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Explicit Dynamics Analysis

Introduction
You can perform a transient explicit dynamics analysis in the Mechanical application using an Explicit
Dynamics system. Additionally, the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system is available to
export the model in LS-DYNA .k file format for subsequent analysis with the LS-DYNA solver. Unless
specifically mentioned otherwise, this section addresses both the Explicit Dynamics and Explicit
Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) systems. Special conditions for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
system are noted where pertinent.

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
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.
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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.

MPI parallel processing support for the Explicit Dynamics system is described in Establishing
a Parallel Processing Environment .

(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/v162/commonfiles/MPI/Platform/9.1.2.1/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.

The quality of the solution can be monitored by reviewing momentum and energy
conservation graphs in the solution output. Low energy errors (<10% of initial energy) are
indicative of good quality solutions.

The Explicit Dynamics solver is double precision.

The Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system allows for an LS-DYNA input file (otherwise
known as a “keyword” file or a “.k” file) to be exported. This keyword file contains all the
necessary information available in the Mechanical application environment to carry out the
analysis with the LS-DYNA solver.

The exported keyword file follows the same format as the one exported by the respective
Mechanical APDL application. All the LS-DYNA keywords are implemented according to the
“LS_DYNA Keyword Users Manual” version 971.

All the LS-DYNA keywords that can currently be exported are described in detail in
Supported LS-DYNA Keywords . Any parameters that are not shown for a card are not used
and their default values will be assigned for them by the LS-DYNA solver. Some descriptions
of Workbench features that do not relate directly to keywords are given under ”General
Descriptions” located at the end of this appendix.

Since only an input file is generated during solve of an Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export)
system, the Background and Remote solve options are not supported.

When using Commands objects with the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system, be
aware of the following:

Keyword cards read from Commands object content (renamed to "Keyword"

snippets for the Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system) should not have any
trailing empty lines if they are not intentional. This is due to the fact that some

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keywords have more than one mandatory card that can be entered as blank lines,
in which case the default values for the card will be used. Hence trailing blank
lines can be significant only if required, otherwise they may cause solver
execution errors.

The first entry in the Commands object content must be a command name
which is preceded by the * symbol.

Refer to LS-DYNA General Descriptions regarding ID numbers entered in

Commands object content.

An explicit dynamics analysis can contain both rigid and flexible bodies. For rigid/flexible body
dynamic simulations involving mechanisms and joints you may wish to consider using either the
Transient Structural Analysis Rigid Dynamics Analysis
or options.

For more information about explicit dynamics analyses, see Appendix F.

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.

Preparing the Analysis

Create Analysis System

Basic general information about this topic

... 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 E
.

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
). Any models that
are not mentioned in this list can be entered through the "Keyword Snippet" facility (see
the LS-DYNA General Descriptions section):
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Strength models

Linear Elastic

Isotropic

Orthotropic

Plasticity

Bilinear Isotropic Hardening

Multilinear Isotropic Hardening

Bilinear Kinematic Hardening

Johnson Cook

Hyperelastic:

Mooney-Rivlin

Polynomial

Yeoh

Ogden

Rigid (there is no entry for this in the Engineering Data workspace of

Workbench. See *MAT_RIGID in Supported LS-DYNA Keywords
for
more details).

Equation of state (EOS) models

Linear (there is no entry for this in the Engineering Data workspace of

Workbench. See *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL in Supported LS-DYNA
Keywords for more details).

Shock

Failure models

Plastic Strain

Johnson Cook

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

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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 LS-DYNA
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.

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
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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

Define Part Behavior

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
Nonlinear effects are always accounted for in explicit dynamics analysis.

Parts may be defined as rigid or flexible. In the solver, rigid parts are represented by a
single point that carries the inertial properties together with a discretized exterior surface
that represents the geometry. Rigid bodies should be meshed using similar Method mesh
controls as those used for flexible bodies. The inertial properties used in the solver will be
derived from the discretized representation of the body and the material density and
hence may differ slightly from the values presented in the properties of the body in the
Mechanical application GUI.

At least one flexible body must be specified when using the ANSYS Autodyn solver. The
solver requires this in order to calculate the time-step increments. In the absence of a
flexible body, the time-step becomes underdefined. The boundary conditions allowed for
the rigid bodies with explicit dynamics are:

Connections

Contact Regions: Frictionless, Frictional and Bonded.

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Body Interactions: Frictionless, Frictional and Bonded. Bonded body

interactions are not supported for LS-DYNA Export.

For ANSYS Autodyn, rigid bodies may not be bonded to other rigid
bodies.

Initial Conditions: Velocity, Angular Velocity

Supports: Displacement, Fixed Support and Velocity.

Loads: Pressure and Force. Force is not supported for ANSYS Autodyn.

For an Explicit Dynamics analysis, the following postprocessing features are available for
rigid bodies:

Results and Probes: Deformation only - that is, Displacement, Velocity.

Result Trackers: Body average data only.

If a multibody part consists only of rigid bodies, all of which share the same material
assignment, the part will act as a single rigid body, even if the individual bodies are not
physically connected.

Define Connections

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
Line body to line body contact is possible if:

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.
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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.

Bonds are not recommended for joining tetrahedral meshes. Use multibodied parts or
remote points instead.

Setting Up Symmetry

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
There are general considerations when using Symmetry for an Explicit Dynamics Analysis.

There are additional considerations if an Euler Domain is defined for an analysis. For
symmetry to be applied to an Euler Domain, symmetry will have to be defined with the
global coordinate system, not a local one, and it will need to be applied on geometry faces
which lie on the global coordinate system planes.

If the symmetry is not defined with the global coordinate system, it is ignored
and a warning is shown in the messages window saying that such symmetry will
be ignored but the analysis continues to solve.

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If the symmetry is not applied on faces which lie on the global coordinate
system planes then an error is shown and the solution is terminated.

In the case where symmetry is valid for use with Euler Domains, if the boundary of the
Euler Domain which is parallel to the symmetry plane is bellow the symmetry plane, then
that boundary will be moved to lie on the symmetry plane if the following conditions are
true:

the Euler Domain Size Definition option in the Analysis settings is set to Program
Controlled.

the Euler body is on the positive side of the global coordinate axis.

Define Remote Points

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
When using Remote Points in Explicit Dynamics analyses:

Remote Points only work with the Explicit Dynamics system, not the Explicit
Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system.

The Behavior field must be set to Rigid. If it is set to Deformable the solution
will terminate and an error will be generated.

Currently, only the remote displacement boundary condition is supported for

Remote Points in Explicit Dynamics analyses.

Commands are not supported for Remote Points in Explicit Dynamics analyses.

Remote Points are not supported for 2D Explicit Dynamics analyses.

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 Fixed Support

(Restricted Use)
Velocity

Simply Supported

Fixed Rotation

Displacement

Gravity
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Hydrostatic Pressure

Detonation Point
Pressure

Acceleration

Examples of permitted boundary Force

conditions (Unrestricted Use) Symmetry Planes

Euler Boundary Flow Out

Line Pressure
Remote point applied boundary Remote Displacement (treated as a
conditions Velocity)

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 Conditions Allowed? + Notes

Remote Point
applied to one Yes
face.

Remote Point and

Remote
Displacement Yes
applied to one
face.

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FLEXIBLE BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? + Notes

No
Remote Point
applied to two The 2 faces share
adjacent faces. common nodes
along one edge.

Remote Point
applied to two
Yes
faces that do not
share any nodes.

Remote Point
applied to two
faces that do not
share any nodes,
Yes
with Remote
Displacement
applied to one of
the Remote Points.

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FLEXIBLE BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? + Notes

Remote Point on
one face with No
Remote
The boundary
Displacement condition scope
applied. shares nodes with
Constraining the scope of the
boundary condition Remote
applied to adjacent Displacement.
face.

Remote Point on No
one face. The boundary
Constraining condition scope
boundary condition shares nodes with
applied to adjacent the scope of the
face. Remote Point.

Remote Point on
one face.
Constraining
boundary condition Yes
on another but
with no common
scoped nodes.

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FLEXIBLE BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? + Notes

Remote Point on
one face with
Remote
Displacement
applied.
Yes
Constraining
boundary condition
on another but
with no common
scoped nodes.

RIGID BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? +
Notes

Yes

This is largely
superfluous as the
Remote Point body is rigid
applied to one face. already so making
the face rigid does
not make any
difference.

Remote Point and

Remote
Yes
Displacement
applied to one face.

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RIGID BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? +
Notes

Remote Point
applied to two Yes
adjacent faces.

Yes

This is largely
Remote Point superfluous as the
applied to two body is rigid
faces that do not already so making
share any nodes. the face rigid does
not make any
difference.

Remote Point
applied to two
faces that do not
share any nodes,
Yes
with Remote
Displacement
applied to one of
the Remote Points.

Remote Point on
one face.
Constraining Yes
boundary condition
on body.

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RIGID BODY
Example Conditions Allowed? +
Notes

Remote Point on
one face with No
Remote Two constraining
Displacement boundary
applied. conditions on a
Constraining Rigid body are not
boundary condition allowed.
on body.

Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
All mesh methods available in the Workbench meshing application can be utilized in
Explicit Dynamics systems.

Swept Volume Meshing

Patch Dependant Volume Meshing

Hex Dominant Meshing

Patch Independent Tetrahedral Meshing

Multizone Volume Meshing

Patch dependant shell meshing

Patch independent shell meshing

A smooth uniform mesh should be sought in the regions of interest for the analysis.
Elsewhere, coarsening of the mesh may help to reduce the overall size of the problem to
be solved. Use the Explicit meshing preference (set by default) to auto-assign the default
mesh controls that will provide a mesh well suited for Explicit Dynamics analyses. This
preference automatically sets the Rigid Body Behavior mesh control to Full Mesh. The
Full Mesh setting is only applicable to Explicit Dynamics analyses. Other physics
preferences can be used if better consistency is desired between implicit and explicit
models.

Swept/multi-zone meshes are preferred in Explicit Dynamics analyses so geometry slicing,

combined with multibody part options in DesignModeler are recommended to facilitate
hexahedral meshing. Alternatively use the patch independent tetrahedral meshing method
to obtain more uniform element sizing and take advantage of automatic defeaturing.
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Define the element size manually to produce more uniform element size distributions
especially on surface bodies.

Midside nodes should be dropped from the mesh for all elements types (solids, surface
and line bodies). Error/warning messages are provided if unsupported (higher order)
elements are present in the mesh.

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.

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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 enables you to select
which Restart file you would like the Solve to resume the analysis from. See
Resume Capability for Explicit Dynamics Analyses for more information. Explicit
dynamics analyses are always solved in a single analysis step.

Step Control options

Resume from cycle (option not available in LS-DYNA)

Maximum Number of Cycles in ANSYS Autodyn is replaced by

Maximum time steps in LS-DYNA

Reference energy cycle (option not available in LS-DYNA)

The Maximum Element Scaling and Update frequency (options

not available in LS-DYNA)

Solver Controls – These advanced controls allow you to control a range of

solver features including element formulations and solution velocity limits. The
defaults are applicable to wide range of applications.

Shell thickness update, shell inertia update, density update, minimum

velocity, maximum velocity and radius cutoff options can only be set in
ANSYS Autodyn.

Full shell integration and a selectable Unit System are available only in
the LS-DYNA Export system.

Euler Domain Controls – There are three sets of parameters that are
necessary to define the Euler Domain: the size of the whole domain (Domain
Size Definition), the number of computational cells in the domain (Domain
Resolution Definition), and the type of boundary conditions to be applied to
the edges of the domain.

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).

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The size of the domain is affected by the scale factors according to the following
equations:

(1)

(2)

(3)

where

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

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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:

(7)

where

Ntot is the total number of cells in the domain.

If any bodies are defined as Eulerian (Virtual), when Analysis Settings is selected
in the outline view, the Euler domain bounding box is displayed in the graphics
window. 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.

You can set boundary conditions on each of the faces of the Euler Domain. The
faces are labeled Lower X Face, Lower Y Face, Lower Z Face (which
correspond to the faces with the minimum X, Y, and Z coordinates) and Upper
X Face, Upper Y Face, and Upper Z Face (which correspond to the faces with
the maximum X, Y, and Z coordinates). The values of the boundary conditions
that can be set for each face are:

Flow Out

Use the Flow Out boundary condition to flow out material through cell
faces. The boundary condition makes the material state of the dummy
cell outside the Euler domain the same as that of the cell adjacent to
the Flow Out boundary, thus setting the gradients of velocity and
stress to zero over the boundary. This approach simulates a far field
solution at the boundary, but is only exact for outflow velocities higher
than the speed of sound and is an approximation for lower velocities.
Therefore, the Flow Out boundary condition is approximate in many
cases, and should be placed as far as possible from region of interest
and best at a location where the gradients are small.

Impedance

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The Impedance boundary condition acts exactly the same as the

Flow Out boundary condition and provides the same results.

Rigid

Use the Rigid boundary condition to prevent flow of material through

cell faces. The cell faces are closed for material transport and act as
rigid non-slip walls. The Rigid boundary condition takes the material
state of the dummy cell outside the Euler domain as a mirrored image
of the cell adjacent to the Wall boundary, thus setting the normal
material velocity at the rigid wall to zero and leaving the tangential
velocity unaffected.

Euler Tracking is currently only By Body, which scopes the results to Eulerian
bodies in the same manner as Lagrangian bodies.

Damping Controls – Damping is used to control oscillations behind shock

waves and reduce hourglass modes in reduced integration elements. These
options allow you to adapt the levels of damping, and formulation used for the
analysis being conducted. Elastic oscillations in the solution can also be
automatically damped to provide a quasi-static solution after a dynamic event.

For Hourglass Damping, only one of either the Viscous Coefficient or

Stiffness Coefficient, is used for the Flanagan Belytschko option - when
running an explicit 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 “Flanagan-Belytschko 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.

Erosion Controls – Erosion is used to automatically remove highly distorted

elements from an analysis and is required for applications such as cutting and
impact penetration. In an explicit dynamics analysis, erosion is a numerical tool
to help maintain large time steps, and thus obtain solutions in appropriate time
scales. Several options are available to initiate erosion. The default settings will
erode elements which experience geometric strains in excess of 100%. The
default value should be increased when modeling hyperelastic materials.
Geometric strain limit and material failure criteria are not present in LS-DYNA.

Output Controls – Solution output is provided in several ways:

Results files which are used to provide nodal and element data for
contour and probe results such as deformation, velocity, stress and
strain. Note that probe results will provide a filtered time history of the
result data due to the relatively infrequent saving of results files.

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Restart files should be stored less frequently than results files and can
be used to resume an analysis.

Tracker data is usually stored much more frequently than results or

restart data and thus is used to produce full transient data for specific
quantities.

Output controls to save result tracker and solution output are not
available for LS-DYNA.

When performing an implicit to explicit analysis, for a nonlinear implicit

analysis, the Strain Details view property must be set to Yes because
plastic strains are needed for the correct results.

Define Initial Conditions

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
You can define translational or angular velocity to a single body or to multiple
bodies. In an explicit dynamics analysis, by default, all bodies are assumed to be
at rest with no external constraint or load applied. It is not a requirement to
apply these types of initial conditions to a body.

An explicit dynamics solve can be performed if the model contains at least one
initial condition (translational or angular velocity), or a non-zero constraint
(displacement or velocity), or a valid load.

You can use the results of an implicit analysis as a pre-stress initial condition for
an explicit dynamics analysis. For more information, see Applying Pre-Stress
Effects for Explicit Analysis
.

Apply Loads and Supports

Basic general information about this topic

... for this analysis type:
You can apply the following loads and supports in an explicit dynamics analysis:

Acceleration
Standard Earth Gravity
Pressure
Hydrostatic Pressure
Force
Line Pressure
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Fixed Supports
Displacements
Displacements
Displacements
Detonation Point
Velocity
Impedance Boundary
Simply Supported
Fixed Rotation
Remote Displacement
Cylindrical coordinate systems are supported to define a single rotational
displacement or velocity constraint on a rigid or flexible body. These coordinate
systems are fixed, that is, they do not move with the body.

For Explicit Dynamics analyses, the y component (that is, Θ direction) of a

velocity constraint defined with a cylindrical coordinate system has units of
angular velocity.

For Explicit Dynamics analyses, the y component (that is, Θ 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 .

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
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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:
Solution output

The Solution Information object provides a summary of the solution

time increments and progress is continuously updated in the solution
output. For distributed analyses, the parallel load balancing is also
displayed. This is calculated for each slave as the CPU time taken on
the slave divided by the average CPU time taken on all the slaves. For
a perfectly balanced solution, all slaves will have a load balancing of
one.

Histograms of time step, energy and momentum are also available for
real time monitoring of solution progress.

Choose Tools> Solve Process Settings to solve in the background

either locally or remotely. Retrieve results while the analysis is running
to get immediate feedback on progress and accuracy of the solution.

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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
Stress and Strain
Energy (Transient Structural and Rigid Dynamics Analyses)
Stress Tools
Structural Probes - Limited to: Deformation, Strain, Stress,
Position, Velocity, Acceleration.

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.

Eroded nodes can be toggled on or off in the graphics display.

Probes can be used to display the variation in specific results over the saved
time points in the analysis. The frequency at which data is available is defined in

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the Save Results On option of the analysis settings. This data should be
specified prior to a solve.

You can use a Solution Information object to track, monitor, or diagnose

problems that arise during a solution.

Additional results specific to an explicit dynamics analysis are available via User
Defined Results for Explicit Dynamics Analyses .

The Explicit Dynamics (LS-DYNA Export) system does not support the ability to
review the results of a simulation using the LS-DYNA solver. Nevertheless results
can be viewed with the lsprepost.exe application available at the ANSYS
installation folder under ANSYS Inc\v162\ansys\bin\.

Release 16.2 - © SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved.

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