
Density
Porous Soundspeed
Notes
Velocity
Pe
Stress
Ps
Stress
Compaction Exponent
None
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
DENSITY
Density
Yes
No
No
COMPRESSION
Compression
Yes
No
No
VISC_PRESSURE
Viscous Pressure
Yes
No
No
INT_ENERGY
Internal Energy
Yes
No
No
ALPHA
Porosity (Alpha)
Yes
No
No
5
6
Herrmann, W (1969). Constitutive Equation for the Dynamic Compaction of Ductile Porous Materials, J. Appl. Phys., 40, 6, pp 24902499, May 1969
6
Butcher, B M, & Karnes, C H (1968). Sandia Labs. Res Rep. SC-RR-67-3040, Sandia Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM, April 1968
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Failure
7
Failure
Background
Materials are not able to withstand tensile stresses which exceed the material's local tensile strength.
The computation of the dynamic motion of materials assuming that they always remain continuous,
even if the predicted local stresses reach very large values, will lead to unphysical solutions.
A model has to be constructed to recognize when tensile limits are reached to modify the computation
to deal with this and to describe the properties of the material after this formulation has been applied.
Several different modes of failure initiation can be represented in the explicit dynamics system.
Element failure in the explicit dynamics system has two components:
Failure initiation
A number of mechanisms are available to initiate failure in a material (see properties Plastic Strain
Failure, Principal Stress Failure, Principal Strain Failure, Tensile Pressure Failure, Johnson-Cook Failure,
Grady Spall Failure). When specified criteria are met within an element, a post failure response is activated.
Failure initiation can be identified in the model via the custom result MAT_STATUS. The following key
is used.
MAT_STATUS
Meaning
The plastic strain in the material increased during the last time increment
Carroll, M M, & Holt, A C (1972). Static and Dynamic Pore Collapse Relations for Ductile Porous Materials. J. Appl.Phys., 43, 4, pp1626
et seq., 1972
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Note
This failure model must be used in conjunction with a plasticity or brittle strength model.
Name
Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain
Symbol
Units
Notes
max
None
Epl
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
EFF_PL_STN
Yes
Yes
Yes
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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Failure
If this model is used in conjunction with a plasticity model, it is often recommended to deactivate the
Maximum Shear stress criteria by specifying a large value. In this case the shear response will be handled
by the plasticity model.
Note
The crack softening failure property can be combined with this property to invoke fracture
energy based softening.
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Stress
Stress
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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Note
The crack softening failure property can be combined with this property to invoke fracture
energy based softening.
Table 130: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
None
None
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
Stochastic Failure
To model fragmentation for symmetric loading and geometry it is necessary to impose some material
heterogeneity. Real materials have inherent microscopic flaws, which cause failures and cracking to
initiate. An approach to reproducing this numerically is to randomize the failure stress or strain for the
material. Using this property, a Mott distribution is used to define the variance in failure stress or strain.
Each element is allocated a value, determined by the Mott distribution, where a value of one is equivalent
to the failure stress or strain of the material.
The Mott distribution takes the form
where
P is the probability of fracture
is the strain
C and are material constants
For the implementation in explicit dynamics, the fracture value of 1 is forced to be at a probability of
50%, therefore the user needs only specify a gamma value and the constant C is derived from this.
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Failure
Figure 54: Mott Distribution for Varying Values of Gamma
The stochastic failure option may be used in conjunction with many of the failure properties, including
hydro (Pmin), plastic strain, principal stress and/or strain. It can also be used in conjunction with the
RHT concrete model.
You must specify a value of the stochastic variance, , and also the distribution seed type. If the random
option is selected every time a simulation is performed a new distribution will be calculated. If the
fixed option is selected the same distribution will be used for each solve.
Table 131: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Distribution Type
Option List:
Random
Fixed (default)
Stochastic Variance
Minimum Fail Fraction
None
None
Default = 0.1
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
STOCH_FACT
Stochastic Factor
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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P < Pmin (1 D )
If the material pressure P becomes less than the defined maximum tensile pressure, failure initiation
occurs. The material instantaneously fails.
If the material definition contains a damage evolution law, the user defined maximum tensile pressure
is scaled down as the damage increases from 0.0 to 1.0.
Note
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
The crack softening failure property can be combined with this property to invoke fracture
energy based softening.
Table 132: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
Stress
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
PRESSURE
Pressure
Yes
No
No
STATUS
Material Status**
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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Failure
Slope =
Area = G f /L
Lf t2
2G f
Total Fracture
The extent of damage in a material can be inspected by using the custom result DAMAGE. The
damage is defined to be 0.0 for an intact element and 1.0 for a fully failed element.
After failure initiation, a maximum principal tensile stress failure surface is defined to limit the maximum
principal tensile stress in the element and a flow rule is used to return to this surface and accumulate the
crack strain
There are currently three options in relation to the crack softening plastic return algorithm:
Radial Return Non-associative in and meridian planes
No-Bulking Associative in plane only (Default)
Bulking Associative in and meridian planes
The default setting has been selected based on practical experiences of using the model to simulate
impacts onto brittle materials such as glass, ceramics, and concrete.
The recompression behavior after crack softening and failure can be modified. When one of the failure
criteria (for instance principal stress, hydro (Pmin), or RHT concrete) has been set and Crack Softening is
set to Yes, the Onset Compression after failure option can be used to change the compression criterion
at which pressure can build up again in failed elements.
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Meridian Plane
Trial Elastic Stresses
Rankine Failure
Surface
J2
Associate flow
in Meridional
Plane(Option)
Non-associative flow-in
Meridional Plane (Default)
Pressure
Rankine Plasticity
Yielding
(Tensile Cracking)
- space
Trial Elastic Stresses
Associative flow in
x-Plane (Default)
Non-Associative flow
in x-Plane (Default)
Rankine Failure
Surface
Note
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 133: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Fracture Energy
Gf
Energy/Area
Flow rule
Notes
Option List:
Radial Return
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Failure
Name
Symbol
Units
Notes
No Bulking (Default)
Bulking (Associative)
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
DAMAGE
Yes
No
No
FAIL.STRES
Yes
No
No
SOFT.SLOPE
Softening slope
Yes
No
No
Johnson-Cook Failure
The Johnson-Cook failure model can be used to model ductile failure of materials experiencing large
pressures, strain rates and temperatures.
This model is constructed in a similar way to the Johnson-Cook plasticity model in that it consists of
three independent terms that define the dynamic fracture strain as a function of pressure, strain rate
and temperature:
The ratio of the incremental effective plastic strain and effective fracture strain for the element conditions
is incremented and stored in custom results variable, DAMAGE. The material is assumed to be intact
until DAMAGE = 1.0. At this point failure is initiated in the element. An instantaneous post failure response
is used.
Note
The property can only be applied to solid bodies.
Table 134: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units
Damage Constant D1
D1
None
Damage Constant D2
D2
None
Damage Constant D3
D3
None
Damage Constant D4
D4
None
Damage Constant D5
D5
None
Melting Temperature
Notes
Temperature
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Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
DAMAGE
Damage
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
=
where:
is the density
c is the bulk sound speed
Y is the yield stress at EPS = 0
cis a critical strain value, usually set to 0.15
This critical spall stress is calculated for each element in the model at each time step and compared
with local maximum principal tensile stress. If the maximum element principal tensile stress exceeds
the critical spall stress, instantaneous failure of the element is initiated.
A typical value for the critical strain is 0.15 for aluminum.
Note
The property can only be applied to Lagrangian solid bodies.
The property must be used in conjunction with a plasticity model.
Table 135: Input Data
Name
Symbol
Units Notes
Critical Strain
Value
None
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
STATUS
Material Status
Yes
No
No
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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Strength
The following table summarizes the applicable strength-limit constants for each failure criterion:
Strength Limit
Constant
Orthotropic
Stress Limit
Orthotropic
Strain Limit
Tsai-Wu Constants
Tensile X-Direction
Tensile Y-Direction
Tensile Z-Direction
Compressive X
Compressive Y
Compressive Z
Shear XY
Shear YZ
Shear XZ
Coupling Coefficient XY
Coupling Coefficient YZ
Coupling Coefficient XZ
Tsai-Wu Constants must be used in conjunction with Orthotropic Stress Limit. Tsai-Wu Constants used
in conjunction with Orthotropic Strain Limit are not supported.
The TSai-Wu coefficients are always reset to -1 in an Explicit solve. The Tsai-Wu Constants property
changes how the Explicit Dynamics solver uses the data from the Orthotropic Stress Limit property.
Without the Tsai-Wu Constants property, the Explicit Dynamics solver uses all three tensile stress and
all three shear stress constants from the Orthotropic Stress Limit. With the Tsai-Wu Constants property,
the Explicit Dynamics solver uses the tensile and compressive stress constants in the X and Y direction
only (not Z) and the XY shear stress constant (not YZ and XZ shears).
Description
Solids
Shells
Beams
TEMPERATURE
Temperature
Yes
Yes
Yes
**Material status indicators (1 = elastic, 2 = plastic, 3 = bulk failure, 4= bulk failure, 5 = failed principal
direction1, 6 = failed principal direction 2, 7 = failed principal direction 3)
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Rigid Materials
Rigid materials can be modeled in an explicit dynamics system by selecting geometry, Stiffness behavior = rigid on a body. In such cases only the density property of the material associated with the body
will be used.
For explicit dynamics systems all rigid bodies must be discretized with a full mesh. This will be specified
by default for the explicit meshing physics preference.
The mass and inertia of the rigid body will be derived from the elements and material density for each
body.
By default, a kinematic rigid body is defined in explicit dynamics and its motion will depend on the
resultant forces and moments applied to it through interaction with other parts of the model. Elements
filled with rigid materials can interact with other regions via contact.
Constraints can only be applied to an entire rigid body. For example, a fixed displacement cannot be
applied to one edge of a rigid body; it must be applied to the whole body.
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Basic Formulations
An introduction to the basic equations which are solved in Explicit Dynamics is provided in this section.
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Where:
m = mass matrix
c = damping matrix
k = stiffness matrix
F(t) = load vector
At any given time, t, these equations can be thought of as a set of "static" equilibrium equations that
also take into account inertia forces and damping forces. The Newmark time integration method (or an
improved method called HHT) is used to solve these equations at discrete time points. The time increment
between successive time points is called the integration time step.
The partial differential equations that express the conservation of momentum relate the acceleration
to the stress tensor ij.
These equations are solved explicitly for each element in the model, based on input values at the end
of the previous time step. Small time increments are used to ensure stability and accuracy of the solution.
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Time Integration
In this section, the Explicit Dynamics time integration scheme is described and compared with an implicit
formulation.
Implicit Time Integration
Explicit Time Integration
Mass Scaling
Where:
are the components of nodal acceleration (i=1,2,3)
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and finally the positions are updated to time n+1 by integrating the velocities
The advantages of using this method for time integration for nonlinear problems are:
The equations become uncoupled and can be solved directly (explicitly). There is no requirement for iteration during time integration.
No convergence checks are needed because the equations are uncoupled.
No inversion of the stiffness matrix is required. All nonlinearities (including contact) are included in the
internal force vector.
To ensure stability and accuracy of the solution, the size of the timestep used in Explicit time integration
is limited by the CFL (Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy [1]) condition. This condition implies that the timestep
be limited such that a disturbance (stress wave) cannot travel farther than the smallest characteristic
element dimension in the mesh, in a single timestep. Thus the timestep criteria for solution stability is
Where
t is the time increment
f is the stability timestep factor (= 0.9 by default)
h is the characteristic dimension of an element
c is the local material soundspeed in an element
The element characteristic dimension, h is calculated as follows:
Table 136: Characteristic Element Dimensions
Hexahedral/Pentahedral
The volume of the element divided by the square of the longest diagonal
Tetrahedral
The minimum distance of any element node to its opposing element face
Quad Shell
Tri Shell
The minimum distance of any element node to its opposing element edge
Beam
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Note
The minimum value of h/c for all elements in the model is used to calculate the time step
that will be used for all elements in the model. This implies that the number of time increments required to solve the simulation is dictated by the smallest element in the model.
Care should therefore be taken when generating meshes for Explicit Dynamics simulations
to ensure that one or two very small elements do not control the timestep. The patch-independent meshing methods available in Workbench will generally produce a more uniform
mesh with a higher timestep than patch-dependent meshing methods.
Mass Scaling
The maximum timestep that can be used in Explicit time integration is inversely proportional to the
soundspeed of the material, hence directionally proportional to the square root of the mass of material
in an element
Where
Cii is the material stiffness (i=1,2,3)
is the material density
m is the material mass
V is the element volume
By artificially increasing the mass of an element, one can increase the maximum allowable stability
timestep, and reduce the number of time increments required to complete a solution. When mass
scaling is applied in an Explicit Dynamics system, it is applied only to those elements which have a
stability timestep less than a specified value. If the model contains a relatively small number of small
elements, this can be a useful mechanism for reducing the number of time steps required to complete
an Explicit simulation.
Note
Mass scaling changes the inertial properties of the portions of the mesh to which scaling is
applied. The user is responsible for ensuring that the model remains representative for the
physical problem being solved.
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Wave Propagation
The Explicit Dynamics systems are particularly well suited to capturing various types of wave propagation
phenomena in solid and liquid materials.
Elastic Waves
Plastic Waves
Shock Waves
Elastic Waves
Different types of elastic waves can propagate in solids depending on how the motion of points in the
solid material is related to the direction of propagation of the waves (Meyers [2]). The primary elastic
wave is usually referred to as the longitudinal wave. Under uniaxial stress conditions (i.e. an elastic wave
traveling down a long slender rod), the wave propagation speed is given by
For the more general three-dimensional case, the additional components of stress lead to the more
general expression for the primary longitudinal elastic wave speed
The secondary elastic wave is usually referred to as the distortional/shear wave and its propagation
speed can be calculated as
Other forms of elastic waves include surface (Rayleigh) waves, Interfacial waves and bending (or flexural)
waves in bars/plates. Further details are provided by Meyers [2].
Plastic Waves
Plastic (inelastic) deformation takes place in a ductile metal when the stress in the material exceeds the
elastic limit. Under dynamic loading conditions the resulting wave propagation can be decomposed
into elastic and plastic regions (Meyers [2]). Under uniaxial strain conditions, the elastic portion of the
wave travels at the primary longitudinal wave speed whilst the plastic wave front travels at a local velocity
For an elastic perfectly plastic material, it can be shown [3] that the plastic wave travels at a slower
velocity than the primary elastic wave
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Shock Waves
Typical stress strain curves for a ductile metal under uniaxial stress and uniaxial strain conditions are
given below.
Table 137: Typical stress strain curves for a ductile metal
a) Uniaxial
stress
b) Uniaxial
strain
Under uniaxial stress conditions, the tangent modulus of the stress strain curve decreases with strain.
The plastic wave speed therefore decreases as the applied jump in stress associated with the stress
wave increases shock waves are unlikely to form under these conditions.
Under uniaxial strain conditions the plastic modulus (AB) increases with the magnitude of the applied
jump in stress. If the stress jump associated with the wave is greater than the gradient (OZ), the plastic
wave will travel at a higher speed than the elastic wave. Since the plastic deformation must be preceded
by the elastic deformation, the elastic and plastic waves coalesce and propagate as a single plastic
shock wave.
A shock wave can be considered to be a discontinuity in material state (density(), energy(e), stress(),
particle velocity(u)) which propagates through a medium at a velocity equal to the shock velocity (Us).
Figure 55: Conditions at a Moving Shock Front
Relationships between the material state across a shock discontinuity can be derived using the principals
of conservation of mass, momentum and energy. The resulting Hugoniot equations are given by
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Reference Frame
You can define the reference frame for bodies in an explicit dynamics analysis to be either Lagrangian
or Eulerian. The following sections describe the two reference frames and how their use affects the
analysis.
Lagrangian and Eulerian Reference Frames
Eulerian (Virtual) Reference Frame in Explicit Dynamics
Post-Processing a Body with Reference Frame Euler (Virtual)
Key Concepts of Euler (Virtual) Solutions
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Solid, Liquid and Gaseous materials can be used with an Eulerian (Virtual) reference frame in the Explicit
Dynamics system. Because of the computational cost and approximate tracking of material interfaces,
the Eulerian reference frame should be used only when very large deformation or flow of the material
is expected.
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The background Euler domain is discretized with a mesh of uniform cell size. The cell size is defined
to give approximately 500,000 cells in total. Additional options to control the cell size are provided
in the Analysis Settings. The entire Euler domain is initialized as void; the cells contain no material.
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If multiple bodies marked as Eulerian (Virtual) overlap, the body higher in the Outline view will take
precedence. Therefore, the material assigned to the region of overlap will correspond to that assigned
to the first Eulerian body.
The exterior faces of the Euler domain can each have one of three types of boundary condition
applied. The type of boundary condition for each face is controlled in the Analysis Settings:
Flow-out (Default)
This condition will allow any material reaching the boundary of the Euler domain to flow out of the
domain at constant velocity.
Rigid Wall
This condition makes the external boundaries of the domain act as a rigid wall.
Impedance
This condition will transmit normal stress waves out of the domain into a pseudo material of the
same impedance (perfect transmission, no reflection); see Impedance Boundary (p. 800).
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When the Show Undeformed Wireframe option is selected for a results object scoped to Euler bodies,
the wireframe of the background Euler domain is displayed. Only the Euler domain cells that contain
material at a given point in time are used to construct the wireframe (cells that only contain void are
not displayed). An example is given below:
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In comparison to a traditional Lagrangian numerical scheme, note the points in the following sections.
Multiple Material Stress States
Multiple Material Transport
Supported Material Properties
Known Limitations of Euler Solutions
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A volume of fluid (VOF) method is used track the amount of material in each cell. Each material has a
volume fraction and the sum of the volume fraction of each material, plus the volume fraction of void,
will equate to unity.
=
+ =
=
Nearly all isotropic material properties can be used in an Eulerian reference frame to represent Solids,
Liquids or gases. Special treatment is required to allow calculation of the strain rates, pressure and
stresses in each material in a cell, and also to calculate a resultant stress tensor which is then used to
calculate cell face impulses, momentum and mass transport. Two algorithms are used for this purpose:
1. A cell containing two different gases; here we use an iterative procedure to establish an Equilibrium state
(a density and energy of each gas which results in a uniform pressure across both gases).
2. A cell containing two or more non-gaseous materials; here we use a stiffness weighted averaging technique
to distribute strain rates and establish the resultant pressure and deviatoric stress in each cell.
The choice of the above algorithms is automatic and local to each cell in the model.
Important
At any point in time during the solution, only the volume fraction of each material in each
cell is recorded and stored. The location of the material within the cell is not known. During
post-processing of the model you will see an outline of the material displayed, this outline
is an approximation derived from the volume fraction distribution in the cells. It is only accurate to within one cell dimension.
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In more detail, the Lagrangian body covers regions of the Euler domain. The intersection between the
Lagrangian and Eulerian bodies results in an updated control volume on which the conservation
equation of mass, momentum and energy are solved.
At the same time, the normal stress in the intersected Euler cell will act on the intersected area of the
Lagrangian surface.
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Shell Coupling
In the case of coupling to thin bodies (typically modelled with shells), an equivalent solid body is generated to enable intersection calculations to be performed between a Lagrangian volume and the Euler
domain. The thickness of the equivalent solid body is automatically calculated based on the Euler Domain
cell size to ensure that at least one Euler element is fully covered over the thickness and no leakage
occurs across the coupling surface. Note this 'artificial' thickness is only used for volume intersection
calculations for the purposes of coupling and is independent of the physical thickness of the shell/surface
body.
Sub-cycling
The Lagrangian reference frame is most frequently used to model solid structures with materials which
have soundspeeds in the order of several thousand meters/second. The Eulerian reference is most frequently used to represent fluids or gases which typically have soundspeeds in the order of hundreds
of meters/second. In Explicit Dynamics simulations the maximum timestep that can be used is inversely
proportional to the soundspeed of the material. The timestep required to model structures is therefore
often significantly smaller than the timestep required to accurately model a gas. To enable the Lagrangian
and Eulerian parts of a coupled simulation proceed at the optimum timestep (for efficiency and accuracy)
a sub-cycling technique is used where possible. The Lagrangian domain uses its critical timestep. The
Euler domain uses its critical timestep. Coupling information is exchanged at the end of each Euler
domain timestep.
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Analysis Settings
Analysis Settings
In the following sections you find theoretical background for specific controls available in the Explicit
Dynamics system.
Step Controls
Damping Controls
Solver Controls
Erosion Controls
Step Controls
Maximum Energy Error
Energy conservation is a measure of the quality of an explicit dynamic simulation. Bad energy conservation usually implies a less than optimal model definition. This parameter allows you to automatically
stop the solution if the energy conservation becomes poor. Enter a fraction of the total system energy
at the reference cycle at which you want the simulation to stop. For example, the default value of 0.1
will cause the simulation to stop if the energy error exceeds 10% of the energy at the reference cycle.
The global energy is accounted as follows:
Reference Energy = [Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy] at the reference cycle
Current Energy = [Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy] at the current cycle
Work Done = Work done by constraints + Work done by loads + Work done by body forces + Energy
removed from system by element erosion + Work done by contact penalty forces
Figure 56: Example energy conservation graph for model with symmetry plane and erosion
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Damping Controls
Treatment of Shock Discontinuities
Strong impacts on solid bodies can give rise to the formation of shock waves in the material. Because
of the nonlinearity of the equations being solved, shocks can form even though the initial conditions
are smooth.
In order to handle the discontinuities in the flow variables associated with such shocks, viscous terms
are introduced into the solutions. These additional terms have the effect of spreading out the shock
discontinuities over several elements and thus allow the simulation to continue to compute a smooth
solution, even after shock formation and growth.
Figure 57: Comparison of pressure solution at a shock wave discontinuity a) using no artificial
viscosity b) using the default artificial viscosity
The viscous terms used in the Explicit Dynamics system is based on the work of von Neumann and
Richtmeyer [4] and Wilkins [5].
Where
CQ is the Quadratic Artificial Viscosity coefficient
CL is the Linear Artificial Viscosity coefficient
is the local material density
d is a typical element length scale
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Analysis Settings
c is the local sound speed
is the rate in change of volume
The quadratic term smooths out shock discontinuities while the linear term acts to damp out oscillations
which may occur in the solution behind the shock discontinuity.
Figure 58: Effects of artificial viscosity on the solution
Note
The pseudo-viscous term applies only to Solid bodies
The pseudo-viscous term is usually added only when the flow is compressing. The Linear Viscosity in Expansion option can be used to apply the pseudo-viscous term in both compression
and expansion. This can lead to excessive dispersion in the solution.
The inclusion of the pseudo-viscous pressure imposes further restrictions on the time step in
order to ensure stability:
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Hourglass Damping
The reduced integration eight node hexahedral elements, or 4 node quadrilateral elements, used in
Explicit Dynamics can exhibit hourglass modes of deformation.
Since the expressions for strain rates and forces involve only differences in velocities and/or coordinates
of diagonally opposite nodes of the cuboidal element, if the element distorts in such a way that these
differences remain unchanged there will be no strain increase in the element and therefore no resistance
to this distortion. Hourglass modes of deformation occur with no change in energy (also called zero
energy modes) and are unphysical.
An example of such a distortion in two dimensions is illustrated below where the two diagonals remain
the same length even though the cell distorts.
Visualization in three dimensions is much more difficult but if such distortions occur in a region of many
elements, patterns such as that shown below occur and the reason for the name of hourglass instability
is more easily understood.
To avoid these zero energy modes of deformation from occurring, corrective forces (Hourglass forces)
are added to the solution to resist the hourglass modes of deformation.
Hexahedral Elements
Two formulations for calculating the Hourglass forces are available for Hexahedral elements:
The Standard formulation is based on the work of Kosloff and Frazier [6] and generates hourglass forces
proportional to nodal velocity differences. This is often referred to as a viscous formulation.
Where
is a vector of the hourglass forces at each node of the element
CH is the Viscous Coefficient for hourglass damping
is the material density
c is the material soundspeed
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Analysis Settings
V is the material volume
is a vector function of the element nodal velocities aligned with the hourglass shape vector
The standard formulation is the most efficient formulation in terms of CPU and is therefore the default
option. It is not however invariant under rigid body rotation (i.e. under rigid body rotation the hourglass
forces may not sum to zero)
The Flanagan Belytschko [7] formulation is invariant under rigid body rotation and is therefore recommended for simulations in which large rotations of hexahedral elements are expected. The Flanagan
Belytschko formulation is similar to the standard form.
The difference lies in the construction of the vector function of element nodal velocities,
are constructed to be orthogonal to both linear velocity field and the rigid body field.
. These
Note
The Viscous Coefficient for hourglass forces usually varies between 0.05 and 0.15. The default
value is 0.1.
The sum of the hourglass forces applied to an element is normally zero. The momentum of the
system is therefore unaffected by hourglass forces.
The hourglass forces do however do work on the nodes of the elements. The energy associated
with hourglass forces is a) stored locally in the specific internal energy of the element b) recorded
globally over the entire model and available to review via the Solution Output, Energy Summary.
Static Damping
The Explicit Dynamics system is primarily designed for solving transient dynamic events. Using the
static damping option, a static equilibrium solution can also be obtained.
The procedure is to introduce a damping force which is proportional to the nodal velocities and which
is aimed to critically damp the lowest mode of oscillation of the static system. The solution is then
computed in time in the normal manner until it converges to an equilibrium state. The user is required
to judge when the equilibrium state is achieved. If the lowest mode of the system has period T then
we may expect the solution to converge to the static equilibrium state in a time roughly 3T if the value
of T is that for critical damping.
When the dynamic relaxation option is used the velocity update is modified to
where the Static Damping Coefficient, Rd, is input by the user. The value of Rd for critical damping of
the lowest mode is
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A reasonable estimate of T must be used to ensure convergence to an equilibrium state but if the value
of T is not known accurately then is it recommended that the user overestimates it, rather than underestimating it. Approximate values of t and T can usually be obtained by first performing a dynamic
analysis without static damping.
A static damping coefficient may be defined, or removed, at any point during an Explicit Dynamic
simulation. Typical examples of its use would be:
To establish an initial stress distribution in a structure, prior to solving a transient dynamic event. For example applying gravity to a structure.
To establish the final static equilibrium position of a structure after it has experienced a transient dynamic
event. For example finding the equilibrium position of structure after it has undergone large plastic deformation during a dynamic event.
Solver Controls
Hexahedral Elements
The preferred element for solid bodies in Explicit Dynamics systems is the eight node reduced integration
hexahedral. These elements are well suited to transient dynamic applications including large deformations,
large strains, large rotations and complex contact conditions. The basic element characteristics are
Connectivity
8 Node
Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
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Analysis Settings
Requires hourglass damping to stabilize zero energy
hourglass modes (see section Damping Controls,
Hourglass Damping)
The default Integration Type for hexahedral elements is the Exact option. Here the element formulation
based upon the work of Wilkins [8] results in an exact volume calculation even for distorted elements.
This formulation is therefore the most accurate option, especially if the faces of the hex elements become
warped. This is also computationally the most expensive formulation.
It is possible to speed-up simulations by using the 1pt Gaussian quadrature integrated hexahedral element. This uses the element formulation described by Hallquist [9]. There will be some loss in accuracy
when using this formulation with warped element faces which are common place in large deformation
analysis.
Tetrahedral Elements
Linear 4 noded tetrahedron elements are available for use in Explicit Dynamic analysis.
Connectivity
4 Node
Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
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Analysis Settings
Principal Stress/Principal Strain Failure
Grady Spall Failure
Johnson Cook Failure
Stochastic Failure
Note
Both flexible and rigid bodies are supported for NBS tetrahedral elements.
If a model containing NBS tetrahedral elements exhibits zero-energy modes (Puso, 2006 [22]), the PUSO
stability coefficient can be set to a non-zero value. The recommended value is 0.1. Stabilization is
achieved by taking a contribution to the nodal stresses from the SCP solution. Therefore, for models
with a non-zero Puso stability coefficient, the solution is computed on both the nodes and the elements.
NBS tetrahedral elements cannot share nodes with ANP tetrahedral elements, SCP tetrahedral elements,
shell elements, or beam elements. Also note that the use of NBS tetrahedral elements with joins or
spotwelds is not supported.
Figure 59: Comparison of results of a Taylor test solved using SCP, ANP and NBS Tetrahedral
elements. Results using NBS and ANP tetrahedral elements compare more favorably with
experimental results than results using SCP (see table below).
Tet-SCP
Tet-ANP
Tet-NBS
Table 138: Comparison of the performance of SCP, ANP, NBS and hex elements in a model involving
bending. The displacement of the beam with NBS tetrahedral elements is the most similar to the
beam meshed with hexahedral elements as it does not exhibit shear locking as is seen in the
beams solved using SCP and ANP tetrahedral elements.
Experiment
SCP Tet
ANP Tet
NBS Tet
Cylinder length
(mm)
31.84
30.98
30.97
31.29
Impact diameter
(mm)
12.0
10.66
11.32
11.28
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1797
Figure 61: Taylor test: Iron cylinder impacting rigid wall at 221m/s. Good correlation between
ANP and Hex element results is obtained
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Analysis Settings
Figure 62: Example pull out test simulated using both hexahedral elements and ANP tetrahedral
elements. Similar plastic strains and material fracture are predicted for both element formulations
used.
Pentahedral Elements
Linear 6 noded pentahedral elements are available for use in Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Connectivity
6 Node
Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
The pentahedral element is a basic constant strain element and is intended as a filler element in meshes
dominated by hexahedral elements.
Pyramid Elements
Pyramid elements are not recommended for Explicit Dynamic simulations. Any pyramid elements present
in the mesh will be converted to 2 tetrahedral elements in the solver initialization phase. Results are
mapped back onto the Pyramid element for postprocessing purposes.
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4 Node
Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
The bilinear 4 noded quadrilateral shell element is based on the corotational formulation presented by
Belytschko-Tsay [13]. The element has one quadrature point per layer and is stabilized using hourglass
control. By default, additional curvature terms are added for warped elements in accordance with
Belytschko [14]. This option can be deactivated using the Shell BWC Warp Correction setting in the
Solver Controls.
The number of through thickness integration points (sublayers) is controlled through the analysis settings
option Solver Controls, Shell Sublayers. The default value is 3.
The thickness of the shell element is updated during the simulation in accordance with the material
response. The update is carried out at the shell nodes by default.
The principal inertia of the shell nodes is recalculated every time increment (cycle) by default. This is
the most robust method. It is more efficient to rotate the principal inertias rather than recalculate (although less robust for certain applications). The Shell Thickness Update option can be used to select
this more efficient inertial update method.
1800
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Analysis Settings
3 Node
Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
The bilinear 3 noded, C0, triangular shell element is based on the formulation presented by Belytschko
et al. [15]. The number of through thickness integration points (sublayers) is controlled through the
analysis settings option Solver Controls, Shell Sublayers. The default value is 3.
The thickness of the shell element is updated during the simulation in accordance with the material
response. The update is carried out at the shell nodes by default.
Beam Elements
Linear 2 noded beam elements are available for use in Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Connectivity
2 Node
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Nodal Quantities
Element Quantities
Material Support
Points to Note
The 2 noded beam element is based on the resultant beam formulation of Belytschko [16] and allows
for large displacements and resultant elasto-plastic response.
Erosion Controls
Erosion is a numerical mechanism for the automatic removal (deletion) of elements during a simulation.
The primary reason for using erosion is to remove very distorted elements from a simulation before the
elements become inverted (degenerate). This ensures that the stability timestep remains at a reasonable
level and solutions can continue to the desired termination time. Erosion can also be used to allow the
simulation of material fracture, cutting and penetration.
There are a number of mechanisms available to initiate erosion of elements. The erosion options can
be used in any combination. Elements will erode if any of the criteria are met.
Geometric Strain
Geometric strain is a measure of the distortion of an element and is calculated from the principal strain
components as
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This erosion option allows removal of elements when the local element geometric strain exceeds the
specified value. Typical values range from 0.5 to 2.0. The default value of 1.5 can be used in most cases.
Custom result EFF_STN can be used to review the distribution of effective strain in the model.
Timestep
This erosion option allows removal of elements when the local element timestep, multiplied by the
time step safety factor falls below the specified value.
Custom result TIMESTEP can be used to review the time step for each element.
Material Failure
Using this option, elements will automatically erode if a material failure property is defined in the material used in the elements, and the failure criteria has been reached. Elements with materials including
a damage model will also erode if damage reaches a value of 1.0.
Retained Inertia
If all elements that are connected to a node in the mesh are eroded, the inertia of the resulting free
node can be retained. The mass and momentum of the free node is retained and can be involved in
subsequent impact events to transfer momentum in the system. If this option is set to No, all free nodes
will be automatically removed from the simulation.
Note
Erosion is not a physical process and should be used with caution.
The internal energy of elements which are eroded is always removed from the system. This
energy is accumulated in the work done term for global energy conservation purposes.
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Known Limitations
Because the corrective force is applied in a linearized manner every cycle, the following imposed motions
can lead to deviations in the remote point location:
Remote displacements applied in a local coordinate system
Non-zero rotational remote displacements
Warnings are generated at the start of the solution if either of the above conditions are detected. In
these cases, you should verify that the group of scoped nodes and the associated remote point location
follow the imposed path.
References
The following references are cited in this appendix:
1.
R. Courant, K. Friedrichs and H. Lewy, "On the partial difference equations of mathematical physics", IBM
Journal, March 1967, pp. 215-234
2.
Meyers, M. A., (1994) Dynamic behaviour of Materials, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-58262-X.
3.
Zukas, J. A., (1990) High velocity impact dynamics, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-51444-6
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
References
4.
von Neumann, J., Richtmeyer, R. D. (1950)., A Method for the Numerical Calculation of Hydrodynamic
Shocks, J. App. Phys., 21, pp 232-237, 1950
5.
Wilkins, M. L., (1980). Use of Artificial Viscosity in Multidimensional Fluid Dynamic Calculations, J. Comp.
Phys., 36, pp 281-303, 1980
6.
Kosloff D., Frazier G. A., (1978) Treatment of hourglass patterns in low order finite element codes, Int.
J. Num. Anal. Meth. Geomech. 2, 57-72
7.
Flanagan D. P., Belytschko T., (1981) A uniform strain hexahedron and Quadrilateral and Orthogonal
Hourglass Control, Int. J. Num. Meth. Eng. 17, 679-706.
8.
Wilkins, M. L., Blum, R. E., Cronshagen, E. & Grantham, P. (1974). A Method for Computer Simulation of
Problems in Solid Mechanics and Gas Dynamics in Three Dimensions and Time. Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory Report UCRL-51574, 1974
9. Hallquist, J. O., (1982) "A theoretical manual for DYNA3D, LLNL Report UCID-19401.
10. Zienkiewicz, O. C., Taylor, R. L., "The finite element method, Volume 1", ISBN 0-07-084174-8
11. Burton, A..J.. (1996) 'Explicit, Large Strain, Dynamic Finite Element Analysis with Applications to Human
Body Impact Problems', PhD Thesis, University of Wales.
12. Wilkins, M. L., Blum, R. E., Cronshagen, E., & Grantham, P. (1974). A Method for Computer Simulation
of Problems in Solid Mechanics and Gas Dynamics in Three Dimensions and Time. Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory Report UCRL-51574, 1974
13. Belytschko, T., et al. (1984), Explicit algorithms for the nonlinear dynamics of shells, Comp. Meth. Appl.
Mech Eng., 42, 225-251.
14. Belytschko, T., et al. (1992), Advances in one-point quadrature shell elements, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech
Eng., 1992, 93-107.
15. Belytschko, T., et al. (1984), A C0 Triangular Plate Element with One-point Quadrature, Int. J. Num. Meth.
Engng., 20, 787-802, 1984.
16. Belytschko, T. et al., 1977, Large Displacement Analysis of Space Frames, Int. J. Num. Meth. And Anal.
Mech. Engng., 11, 65-84, 1977.
17. Godunov, S. K. (1959), "A Difference Scheme for Numerical Solution of Discontinuous Solution of Hydrodynamic Equations", Math. Sbornik, 47, 271-306, translated US Joint Publ. Res. Service, JPRS 7226, 1969.
18. Noh, W. F. and Woodward, P., SLIC (Simple line interface calculation), in Lecture Notes in Physics (A. I.
van der Vooren and P. J. Zandbergen, eds.), pp. 330340, Springer-Verlag, 1976.
19. Van Leer, B (1977). Towards the Ultimate Conservative Difference Scheme. IV. A new Approach to Numerical Convection, J. Comp. Phys. 23, pp 276-299, 1977.
20. Van Leer, B (1979). Towards the Ultimate Conservative Difference Scheme. V. A Second Order Sequel to
Godunovs Method, J. Comp. Phys. 32, pp 101-136, 1979.
21. Bonet J., Marriott H., Hassan O. An averaged nodal deformation gradient linear tetrahedral element for
large strain explicit dynamics applications. Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering 2001;
17, 551-561.
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Introduction
Content to be Provided
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1808
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of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Index
Symbols
2D analyses - description and characteristics, 402
2parameter mooney-rivlin model, 1714
3parameter mooney-rivlin model, 1715
5parameter mooney-rivlin model, 1715
9parameter mooney-rivlin model, 1715
A
acceleration
description, 694
acceleration load
object reference, 1355
acceleration object reference, 1355
acoustic analysis, 358
adaptive convergence, 1065
adaptivity, 1065
add linearized stress, 890
add offset no ramping contact region setting , 525
add offset ramped effects contact region setting, 525
adding beams, 614
adjust to touch contact region setting, 525
advanced contact region settings - listed and defined,
515
alert
object reference, 1297
alert object reference, 1297
ambient temperature - in radiation load, 753
analysis
2D analyses - description and characteristics, 402
apply loads and supports step, 143
apply mesh controls step, 133
apply preview mesh step, 133
approach - overall steps, 125
assign behavior to parts step, 129
attach geometry step, 126
composite, 364
create analysis system step, 125
create report step, 147
define initial condition step, 136
define resources step, 126
establish analysis settings, 134
interface - listing of components, 1
options - listed and described, 74
review results step, 146
set connections options step, 132
solve step, 145
types - listed, 149
window components - layout and description, 1
analysis data management - analysis settings, 664
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1809
Index
adaptive solutions, 1065
anti-periodic symmetry type, 411
anti-symmetric electromagnetic symmetry type, 409
anti-symmetric structural symmetry type, 407
anti-virus causing crash - troubleshooting, 1427
APDL programming - using, 1145
application not closing - troubleshooting, 1422
applying a graphical view, 108
applying loads and supports
overall analysis step, 143
applying pre-stress effects, 138, 140
assemblies, 371
assemblies missing parts - troubleshooting, 1422
assemblies of surface bodies, 376
Assignment
of material properties, 131
associative and non-associative coordinate systems,
484
asymmetric behavior contact region setting, 510
asynchronous solutions
description, 1025
troubleshooting, 1425
attaching geometry
overall analysis step, 126
augmented Lagrange formulation contact region setting , 515
auto asymmetric behavior contact region setting , 510
auto-hiding windows, 2
Autodesk Inventor
assigning parameters, 1153
automatic contact, 529
automatic time stepping analysis settings, 668
automatically generated connections, 501
averaged vs. unaveraged contour results, 866
axial force result
object reference, 1385
axisymmetric behavior - 2D simulation, 402
B
back-face culling - in view menu, 44
background solutions
troubleshooting, 1425
beam, 614
beam end release
object reference, 1328
beam end release object reference, 1328
beam end releases, 619
beam probe result, 948
beam results, 923
beam tool result
description, 922
object reference, 1385
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C
CAD parameters, 1153
CAD systems
general information, 1413
isotropic material limitation, 1414
multiple versions, 1414
callouts in details view, 11
campbell diagram chart result
object reference, 1385
capped isosurfaces, 53, 1014
cdb file import
finite element mesh, 388
supported element types, 397
CFD load transfer
convections, 321
structural, 321
surface temperatures, 321
chart
object reference, 1307
chart and table, 988
chart object reference, 1307
charts
control, 106
tips, 106
clean results data, 865
CLOCAL Mechanical APDL application command - use,
885
color by parts, 373
colors - contact initial information table, 916
combined stress - beam tool, 922
commands - using the Mechanical APDL application,
1145
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1811
Index
connections
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
general description, 493
global settings - listed and defined, 497
object reference, 1309
setting options - overall analysis step, 132
connections object reference, 1309
connections worksheet, 494
constraint equation
description, 817
constraint equation condition
object reference, 1355
constraint equation object reference, 1355
constraint equations were not properly matchedtroubleshooting, 1422
constraint type contact region setting, 515
construction geometry
object reference, 1313
construction geometry object reference, 1313
contact
advanced region settings - listed and defined, 515
automatic, 529
best practices, 538
controlling transparency for regions - animated example, 530
definition region settings - listed and defined, 510
ease of use features - listed, 530
flipping contact/target scope settings - animated
example, 533
formulation theory, 504
general description, 493
hiding bodies not scoped to contact region - procedure, 532
identifying regions - procedure, 533
initial, 916
loading region settings - procedure, 534
locating bodies without contact - application and
procedure, 535
locating parts without contact - application and
procedure, 535
manual, 529
merging regions - procedure, 534
options, 74
overview, 503
reactions, 916
region object reference, 1314
region settings - categories, 493
renaming regions - animated example, 532
resetting regions to defaults - procedure, 535
results, 895
saving region settings - procedure, 534
scope region settings - listed and defined, 507
1812
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cracks, 471
solving analysis, 1137
create coordinate system from nodes, 100
create named selection from elements, 101
create named selection from nodes, 101
creating a graphical view, 107
creep controls, 646
creep strain - equivalent, 888
Creo Parametric
assigning parameters, 1153
crushable foam, 1750
current
description, 766
current density result
description, 956
object reference, 1385
current density result object reference, 1385
current excitation
stranded source conductor body, 777
current excitation for solid conductors
current object reference, 1355
current excitation for solid source conductors
description, 774
current object reference, 1355
cursors - rotation, 86
cursors - triad and rotation, 113
cut boundary displacement method (see submodeling)
cyclic axis of symmetry - troubleshooting, 1430
cyclic controls, 646
cyclic region, 414
object reference, 1373
cyclic region object reference, 1373
cyclic symmetry in a modal analysis, 418
cyclic symmetry in a static structural analysis, 416
cyclic symmetry in a thermal analysis, 425
cylindrical joints, 545
cylindrical support
description, 808
object reference, 1355
cylindrical support object reference, 1355
cylindrical surface direction, 848
D
damage matrix result in fatigue tool
description, 966
object reference, 1330
damage matrix result object reference, 1330
damage result in fatigue tool
description, 966
object reference, 1330
damage result object reference, 1330
damping controls - analysis settings, 653
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1813
Index
data standard toolbar button - commands and descriptions, 49
data transfer
Polyflow to Mechanical , 325
database file - saving results
as a dsdb, 1132
as a Mechanical APDL database file, 1132
debonding
fracture analysis, 474
decay coefficient for body interaction object, 627
define initial condition
overall analysis step, 136
definition contact region settings - listed and defined,
510
deformation , 879
deformed shape - scaling in result context toolbar, 53
degrees - in main menu, 44
degrees of freedom and joint types, 545
delamination
fracture analysis, 474
deleting a graphical view, 108
density, 1711
depth picking, 87
design assessment analysis type, 149
details view
description and user interactions, 11
location in the Mechanical application window, 1
detonation point, 784
object reference, 1355
detonation point object reference, 1355
dimensions - geometry, 129
direct fe
nodal displacement, 822
nodal force, 822
nodal orientation, 822
nodal rotation, 822
Direct FE
EM Transducer, 1355
Nodal Displacement, 1355
Nodal Force, 1355
Nodal Orientation, 1355
Nodal Pressure, 1355
Nodal Rotation, 1355
direct fe object reference, 1327
direct fe types - listed, 822
direct stress result in beam tool
description, 922
object reference, 1385
direct stress result object reference, 1385
direction
defaults, 104
defining, 848
1814
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E
ease of use contact features - listed, 530
edge direction, 848
edge graphics options
screenshot and description, 71
toolbar location in the Mechanical application window, 1
edge on edge contact for body interactions, 626
edge options - in result context toolbar, 53
elastic slip tolerance contact region setting, 515
elastic strain intensity result
description, 884
object reference, 1385
elastic strain intensity result object reference, 1385
elastic support
description, 813
object reference, 1355
elastic support object reference, 1355
electric analysis type, 152
electric loads, 703
electric potential result
description, 955
object reference, 1385
electric potential result object reference, 1385
electric results, 960
electric voltage result
object reference, 1385
electro-mechanical transducer
description, 831
electromagnetic boundary conditions - listed, 769
electromagnetic loads - listed, 703
electromagnetic periodic symmetry, 411
electromagnetic-thermal interaction, 302
electromagnetic-thermal load import, 303
element self contact for body interactions, 625
element through the thickness - troubleshooting,1420
elemental coordinate systems results, 992
em transducer
description, 831
emissivity - in radiation load, 753
enclosure - in radiation load, 753
energy accuracy tolerance analysis setting, 655
energy result, 936
environment
annotations, 114
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
object reference, 1329
environment filtering of GUI, 74
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1815
Index
Lagrangian reference frame, 1779
mass scaling, 1776
material properties, 1786
moment reaction result tracker, 1063
multiple material transport, 1786
operation of , 1772
plastic waves, 1777
point scoped result tracker, 1054, 1063
shell coupling, 1788
shock waves, 1778
solver controls, 1794
sub-cycling, 1788
theory, 1771
wave propagation, 1777
Explicit Material Library, 1705
explicit transient dynamic analysis, 1773
export
description, 41
external file, 317
options, 74
exported file saved to disk but microsoft office failed
to load - troubleshooting, 1417
exporting a saved graphical view list, 108
exporting load history, 848
extend selection
description, 87
graphics toolbar button, 50
extend to adjacent selection, 87
extend to connection selection, 87
extend to limits selection, 87
External Data systems
Master file, 310
external model
importing mesh-bsed geometry, 388
External Thickness, 1347
External Thickness reference, 1347
F
failed to load microsoft office application troubleshooting, 1422
failure, 1759
Grady Spall, 1768
Johnson cook, 1767
plastic strain, 1760
post, 1759
principal strain, 1761
principal stress, 1760
stochastic, 1762
tensile pressure, 1764
fatigue sensitivity result in fatigue tool
description, 966
object reference, 1330
1816
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
convections, 321
surface temperatures, 321
fluid-structure interaction - one-way using imported
loads, 319
fluid-structure interaction - one-way using system
coupling, 347
fluid-structure interaction - overall description, 317
fluid-structure interaction - two-way, 318
fluid-structure interface
face forces, 321
flux linkage result
description, 957
object reference, 1385
force
description, 716
force load
object reference, 1355
force object reference, 1355
formulation contact region setting, 515
formulation for body interactions, 623
foundation stiffness - in elastic support , 813
fracture
object reference, 1335
fracture analysis, 361
computation of parameters, 1137
multi-point constraint contact, 363
solving, 1137
workflows, 361
fracture analysis results object reference, 1385
fracture object reference, 1335
fracture results, 912
fracture tool, 912
frequency response, 898
frequency response result
object reference, 1385
frequency response result object reference, 1385
frequency simulations
options, 74
friction coefficient contact region setting , 515
friction coefficient for body interaction object, 627
frictional body interaction type, 627
frictional stress result in contact tool
description, 916
object reference, 1318
frictional stress result object reference , 1318
frictional type contact region setting, 515
frictionless body interaction type, 627
frictionless support
description, 803
object reference, 1355
frictionless support object reference, 1355
frictionless type contact region setting, 515
G
gap result in contact tool
description, 895
object reference, 1318
gap result object reference, 1318
gap sizing
object reference, 1361
gap sizing object reference, 1361
gap tool
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
object reference, 1361
gap tool object reference , 1361
gasket bodies, 481
gasket mesh control, 481
object reference, 1336
gasket mesh control object reference, 1336
gasket results, 482, 948
gaskets
using, 480
general joints, 545
generalized plane strain
behavior in 2D analyses, 402
description, 734
reactions, 937
using, 404
generate connections on update global setting, 497
generate objects from template object, 1287
generating reports
publishing, 23
tables, 22
geometric axis direction, 848
geometric modification contact region settings - listed
and defined, 525
geometry, 53
attach - overall analysis step, 126
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
object reference, 1336
options, 74
tab, 20
updating, 126
window, 20
geometry object reference, 1336
geometry view
saving, 108
global connection settings - listed and defined , 497
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1817
Index
global coordinate system
description, 53
object reference, 1339
global coordinate system object reference, 1339
glossary, 1435
go to options in tree outline, 6
go to selected items - worksheet, 38
go to selected items in tree - worksheet, 38
Graph window, 39
graphical views
applying, 108
copying to MAPDL, 109
creating, 107
deleting, 108
exporting list, 108
importing list, 109
managing, 107
renaming, 108
replacing saved, 108
graphics
blips, 87
control, 86
options, 74
options in result context toolbar, 53
painting, 87
picking, 87
tips, 86
toolbar - commands and descriptions, 50
toolbar location in the Mechanical application window, 1
graphics - topic listing, 86
graphics option
edge coloring, 71
screenshot and description, 69
show mesh, 69
graphics options
toolbar location in the Mechanical application window, 1
group by global connection setting, 497
H
harmonic analysis, 179
harmonic analysis linked to modal, 189
harmonic analysis linked to structural, 188
heat flow
description, 757
heat flow load
object reference, 1355
heat flow object reference, 1355
heat flux
description, 759
heat flux load
1818
I
Icepak
Mechanical data transfer, 322
transient, 323
identifying contact regions - procedure, 533
illogical reaction results - troubleshooting, 1422
image from file, 1340
image object reference, 1340
impedance boundary
description, 800
implicit transient dynamic analysis, 1773
import
CDB mesh file, 388
external file, 310
external thickness, 310
finite element mesh, 388
Import thickness, 382
imported body force density load, 838
imported body temperature load, 839
imported boundary conditions, 834
imported convection coefficient load, 840
imported displacement load, 840
imported force, 841
imported heat flux load, 841
imported heat generation load, 841
imported initial stain load, 842
imported initial stress load, 843
Imported Layered Section, 1340
Imported Layered Section reference, 1340
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
imported load
electromagnetic-thermal, 303
Imported Loads, 1342
Imported loads reference, 1342
imported pressure load, 845
imported remote loads, 1343
imported surface force density, 846
imported temperature load, 846
Imported Thickness, 1345
Imported Thickness (Group), 1347
Imported Thickness reference, 1345, 1347
imported velocity load, 847
importing
coordinate systems, 488
importing a graphical view list, 109
importing load history, 848
in process solutions, 1025
inductance result
description, 956
object reference, 1385
inertia relief analysis setting, 639
inertia tensor is too large - troubleshooting, 1422
inertial loads - listed, 694
infinite life - fatigue simulations, 963
inflation
object reference, 1361
inflation object reference, 1361
initial condition
object reference, 1348
initial condition object reference, 1348
initial contact, 916
initial information object in contact tool
description, 916
initial information result in contact tool
colors in table, 916
description, 916
object reference, 1318
initial information result object reference, 1318
initial temperature
object reference, 1349
initial temperature object reference, 1349
initial time increment problems - troubleshooting ,1428
inside pinball search direction contact region setting,
515
insufficient disk space - troubleshooting, 1419
integration scheme, 373
interaction loads - listed, 703
interface - listing of components, 1
interface behavior based on license levels, 73
interface delamination
application, 475
object reference, 1350
J
Johnson cook strength, 1721
Johnson-holmquist strength, 1730
joint
create manually, 564
description, 742
object reference, 1353
properties, 553
joint checker, 594
joint condition
object reference, 1355
joint condition object reference, 1355
joint legend, 594
joint object reference, 1353
joint probe problems - troubleshooting, 1429
joint probes
results, 944
joints
characteristics, 542
detecting overconstrained conditions, 597
ease of use features, 594
example, 566, 576
generate automatically, 589
point on curve, 1504
topics, 542
tutorial, 1495
types, 545
joule heat result
object reference, 1385
K
keyboard support, 50
known temperature load, 747
L
labeling objects, 1292
large deflections analysis setting, 639
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1819
Index
large deformation effects are active - troubleshooting
, 1423
large deformation problems - troubleshooting, 1428
layered section
object reference, 1354
layered section object reference, 1354
layered sections, 383
legend customization, 53
Library
Explicit Material, 1705
license manager server problems - troubleshooting ,
1429
licensed product issues - troubleshooting, 1427
life - fatigue user life units, 963
life result in fatigue tool
description, 966
object reference, 1330
life result object reference, 1330
lighting controls, 121
limiting time step velocity for body interactions, 626
line bodies, 371
general description, 387
line pressure
description, 737
line pressure load
object reference, 1355
line pressure object reference, 1355
line search analysis setting, 655
linear buckling analysis type, 192
linear dynamic analysis types, 179
Linear Elastic, 1711
linear perturbation, 474
Linearized Equivalent Stress, 1385
Linearized Maximum Principal Stress, 1385
Linearized Maximum Shear Stress, 1385
Linearized Middle Principal Stress, 1385
Linearized Minimum Principal Stress, 1385
Linearized Normal Stress, 1385
Linearized Shear Stress, 1385
Linearized stress, 890
linearized stress error - troubleshooting, 1416
Linearized Stress Intensity, 1385
Linearized stresses, 1385
load transfer error - troubleshooting, 1417
load transfer mesh mapping, 1595
load types - listed, 694
loading contact region settings - procedure, 534
loading types - fatigue simulations, 963
loads and supports object reference, 1355
local coordinate system
applying, 488
creating, 53
1820
M
macros - usage and accessing, 86
magnetic error result, 958
object reference, 1385
magnetic error result object reference, 1385
magnetic field intensity result
directional, 956
total, 956
magnetic flux boundary condition, 769
magnetic flux density result
directional, 955
total, 955
magnetic flux parallel load
description, 769
object reference, 1355
magnetic flux parallel object reference, 1355
magnetostatic analysis type, 212
magnetostatic results, 955
magnifier window - toggle graphics toolbar button, 50
main menu
commands and descriptions, 44
location in the Mechanical application window, 1
manage view settings, 107
manual contact, 529
manually insert connection objects, 501
mapped face meshing
object reference, 1361
status symbol, 4
mapped face meshing object reference, 1361
mapping -CFD results, 322
Mapping Control
Distance Based Average weighting, 1595
Manual enables modification of Advance Features,
1595
Program Controlled gives best accuracy, 1595
Shape Function weighting, 1595
Triangulation weighting, 1595
Mapping Validation objects, 1612
mass moment of inertia, 468
match control
object reference, 1361
status symbol, 4
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1821
Index
minimum principal elastic strain result object reference,
1385
minimum principal stress result object reference, 1385
minimum principal stress/elastic strain result
description, 883
object reference, 1385
miscellaneous options, 74
MO granular strength, 1740
modal
object reference, 1365
modal analysis
troubleshooting, 1432
modal analysis type, 196
modal object reference, 1365
model
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
object reference, 1366
Model
Material failure, 1704
Material strength, 1704
model object reference, 1366
Mohr-Coulomb stress safety tool result
description, 908
moment
description, 731
moment load
object reference, 1355
moment object reference, 1355
moment of inertia, 468
mooney-rivlin model, 1714
2parameter, 1714
3parameter, 1715
5parameter, 1715
9parameter, 1715
motion load
description, 779
solving with inertia relief, 779
move and copy connection objects, 501
moving windows, 2
mpc equations were not built for one or more contact
regions - troubleshooting , 1423
MPC formulation contact region setting, 515
multi-point constraint contact for fracture, 363
multibody parts, 372
multilinear kinematic hardening, 1720
multiple versions of CAD systems, 1414
N
named selection
exporting, 449
named selections
1822
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
O
object generator, 1287
objects
generating multiple from template object, 1287
tagging, 1292
objects reference
alphabetical listing, 1295
description of page content, 1295
offsets
surface bodies, 378
ogden, 1717
ok status symbol, 4
options - analysis settings, 648
options - listed and described, 74
order of precedence in resolving thermal boundary
condition conflicts, 1136
orthotropic elasticity, 1712
other selection scoping in periodic symmetry region,
426
out of process solutions, 1025
output controls - analysis settings, 658
overconstrained conditions
joints, 597
P
p-alpha EOS, 1756
painting graphics, 87
pan - graphics toolbar button, 50
parameters
CAD, 1153
defined in solution commands objects, 1145
overall description, 1151
parameterizing a variable, 19
restrictions, 1151
specifying, 1151
part
description, 371
object reference, 1371
part object reference, 1371
partial solution returned - troubleshooting, 1417
path
object reference, 1372
path - construction geometry, 453
path object reference, 1372
path results, 996
PDEF command, 979
peak result, 874
penetration result in contact tool
description, 895
object reference, 1318
penetration result object reference, 1318
penetration tolerance contact region setting, 515
perfectly insulated load
description, 757
object reference, 1355
perfectly insulated object reference, 1355
periodic high scoping in periodic symmetry region,426
periodic low scoping in periodic symmetry region, 426
periodic region
object reference, 1373
using, 426
periodic region object reference, 1373
periodic symmetry type, 411
periodicity - angular, 411
phase angle
in current for solid source conductor, 774
in current for stranded source conductor body, 777
in voltage for solid source conductor, 773
phase response, 898
phase response result
object reference, 1385
phase response result object reference, 1385
picking - depth, 87
picking graphics, 87
pinball factor for body interactions, 626
pinball radius contact region setting, 515
pinball region contact region setting, 515
pinch
object reference, 1361
pinch controls
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1823
Index
post, 598
pinch object reference, 1361
pipe idealization
description, 819
pipe idealization condition
object reference, 1355
pipe idealization object reference, 1355
pipe pressure
description, 708
pipe pressure object reference, 1355
pipe temperature
description, 710
pipe temperature object reference, 1355
planar face direction, 848
planar joints, 545
plane strain behavior - 2D simulation, 402
plane stress behavior - 2D simulation, 402
plastic strain - equivalent, 887
plasticity, 1719
PLNSOL command, 979
plots - Mechanical APDL application, 1145
point mass
description, 468
object reference, 1375
point mass object reference, 1375
point scoped result tracker, 1054
pointer modes, 87
Polyflow to Mechanical
data transfer, 325
polynomial, 1716
polynomial EOS, 1743
porous collapse damage, 1737
porous materials, 1752
post pinch controls, 598
postprocessing commands objects, 1145
postprocessing features, 1048
pre stress
object reference, 1377
pre-meshed crack
object reference, 1376
pre-meshed crack object reference, 1376
pre-stress object reference, 1377
preprocessing commands objects, 1145
pressure
description, 705
pressure load
at CFD boundary, 321
object reference, 1355
pressure object reference, 1355
pressure result in contact tool
description, 895
object reference, 1318
1824
Q
quick rainflow counting - fatigue simulations , 963
R
rad/s - in main menu, 44
radians - in main menu, 44
radiation
description, 753
radiation load
object reference, 1355
radiation object reference, 1355
radiosity controls, 647
rainflow counting - fatigue simulations, 963
rainflow matrix result in fatigue tool
description, 966
object reference, 1330
rainflow matrix result object reference, 1330
random colors
contact bodies, 530
named selections, 442
random vibration analyses
considerations for acceleration, 879
considerations for deformation, 879
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1825
Index
for Mapping Validation, 1612
revolute joints, 545
RHT concrete strength, 1734
rigid body motion - troubleshooting , 1424
Rigid Dynamics Analysis
to static structural analysis, 330
rigid dynamics analysis type, 216
commands, 226
Rigid Dynamics Solver
using commands, 1149
rigid materials, 1770
Rigid Transformation
applies a transformation to source points, 1597
rotate - graphics toolbar button, 50
rotation cursor, 113
rotation cursors, 86
rotational order of coordinate systems results, 993
rotational velocity
description, 700
rotational velocity load
object reference, 1355
rotational velocity object reference, 1355
rotordynamics analysis, 360
rotordynamics controls - analysis settings, 666
rough type contact region setting, 510
rpm - in main menu, 44
rs base excitation
description, 741
RS base excitation load
object reference, 1355
RS base excitation object reference, 1355
S
safety factor
for maximum equivalent stress safety tool result,905
for maximum shear stress safety tool result, 907
for maximum tensile stress safety tool result, 910
for Mohr-Coulomb stress safety tool result, 908
safety factor result
[fatigue] description, 966
[fatigue] object reference, 1330
[stress] description, 904
[stress] object reference, 1395
safety factor result object reference, 1395
safety margin
for maximum equivalent stress safety tool result,905
for maximum shear stress safety tool result, 907
for maximum tensile stress safety tool result, 910
for Mohr-Coulomb stress safety tool result, 908
object reference, 1395
safety margin result object reference, 1395
saving contact region settings - procedure , 534
1826
saving results
as a database file, 1132
as a simulation database file, 1132
scale factor value, 1336
scaling
deformed shape - result context toolbar, 53
relative - in result context toolbar, 53
scenarios - solving, 1040
scope
conflicts, 1136
graphics, 114
results, 861
scope contact region settings - listed and defined, 507
search across global connection setting, 497
search for connection duplicate pairs, 501
section plane - drawing/editing in result context toolbar,
53
section planes
creating, 109
select mode - body, 50
select mode - edge, 50
select mode - face, 50
select mode - graphics toolbar button, 50
select mode - vertex, 50
select type - geometry, 50
select type - graphics toolbar button, 50
select type - node, 50
selecting
mesh nodes on result contour, 99
selecting direction, 104
selecting elements on the mesh, 101
selecting nodes on the mesh, 96
selection
box select, 87
extend selection, 87
extend to adjacent, 87
extend to connection, 87
extend to limits, 87
filters, 87
single select, 87
selection information window
activating, 25
export, 36
overview, 25
reselect, 36
selection modes and reported information, 26
sort, 36
toolbar, 33
setting contact conditions manually - guidelines and
procedure, 529
setting variables, 85
sharp angle tool
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1827
Index
specifying constant load expressions, 848
specifying constant load values, 848
specifying load values, 848
specifying surface body layered sections, 383
specifying surface body thickness, 380
specifying tabular loads, 848
spot weld
object reference, 1391
using, 616
spot weld object reference, 1391
spot welds
assumptions and restrictions, 616
spring
object reference, 1300, 1393
spring behavior
rigid dynamics analysis settings, 608
spring object reference, 1300, 1393
springs
applying springs, 607
behavior property, 611
incompatibility, 614
nonlinear spring stiffness, 610
pinball region property, 611
preload, 610
results, 947
scoping, 611
using, 606
stabilization analysis setting, 655
stabilization energy result
description, 889
standard earth gravity
description, 698
standard earth gravity load
object reference, 1355
standard earth gravity object reference, 1355
standard toolbar
commands and descriptions, 49
location in the Mechanical application window, 1
startup options, 74
State
Equation of, 1704
static structural analysis type, 272
status bar - location and description in the Mechanical
application window, 1
status of variables, 85
status result in contact tool
description, 895
object reference, 1318
status result object reference, 1318
status symbols , 4
steady-state thermal analysis type, 277
steinberg guinan strength, 1724
1828
steps
details of equilibrium iterations, 667
details of steps, 667
details of substeps, 667
guidelines for integration step size, 669
overall topics, 666
step controls, 635
using multiple steps, 134
stiffness
assigning to parts - analysis step, 129
strain energy result
description, 890
object reference, 1385
strain energy result object reference, 1385
strain hardening, 1736
strain rate effects, 1738
strain-life fatigue, 961
stranded source conductor body, 775
strength factor - fatigue simulations, 963
stress intensity result
description, 884
object reference, 1385
stress intensity result object reference, 1385
stress ratio
for maximum equivalent stress safety tool result,905
for maximum shear stress safety tool result, 907
for maximum tensile stress safety tool result, 910
for Mohr-Coulomb stress safety tool result, 908
object reference, 1395
stress ratio result object reference, 1395
stress tool result object reference, 1385, 1395
stress tools
how to add, 904
listed, 904
object reference, 1395
stress-life fatigue, 961
stress/strain results - overall description, 882
structural error result
description, 885
object reference, 1385
structural error result object reference, 1385
structural loads - listed, 703
structural results, 877
submodeling, 331
introduction, 331
structural, 334
thermal, 339
understanding, 332
support loads - listed, 788
supported function loads, 848
supported tabular loads, 848
supports
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
T
tabs, 3
location in the Mechanical application window, 1
tabular data window, 39
tagging objects, 1292
tags
applying to objects, 1292
creating, 1292
deleting, 1293
filtering, 9
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1829
Index
tolerance for body interactions, 625
tolerance slider global connection setting, 497
tolerance type global connection setting, 497
tolerance value global connection setting, 497
toolbars
context - overall description and listing, 53
edge graphics options, 71
graphics - commands and descriptions, 50
graphics option, 69
main menu - commands and descriptions, 44
named selection, 69
overall description, 48
standard - commands and descriptions, 49
tree filter - screenshot and description, 73
unit conversion, 69
topics - special analysis, 301
torsional moment result
object reference, 1385
total acceleration result
description, 879
object reference, 1385
total acceleration result object reference, 1385
total current density result
object reference, 1385
total deformation result
description, 879
object reference, 1385
total deformation result object reference , 1385
total electric field intensity result
object reference, 1385
total field intensity result
object reference, 1385
total field intensity result object reference , 1385
total flux density result
object reference, 1385
total flux density result object reference, 1385
total force electromagnetic result
description, 956
object reference, 1385
total force result object reference, 1385
total heat flux result
description, 952
object reference, 1385
total heat flux result object reference, 1385
total magnetic field intensity result
description, 956
total magnetic flux density result
description, 955
total strain - equivalent, 888
total velocity result
description, 879
object reference, 1385
1830
U
u. s. customary units - in main menu, 44
unaveraged contour results , 866
underconstrained parts - troubleshooting, 1424
underdefined status symbol, 4
unit conversion toolbar, 69
location in the Mechanical application window, 1
unit system behavior, 125
units - fatigue user life, 963
units - solving, 1071
universal joints, 545
unsuppress all bodies, 375
unsuppress body, 375
unsuppress objets, 8
update status symbol, 4
update stiffness contact region setting, 515
updating geometry , 126
use range global connection setting, 497
user defined result
description, 970
object reference, 1385
user interactions - details view, 11
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
V
validation
object reference, 1402
validation object reference, 1402
variable
parameterizing, 19
setting, 85
status, 85
varying displacements, 847
varying loads, 847
vector heat flux result plots, 952
vector plot result display, 1010
vector principal elastic strain result object reference,
1385
vector principal stress result object reference, 1385
vector principal stress/elastic strain result
description, 885
object reference, 1385
velocity
object reference, 1404
velocity object reference, 1404
velocity support
description, 798
view results during solve, 1048
viewing selected columns for contact - worksheet, 38
viewports
description, 106
graphics toolbar button, 50
virtual body
object reference, 1405
virtual body group
object reference, 1407
virtual body group object reference, 1407
virtual body object reference, 1405
virtual cell
object reference, 1407
virtual cell object reference, 1407
virtual hard vertex
object reference, 1408
virtual hard vertex object reference, 1408
virtual split edge
object reference, 1409
virtual split edge object reference, 1409
virtual split face
object reference, 1410
virtual split face object reference, 1410
virtual topology
context toolbar - screenshot and description, 53
in Mechanical, 133
object reference, 1410
W
weak springs analysis setting, 639
window
geometry, 20
overall layout and component description, 1
windows manager, 2
wireframe - graphics toolbar button, 50
wizards
description and screen location, 122
options, 74
simulation wizard - features and types, 123
workbench
conflicts with the Mechanical APDL application when
using commands objects, 1145
workflows
fracture analysis, 361
working with charts and graphics, 106
worksheet
connections, 494
go to selected items, 38
go to selected items in tree, 38
information display, 38
viewing selected columns for contact, 38
writing and reading files, 1133
Y
yeoh, 1716
Z
zerilli armstrong, 1725
zoom - graphics toolbar button, 50
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1831
1832
Release 15.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.