Getting Started ANSA

Getting Started
About this document
This Quick Start Guide aims to provide an overview of ANSA interface and basic
operations. A number of basic functions are described, oriented to specific
tasks, to help you get started.
Who is this guide for?
This guide is ideal for the user that encounters ANSA for the first time. For the
engineer who is familiar with CAE terminology, but is not familiar with ANSA
interface. If you want to find your way around ANSA interface, but don't know
quite where to start, this guide will familiarize you with some of the basic
window panels of ANSA interface.
Getting Started with ANSA 2

Overview
Graphical User Interface Overview 4
Graphical User Interface Customization 5
View operations using the mouse 7
View operations using the keyboard 11
Selecting items with the mouse 13
Feature Selection toolbar 14
Changing between discipline modules 19
Acquiring help 23
Using the search engine to access any function 25
Using the database browser to access any entity 27
Selection lists 29
Opening an ANSA database/Opening CAD format files directly in ANSA 32
Geometric Entities 33
Main terms of MESH module 36
Entities display in different menus 38
Geometry Cleanup 39
Extracting middle surface 42
Meshing 46
Quality Checking 52
Improving Mesh 55
Volume Meshing 57
Surface to Volume Mesh extraction (Structured mesh) 59
Improving Volume Mesh 60
Connections (welds) creation/definition - Assembly 61
Deck preparation 66
Output for analysis 67

Graphical User Interface Overview
Containers Tools Views Utilities Search Engine
Assembly
Database Browser
and Selection Lists
Discipline Modules
Modules Buttons
Guiding messages
Feature Selection Focus Drawing Styles

Extra options
may become
active here for
each function
ANSA Info Window Visibility Faces Draw Box Draw Auxiliaries

Graphical User Interface Customization
Via right-click on any toolbar, the user has access to

numerous options that affect the toolbar visibility
and appearance.
By selecting from these options, one can choose to visualize only icons,
Icons and labels,
Or just labels…
The same menu, though, can be also accessed through

the Settings Window, in the categories Buttons Manager.

Graphical User Interface Customization
Through the same section,

Window > Settings > Buttons Manager,
all settings regarding buttons can also be defined and arranged.
Configurable
color
Current color
Furthermore, through Left-click to access

color editor window
Window > Settings > GUI Settings > Colors,
the colors of the interface can be
customized.

View operations using the mouse
• Rotating • Panning
• Zooming

Making right-click on any toolbar, the option “Views” can be activated that makes visible
this toolbar. It mainly supports the “F” view buttons and a new one called “Zoom Area”.
These will aid in the use of devices with no keyboard.

Zoom by a window is now supported under the “Rectangle Zoom” option. The area
included in the selection-box will be fitted to the screen.

The Left mouse button is used to:
• Activate menu buttons.
• Select entities.
The Middle mouse button/mouse Wheel is used to:
• Confirm selections.
• Deactivate a function.
• Zoom in/out.
• The Middle mouse button is also used, in conjunction with the Shift
key, to temporarily expand a window. Any window with a scrollbar
can be expanded temporarily, in order to increase the viewable area
of the window. Hold the Shift key, middle click anywhere inside the
window and drag towards the required expansion direction.
• The Middle mouse button is also used to roll-up a window without
closing it. Middle click anywhere on the title bar of a window and
the window will roll-up, leaving only its titlebar visible.
The Right mouse button is used to:
• Perform the opposite action of the Left mouse button (i.e.
select/deselect, insert/delete, etc.).
• Reapply the last function to other entities as well.
• Deactivate a function.
View operations using the keyboard
• Standard views
• Step rotations

View operations using the keyboard
• Select ALL visible entities on the screen
• Deselect ALL visible entities on the screen
• Panning

Selecting items with the mouse
• Selecting single items
• Box selection

Feature Selection toolbar
Feature Selection toolbar offers multiple ways to select items and entities from ANSA GL
area, as displayed in the following table:
Front Only selection
Polygonal selection

Selecting 2D & 3D entities
Feature Area selection
Resulting
Selection
PID Region selection
Macro Area selection

Selecting 2D & 3D entities
Poly Area selection
Poly Line selection

Selecting 1D entities
Feature Line selection for edges
PID neighbors selection for line elements

Selecting nodes
Feature Line selection for nodes

– Feature Line option
Feature Line selection for nodes

– Loop option
Feature Area selection for nodes

Changing between discipline modules
Direct interoperability between the various disciplines is a distinct characteristic of ANSA.
Most FE entities are transferred and converted automatically when switching between
modules.

TOPO Menu
In this menu the user can create, modify and clean up geometry.
Hot Points: These functions are used to create or delete Hot
Points or Weld Spots.
CONS: Functions that are applied on CONS (Curves On

Surfaces).
Faces: Functions to create or modify Faces.
Surfaces: Functions that create Faces and modify Surfaces.
Curves: Functions to create 3D Curves.
Points: Functions to create 3D Points.
Auxiliaries: Functions to create Working Planes in order to draw

in 2D mode.
MESH Menu
In this menu the user can create, modify and fix surface mesh.
Hot points: Functions to insert or remove Hot Points or
Weld Spots.
Perimeters: Functions to assign Perimeter nodes.
Macros: Operations to modify Macro Areas, manually or

automatically, in order to improve their shape for
better surface meshing.
Grids: Manual operations on grids (move and paste).
Mesh Generation: Surface meshing algorithms.
Shell Mesh: Quality improvement functions (Reshape, Recons,

Smooth and Fix Qual) and other operations on
surface Mesh.
Elements: Manual operations on elements and Surface
Wrapping tool.
VOLUME MESH Menu
Volumes: Volume definition.
Unstructured Mesh: Mesh Generation which requires

the definition of a closed Volume
entity.
Structured Mesh: Mesh Generation where the volume
is defined automatically when the
elements are created.
Improve: Quality check and improvement functions

for ANSA generated and FE-Model solid
elements.
Tools: Extra tools to create volume mesh.

Acquiring help
• It is very easy and user-friendly to acquire help in ANSA. Help is available for every
ANSA function through the "ANSA online help". In order to obtain information about
a particular ANSA function, the user can click on a function button while holding the
Ctrl key. The "Help Window" will then display a detailed 'sequence of operations'
description for that particular function.
• Another way to access the "ANSA online help" is through Help>[Help Window].
• Note that the "Help Window" is independent of the main ANSA window and can
remain open while the user works and executes functions.

Acquiring help
Another way to access the online help is to press CTRL+ Left Click on the button of the
function you need more information about.
CTRL +

Using the search engine to access any function
• The Search Engine has similar functionality with what is already familiar from the
popular web search engines. Thus, the Search Engine allows to search and invoke
ANSA functions, model data and even loaded script functions. It searches and
gives results in real-time as the user types. The exact name of the ANSA function is
not required, descriptive words can also be used instead. The "Search Engine" tool
'adapts' and 'learns' given usage time. Hence, the most commonly-used functions
will appear at the top of the results, by just typing two or three characters.

Using the search engine to access any function
• Note that the Search Engine is always focused, which means that the user can start
typing at any point, without having to place the mouse cursor over the search field.
• By clicking on the small arrow button on the right side of the edit field, a list with the
most recent functions that were searched and executed, is unveiled. Thus,
commonly-used functions can also be accessed very quickly through this drop down
list.
• By clicking on the small icon on the right side of the edit field, the settings of the
Search Engine come up.

Using the Database browser to access any entity
The Database Browser is a utility, which allows

a direct overview of the model's entities, their
visibility control, management and
modification. In the Database Browser, all the
entities of a model are listed in an organized
manner, maintaining the solver grouping for all
deck entities. Visibility-control flags exist in
order to toggle the visibility of entities on and
off. The column named "Number" displays the
total number of entities of each category and
type. You can directly focus on entity
categories and types through the Show, Hide
and Show Only options of the right mouse-
button menu. Moreover, ANSA entities such as
GEOMETRY, ANSAPARTs, CONNECTIONs,
CROSS, etc., also appear in the Database
Browser.

Using the Database browser to access any entity
Creation of new entities from within the

Database browser:
Right-click anywhere on the empty
space of the Database browser to see
the menu of options. The most common
entities are listed. For any other entity,
just click on the last option named
"Other ...".

Selection lists
The Database Browser can also be used to visually
identify or navigate through model entities on a single
entity-basis through the Selection lists. To open the
Selection list for any of the items listed in the Database
Browser, double click on its entry or select the Open
option of the right mouse-button menu. As previously
mentioned, the Selection lists can be used to visually
identify entities on the drawing area, or the other way
around, to select entities from the drawing area in
order to identify them in the list.
Selecting items/entities from the Selection list window:

The selection of listed items is done using the left
mouse-button. Selected items are marked in black. Left
click and drag selects multiple sequential entries. If a
second item has to be selected, press Ctrl and use the
left mouse-button. Selecting one entry and then
pressing Shift and another entry simultaneously results
in the selection of all the in-between entries. The
number of selected entries appears at the bottom of
the Selection list window.

Selection lists
Activating the "Pick" button allows entities

to be picked from the drawing area. The
picked entities will then be marked as
selected items in the selection list.
Activating the "Pick" button also activates
the "Highlight" button.
Activating the "Highlight" button

allows for selected list items to be
highlighted on the drawing area. The
feature lines of the corresponding
entities will be highlighted on the
drawing area.

Selection lists
The previously mentioned Show,

Hide and Show Only operators are
available for all lists through the
right mouse-button options. The
chosen operation is applied only on
the selected entries of the list.

Opening an ANSA database / Opening CAD format files directly in ANSA

Geometric Entities
The CAD entities used in ANSA are described in this chapter. The Geometry flag controls
the visibility of all geometric entities:
3D- point: These are points in 3D space that are not
connected to the surface model. The visibility of 3D
Points is controlled by the Points flag.
3D- curve: These are curves in 3D space. 3D Curves are not

connected to the surfaces on which meshing will take place.
However they are very useful for the creation or modification
of existing geometry, as they can be used to create surface
models from wire-frame models or in general to correct or
modify surface geometry. They appear as magenta lines and
their visibility is controlled by the Curves flag.
Hot Points: These are the nodes that appear on CONS and 3D
Curves representing their end points. Hot Points are
symbolized as small crosses in magenta and their visibility is
controlled by the Hot Points flag.

Geometric Entities
Surface: These are surfaces in 3D space. A surface is only visible at

the stage of its creation. It is used to create Faces.
Face: They are surfaces in 3D space that always lay on a Surface

entity and they have specific boundaries called CONS (Curve On
Surface). The positive side of a Face is colored in gray and the
negative in yellow. Their visibility is controlled by the corresponding
flag button.
CONS are curves in 3D space, laying always on a Surface (Curve On

Surface). They appear in four different colors:
- red if they are single free boundaries of a Face or inner perimeter

of a Face (hole).
- yellow if they are the common boundaries of two Faces (double
CONS) .

Geometric Entities
- cyan if they are the common boundaries of three or more Faces

(triple or more CONS).
- orange when a double CONS has been joined in order to create a

common Macro Area in the MESH menu in the TOPO menu.
Their visibility is controlled as followed:
A more handy way to deal with Faces is to use the Crosshatches.

These appear as green dashed lines and represent the
isoparametrics of the Surface on which the Face lays. A Face can be
selected by its Crosshatch. In case that a Face is “frozen” (by the
Freeze function), its crosshatch is colored in blue.

Main terms of MESH module
Hot Points: Hot Points are fixed mesh nodes on the Macro Area
Perimeters. They correspond to the CONSs Hot Points of TOPO
menu. Hot Points may be used to improve the morphology of a
Macro Area and the quality of the shell mesh. They are
displayed as white dots and their visibility is controlled by the
Perimeters POINTs button.
Perimeter Grids: The Perimeter Grids are mesh nodes defined

automatically by the assigned to the Perimeter Segment,
element length, or they are defined by a user specified number.
These nodes are presented as magenta crosses. Their visibility
is dependent on the visibility of the Perimeters POINTs button.

Main terms of MESH module
Grids: These are the nodes that lie inside the Macro Areas and are
generated by ANSA during meshing. These nodes are presented as
red crosses and their visibility is controlled by the Grids button.
The Macro Area Perimeters or Perimeter Segments are the

boundary curves of the Macro Areas. A Perimeter Segment is the
discretized description of the underlying 3D CAD geometry and
has its limits defined by Hot Points.
Macro Areas or Macros initially correspond to the geometry's

Faces. The visibility of Macro Areas and of all the geometric
entities (curves, points etc.) is controlled by the Geom. button in
the visibility toolbar. The Macro Areas are visible only if the
Macros visibility button is active.

Entities display in different Menus
TOPO Menu MESH Menu

Shown as
Hot Point Hot Point
Red, yellow cyan Perimeter Segment

CONS
Face Macro Area (Macros)
Orange CONS Not shown
Not shown Grid
Not shown Nodes

Geometry cleanup
Manually heal geometry using a combination of the following functions.
A repeated pattern of combined actions may be required, in order to fix some persistent
topological errors.
Delete selected hot points. Release Hot Points that lie
Additional options become on the common
active in the "Options List" boundaries of two or more
window. faces. As a result, the
topological description of
Create/Define new faces. the faces will change.
Specify the type of surface for
the new face to be created:
EXISTING: already underlying Delete selected faces. The
surface "Feature Selection" toolbar
PLANAR: new planar surface. becomes active, in order to
Underlying surface will be assist with the selection of
automatically created the faces to be deleted.
FITTED: new surface that will
"fit" on the selected CONS
COONS: new multi-patch
surface, using the Coons
interpolation principal
Geometry cleanup
Note!!! To create a new face, a property has to be defined.
In order to define the property, a material from the Material Data Base has to be
chosen. Each solver contains its own materials.
Paste together two or Fill holes on faces. The holes can
more CONS segments that be of any shape. The "Fill Hole
lie close to each other. Parameters" window pops up, in
Select two or more chains order to assist with the selection
of CONS to paste together. of holes to be filled.
Cut existing faces. Two hot

points must exist at the Automatically create topological
positions where the face conditions between selected
needs to be cut. Additional adjacent CONS. Additional
options become active in the options become active in the
"Options List" window. "Options List" window.
Define a new multi-patch

surface, using the Coons Set a uniform orientation
interpolation principal. This is direction of visible or selected
an easy way to define a new faces.
surface by its boundary CONS
segments or boundary curves.
Geometry cleanup
Automatically locate problems on geometry.

The "Check Geometry Options" window pops up.
Results are reported as a list of errors after the check is complete.
An automatic "Fix" function is available on the right mouse click.

Extracting middle surface
There are five options available for the Mid. Surface function.
Skin Option
This function turns the solid description of a thin part into a thin shell description by
isolating the outer or inner skin of the solid description. It refers to stamped parts.
Solid descriptions with
calculated thickness greater
than this value, will not be
accepted for treatment.

Casting Option
This completely automatic function is used to create FE shell elements that represent
the middle skin of a solid description. It refers to casted parts.
Give the minimum thickness of
Choose the element type for the solid description.
the FE mesh.
Define the Target element

length

Check Middle Surface
This function applies checks about the compatibility of a solid geometry or FE
representation and the middle representation.
Percentage of strictness.
Check Type according to

the case is being checked.
Checks window opens with the

check results, categorized
according to the type of errors.

Calculate Thickness
This function calculates the thickness on the nodes of the elements, that the middle
surface representation of a solid geometry is comprised of, by calculating the distance
of the nodes from the surfaces of the solid geometry.
"Maximum Thickness" Select, among the available

value that will be defined Check Types, the one that
to the nodes. Choose a corresponds to the entities
value near the actual representing the solid
maximum thickness of model and the middle
the solid geometric surface of it.
description.
Welding
This function turns the solid description of a group of thin parts into thin shell
descriptions as Mid.Surface [Skin] but afterwards it also connects the ones that are
near by extending the Faces and applying Topology.
Meshing
Before starting with meshing the model, the Mesh Parameters have to be set.
These parameters can be accessed through Utilities> Mesh Parameters, where the user
can define the parameters for the Reconstruction, Reshape and Fix functions.
Basic Tab
The Distortion distance and
Defines the element length angle fields gives the ability
used by the reconstruct to control how close to the
function. original CAD surface shall be
the created shell grids.
These values influence the
The 'Freeze' section has mesh result especially at
the purpose of not curved perimeters like
allowing (during Fillets and Holes.
reconstruction) the
renumbering or the
movement of nodes that
lie on free edges (Single
Bounds) and on edges 'Remove triangles from' prevents
common to three or more from creating undesired trias on
elements (Triple Bounds). spots, internal single bounds or
feature lines.
Meshing
Perimeters Tab
The ‘Perimeters' tab provides the feature lines treatment during reconstruction on FEM.
The angle between the

normals of two adjacent
elements.
If the flag button is The angle between two

activated, as soon as the consecutive element
user has specified the edges.
area (Visible or Select) for
Reconstruction or
Smoothing, is able to
select Edges or Nodes
('Selection Mode'
window) so as to
determine the feature
lines (green) and the
frozen nodes (yellow).
Meshing
Features and Fix Quality Tab
The ‘Features' Tab, allows to control which perimeters have to be joined and which to
be kept. The 'Fix Quality' tab provides functions to automatically correct elements that
violate the quality criteria specified in F11. To activate each feature you have check it
as shown in the image below.
Controls the way fillets
will be detected and
treated. The ranges for
min and max radius and
width and the desired Controls the way
number of rows have to flanges will be detected
be filled in to the and treated.
respective fields.
Controls the way tubes

Controls the way holes
treated.
treated. The arrow
buttons '<' and '>' allow
to add or remove more
Check to activate.
hole zones.
The '+' and '-' buttons allow to add or remove rules for some treatments.
Meshing
Mesh Generation
Mesh using the free The CFD algorithm meshes
meshing algorithm, which with variable element
takes into account the length, depending on the
meshing parameters of local curvature of the
the "Mesh Parameters" underlying CAD surface,
window panel. This under tight user-controlled
algorithm is considered a specifications.
more robust algorithm to
be used on Macro areas,
which remain unmeshed.
Use when all other
algorithms fail to mesh a The Advancing Front meshing method
Macro area. generates elements starting to build-up
from the boundaries of a Macro-Area.
Recommended for uniform size mesh.
Mesh using the map-meshing method. This
algorithm is used for structured mesh, as it
creates quadrilateral elements by default. It
is highly suggested to apply this algorithm
on quadrilateral-shaped Macro Areas,
which have the same number of nodes on
their opposite sides.
Meshing
Mesh Generation
Repeat the meshing
The spot-mesh algorithm procedure on Macro Areas
was initially introduced for that were previously meshed,
meshing Macro areas that but for some reason their
have 'weld spot' nodes on mesh was accidentally
their surface. However, erased.
nowadays it is also
recommended for mixed
mesh (mixed element
types). This algorithm is
taking into account the Delete the mesh of selected
meshing parameters of the or visible Macro areas.
"Mesh Parameters"
window panel.
Mesh Macro Areas using the
STL meshing algorithm,
where the element quality is
not very important, but an
exact geometry
representation is needed.

Meshing
Mesh Generation
Use the gradual-meshing algorithm to
mesh Macro Areas, which have a
gradually-varying mesh density to their
boundary nodes. The resulting mesh is
of varying density. This algorithm was
recommended in the past for variable
size mesh, but is now actually surpassed
by the CFD meshing algorithm.
"Options List" window panel. (The options listed in this panel may vary for each algorithm.)
An important Parameter to keep an eye on here and check whether it is set correctly, is the
"Element type":
mixed quad tria ortho tria

Quality checking
1. Select and set the respective quality criteria for the corresponding elements to
perform the Quality Checks (or press F11).
2. Activate the HIDDEN view mode.
Visible elements that exceed the defined

quality criteria values are colored according to
the criterion they violate.
Activate the status button of the
respective Quality definition, type the
Threshold values and select one of
the available definitions for each
criterion.
Quality checking
On the left of the screen the number of the visible shell

and solid elements (per type and total) is displayed.
Furthermore, in the same list we can get information
about the Unmeshed Macros.
In the Right Mouse Button Menu we can control the
visibility of these Macros and also mesh these by selecting
the Fix option.
A legend appears on the right in the

graphics area describing the criterion
for each color.
You can activate/deactivate each
criterion by left-clicking on the
criterion.
With right-clicking you can choose to
hide all inactive criteria.

Quality checking
Additionally, by pressing the middle-

mouse button in the Quality Criteria
area and standing by for a second, we
can move the Quality Criteria legend
anywhere around the GL area.

Improving Mesh
To correct the elements that exceed the defined quality criteria values to perform
mesh-improving actions, such as:
Re-meshing according to Additional options for each function become
threshold values of selected active in the "Options List" window panel as soon
Quality Criteria and as you activate the function.
according to meshing
parameters defined in the
This function improves the
Mesh Parameters window.
quality of either meshed
Macro-areas or FE shell
mesh by performing a
combination of certain
Apply 'smoothing' on already predefined actions:
meshed Macro-areas - Join Perimeters
(geometry) or on FE-model - Insert or Delete Hot Points
shell mesh. This function - Reconstruct the mesh
respects the Mesh Improve the quality of - Create quad zones around
Parameters regarding meshed Macro-areas and FE- holes based on predefined
perimeters' definition and model shell mesh according rules
handling. to selected Quality Criteria.

Improving Mesh
Flatten the shape of a

meshed Macro-area or FE-
surface according to a given
'edge angle limit'. This will
be the maximum angle of
features that will occur.
In case violating elements remain after the previous mesh-improving actions, they can
be fixed manually.
There are many functions for these corrections, such as the following:
- Grids > Move

> Align
- Elements > Split
> Join
> Swap
Manual correction methods can be found in ANSA tutorials and documents.

Volume Meshing
All the functionality available for the handling and creation of solid elements is located
under the MESH > VOLUME and under the separate Volume Mesh module.
Automatically recognize and define

multiple volumes. The geometry
needs to be meshed, in order for
this function to work.
Valid Dependent Volumes and Sub-Volumes: detects all and

only the valid closed volumes and their sub-volumes.
Independent Volume paths with zero-thickness walls: detects
unconnected areas of the model.
Independent Volume paths without zero- thickness walls:
detects unconnected closed areas of the model.

Volume Meshing
Create volume mesh using UNSTRUCTURED MESH algorithms

like Tetra Rapid, Tetra FEM, Tetra CFD, Hexa Interior and Hexa
Poly. Additional options become active in the "Options List"
window panel depending on your selection.
Define the parameters for volume meshing.
The "Fix Quality" parameters for solid
elements are also listed in this tab.
As for shell meshing, ANSA

provides several criteria for
checking the quality of FE solid
elements.
These criteria can be defined in
the "Solids" tab.
The values defined here, will also
be taken into consideration by
the functions performing Volume
Mesh improvement.

Surface to Volume Mesh extraction (Structured mesh)
ANSA provides the ability to extract a volume mesh from a surface mesh of one or
more selected meshed Macro Areas, or FE model, tria and quad shell elements.
It creates volume meshes with hexahedral and pentahedral (prism) first and/or
second order elements under three semi-automatic modes, surface to volume mesh
extraction (Translate), volume node interpolation between bounding surface meshes
(Map) and hexa block meshing (HEXBLOCK).
This function generates This function is used to

volumes of Hexa and/or Penta generate Pure Hexa mesh
elements on multiple based on Boxes.
structures with similar
geometry and shell mesh, by
leading a MASTER set of shells
towards a SLAVE set.
This function generates a volume of Hexa and/or Penta
elements from the shell mesh of a number of selected
meshed Macro Areas or FE-Model elements and solid
facets. The shell elements are extruded by means of a
translation vector to create volume elements.

Improving Volume Mesh
A selection of functions to improve the volume mesh (solid elements):
Fix Quality: Improve the Smooth: Apply smoothing on

quality of solid elements Tetra, Pyramid, Penta and Hexa
based on selected Quality elements. The "Freeze volume
Criteria. It takes into skin" option prevents the nodes
consideration the threshold from moving along the
values for solids, defined in corresponding perimeters. If the
the Quality Criteria (F11) "Freeze volume skin" option is
window panel. The same disabled, movement of nodes may
options become active also in take place along these perimeters.
the "Options List" window In case the [Violating] option is
panel. chosen, the function focuses on
elements, which violate several
predefined quality criterions of
Reconstruct: Apply reconstruction on solid elements, taking the Quality Criteria (F11) window
into consideration only the user-defined parameters of the panel.
"Options List" window. In case the [Violating] option is
chosen, the function focuses on visible elements, which
violate the predefined quality criterions of the Quality
Criteria (F11) window panel.

Connections (welds) creation/definition - Assembly
The term “assembly” in ANSA involves numerous actions that will finally lead to the
creation of an inter-connected structure.
Define Connections: Define

connection points (welds). A [MANUAL]
different window panel will
pop-up, depending on your
selection:
- [AUTO]
- [MANUAL]
- [FLANGES]
- [HOLES]
Connection entity: Point, curve or face ANSA generic entities, used to carry welding
characteristics like the connection position and the connected components.
These entities can be “realized” into user-defined FE-representations, connecting two
or more components. They include spot weld points, gumdrops, bolts, robscans, spot
weld lines, adhesive lines, seam lines, hemmings and adhesive faces.
There are several Connection Types, denoted in ANSA with the following symbols:
Points:
Spot Weld Points appear as circles (in ENT. connection
view mode), symbolizing the number of connecting parts
with diameter-like lines (spot weld points with 0, 1, 2 and
3 connecting parts are shown on the left)
Gumdrops appear as two concentric circles (in ENT.
connection view mode), symbolizing the number of
connecting parts with diameter-like lines (gumdrop with
2 connecting parts is shown on the left)
Bolts appear as hexagons (in ENT. connection view mode)
Robscans appear as circles that contains a coordinate
system as shown in the icon on the left (in ENT.
connection view mode)
Lines:
Spot Weld Lines, Adhesive Lines, Seam Lines and
Hemmings appear as magenta curves
Faces:
Adhesive Faces appear as faces with magenta boundaries
Connection Manager: Select, identify and organize connection entities while also
create mesh dependent and mesh independent representations. The selection of
connection entities is easily performed using the "Connection Selection Assistant"
window panel.
Connection Selection Assistant

Convert: This function turns a number of selected 3D-

points, circle centers or Weld Points into Spotweld
Points, Bolts or Gum Drops (magenta circles) according
to the preferred selection. These connection points may
be used for the automatic definition and management
of connection elements.
The Remove Double function can identify

multiple defined connection entities
using as criteria:
- the position,
- the connectivity and
- the connection type.

Deck preparation
ANSA performs a series of internal checks to the validity of input values within entity cards.
The CHECK drop menu of each DECK is set in alphabetical order, separated in three main
sections: The Checks Manager, the general checks (that are available for each DECK) and
the special checks section, that depends on the current DECK.
Application of most of the available checks in ANSA involves the interface of the Checks
Manager. The Checks Manager is a tool that performs multiple checks in one go, with the
use of templates.

Deck preparation
With the Utilities > Deck Info option you can generate a report page which lists
detailed, quantitative and statistical information about the Model, Shell and Solid
properties of the FE-model. Information is available for visible or selected entities, or
the whole database. The available information can be output in text, csv or html format
including also a JPG image of the FE-model.

Output for analysis
The last stage in the build-up process of an FE model is the generation of a solver file.
The format of each solver file depends on the corresponding solver.
Concerning Task Manager, a solver file can be produced with the aid of the File
Output task item.

Getting Started ANSA

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What are the main view operations using the mouse?

What are the main view operations using the mouse?

What are the main options to customize the graphical user interface?

What are the main options to customize the graphical user interface?

Getting Started

About this document

Who is this guide for?

Getting Started with ANSA 2

Getting Started with ANSA 3

Feature Selection Focus Drawing Styles

ANSA Info Window Visibility Faces Draw Box Draw Auxiliaries

Getting Started with ANSA 4

Via right-click on any toolbar, the user has access to

Icons and labels,

The same menu, though, can be also accessed through

Getting Started with ANSA 5

Through the same section,

Furthermore, through Left-click to access

Getting Started with ANSA 6

Getting Started with ANSA 7

Getting Started with ANSA 8

Getting Started with ANSA 9

Getting Started with ANSA 11

• Select ALL visible entities on the screen

• Deselect ALL visible entities on the screen

Getting Started with ANSA 12

• Selecting single items

Getting Started with ANSA 13

Front Only selection

Getting Started with ANSA 14

Selecting 2D & 3D entities

Feature Area selection

PID Region selection

Macro Area selection

Getting Started with ANSA 15

Selecting 2D & 3D entities

Poly Area selection

Poly Line selection

Getting Started with ANSA 16

Feature Line selection for edges

PID neighbors selection for line elements

Getting Started with ANSA 17

Feature Line selection for nodes

Feature Line selection for nodes

Feature Area selection for nodes

Getting Started with ANSA 18

Getting Started with ANSA 19

CONS: Functions that are applied on CONS (Curves On

Faces: Functions to create or modify Faces.

Surfaces: Functions that create Faces and modify Surfaces.

Curves: Functions to create 3D Curves.

Points: Functions to create 3D Points.

Auxiliaries: Functions to create Working Planes in order to draw

Macros: Operations to modify Macro Areas, manually or

Mesh Generation: Surface meshing algorithms.

Shell Mesh: Quality improvement functions (Reshape, Recons,

VOLUME MESH Menu

Volumes: Volume definition.

Unstructured Mesh: Mesh Generation which requires