EXPLICIT DYNAMICS

with
ANSYS/LS-DYNA
What is ANSYS/LS-DYNA?

• General purpose explicit dynamic finite element program

• Used to solve highly nonlinear transient dynamic problems
– Efficient for a wide range of contact types
– Advanced material modeling capabilities
– Robust for very large deformation analyses
• Seamless interface of the ANSYS and LS-DYNA programs
– Full integration of the LS-DYNA solver into ANSYS
– All pre and post-processing performed using standard ANSYS conventions
– GUI has look and feel of general ANSYS
– Supports capability of implicit - explicit sequential solutions
Benefits of ANSYS/LS-DYNA
Excellent combination of explicit and implicit solution technology
• ANSYS Pre and Post Processing:
– All explicit dynamic specific commands begin with EDxx prefix
– Customized ANSYS GUI for efficient execution of explicit problems
– Supports all ANSYS Solid Modeling and Boolean Operations
– Allows direct geometry import from IGES, Pro/E, ACIS, Parasolid, etc.
– Supports all ANSYS automatic meshing features
– APDL and design optimization can be used
– Supports all general postprocessing features and animation macros
– Specialized time-history postprocessing
• LS-DYNA Solver
– Fastest explicit solver in marketplace
– More features than any other explicit code
– Full version of LS-DYNA (with airbags, seatbelts, explosives, etc.)
– Full versions of LS-TAURUS and LS-POST postprocessors
 Applications of ANSYS/LS-DYNA
• Crash worthiness Analysis
– ANSYS/LS-DYNA:
• Full Car Crash
• Car Component Analyses
• Crash in ALL Vehicle Industries
– Car
– Truck
– Bus
– Train
– Ship
– Aircraft
Applications of ANSYS/LS-DYNA

• Manufacturing Process Simulation

• Deep drawing
• Hydro forming
• Superplastic forming
• Rolling
• Extrusion
• Stamping
• Machining
• Drilling
• Almost all forming processes have been simulated
with LSDYNA
 Applications of ANSYS/LS-DYNA
• Contact/Impact
– Drop test
– Pendulum impact test
– Jet engine fan containment
• A wide range of contact types are possible

• Pipe whip (ANSYS News 3/93):

• Impact of a pipe with a rotational velocity of 50 rad/sec
• CPU time (SGI Octane R12000) < 20 seconds
Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Methods
STATIC ‘QUASI’ STATIC DYNAMIC

PUNCH

BLANK

DIE

Structural Problems Metal Forming Impact Problems

 F=0  F 0  F = ma

IMPLICIT METHOD
EXPLICIT METHOD
Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Methods
Implicit Time Integration:

• Inertia effects ([C] and [M]) are typically not included

• Average acceleration - displacements evaluated at time t+Dt:

𝒖t+Dt = 𝑲 −𝟏 𝑭𝒂t+Dt

Linear Problems:
– Unconditionally stable when [K] is linear
– Large time steps can be taken
Nonlinear problems:
– Solution obtained using a series of linear approximations (Newton-Raphson)
– Requires inversion of nonlinear stiffness matrix [K]
– Small iterative time steps are required to achieve convergence
– Convergence is not guaranteed for highly nonlinear problems
Explicit Time Integration

• Central difference method used - accelerations evaluated at time t:

where {𝑭𝒆𝒙𝒕
t } is the applied external and body force vector,
{𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒕
t } is the internal force vector which is given by:

𝒂t = 𝑴 −𝟏 𝑭𝒆𝒙𝒕
t − 𝑭 𝒊𝒏𝒕
t

𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒕 = ෍ න 𝑩𝑻 𝝈𝒏 𝒅𝛀 + 𝑭𝒉𝒈 + 𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕

𝛀

• 𝑭𝒉𝒈 is the hourglass resistance force and 𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕 is the contact force.
• The velocities and displacements are then evaluated:
where Dtt+Dt/2=0.5(Dtt+ Dtt+ Dt) and Dtt- Dt/2=0.5(Dtt- Dtt+ Dt)
Explicit Time Integration

The geometry is updated by adding the displacement increments to the

initial geometry {𝒙0}:

{𝒙t+Dt }={𝒙0 }+ 𝒖t+Dt

• Nonlinear problems:
– Lumped mass matrix required for simple inversion
– Equations become uncoupled and can be solved for directly (explicitly)
– No inversion of stiffness matrix is required. All nonlinearities (including contact) are
included in the internal force vector.
– Major computational expense is in calculating the internal forces.
– No convergence checks are needed
– Very small time steps are required to maintain stability limit
Stability Limit
Implicit Time Integration

• For linear problems, the time step can be arbitrarily large (always stable)
• For nonlinear problems, time step size may become small due to convergence
difficulties

Explicit Time Integration

• Only stable if time step size is smaller than critical time step size
𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡
2
Δ𝑡 ≤ Δ𝑡 =
𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥

• Where 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 = largest natural circular frequency

• Due to this very small time step size, explicit is useful only for very short transients
Critical Time Step Size

• Critical time step size of a rod

– Natural frequency:
𝑐 𝐸
𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 2 with 𝑐=
𝑙 𝜌

• Critical time step:

𝑙
Δ𝑡 =
𝑐
– Courant-Friedrichs-Levy-criterion
– Δt is the time needed of the wave to propagate through the rod of length l

Note: The critical time step size for explicit time integration depends on element length and material properties
(sonic speed).
 ANSYS/LS-DYNA Time Step Size
• ANSYS/LS-DYNA checks all elements when calculating the
required time step. For stability reasons a scale factor of 0.9
(default) is used to decrease the time step: Dt  0.9 l
c
• The characteristic length l and the wave propagation velocity c
are dependent on element type:

E
Beam elements: l = length of the element c=
ρ

Shellelements:

l= A , for triangular shells: l= 2A

max(L1,L2 ,L3,L4 ) max(L1,L2 ,L3 )
L3
E L4
c= A
ρ(1-ν 2 ) L2
L1
File Organization
ANSYS /PREP7 INT
preprocessing
writes jobname.K
(standard LS-DYNA input)
ANSYS /SOLU or LS-DYNA
solver task
reads jobname.K

ANSYS Results LS-TAURUS & LS-POST

LS-TAURUS, LS-POST, ASCII
jobname.rst binary d3plot
GLSTAT, MATSUM, …
Binary Result File Binary Result Files
ASCII Result Files
EDRST,FREQ similar to jobname.rst
EDOUT,File
LS-TAURUS & LS-
ANSYS/POST1
ANSYS/POST26 POST phs1
ANSYS Results EDREAD, ...
jobname.his LS-TAURUS and LS-POST
Time History Data LS-TAURUS
binary d3thdt
EDHIST,Comp and EDHTIME,FREQ LS-POST phs3
Binary Result Files
similar to jobname.his
ANSYS/POST26
LS-TAURUS & LS-
POST phs2
(continued)
File Organization
Description of ANSYS Files Generated During an ANSYS/LS-DYNA run:
Jobname.k
• LS-DYNA input stream that is automatically generated upon execution of the ANSYS
SOLVE command.
• Contains all geometry, load, and material data that exists in the ANSYS database
• The file is 100% compatible with LS-DYNA version 950e
• File can also be manually generated using the EDWRITE command:
Solution: Write Jobname.k

Jobname.rst
• Explicit dynamics results file that is nearly
identical to standard ANSYS .rst
• Primarily used to review results in the
general ANSYS postprocessor (POST1)
• Contains results at a relatively small
number of time steps (e.g., 10 - 1000)
(continued)
File Organization
Description of ANSYS Files Generated During an ANSYS/LS-DYNA run:
Jobname.his
• Explicit dynamics time history results files used in POST26
• Contains results for a subset of nodes and/or elements of the model
• Typically will contain results at significantly more time steps than
Jobname.rst
TimehistoryASCIIfiles
• Specialized files containing additional information about the explicit analysis
• User must specify which files are written before solution
• ASCII files include:
GLSTAT: Global energies
MATSUM: Material energies
SPCFORC: Nodal constraint reaction forces
RCFORC: Resultant contact interface forces
RBDOUT: Rigid body data
NODOUT: Nodal data
ELOUT: Element data
etc....
(continued)
File Organization
• Since the LS-TAURUS and LS-POST postprocessors automatically
come with ANSYS/LS-DYNA, the following two DYNA results files
are easily generated during an explicit dynamic analysis:
• D3PLOT
– LS-TAURUS and LS-POST binary results file
– Similar to ANSYS Jobname.rst
• D3DHDT
– LS-TAURUS and LS-POST time-history results file
– Similar to ANSYS Jobname.his