Practical 05

Static Structural Analysis of a Cantilever Beam (Planar Approximation).

Problem Statement:

A simply supported beam of rectangular cross-section is point loaded at some arbitrary point along
its length as shown in figure below.

P = 10,000 lb, L = 100 in, a = 25 in, b = 3 in, h = 8 in

The material is FEA Material with Young's modulus E= 2.9e7 psi and Poisson's ratio of 0.3. Using
ANSYS Mechanical, find the finite-element solution for non-dimensionalised maximum
deflection defined as:

Compare the finite-element solution for plane stress and plane strain to Euler-Bernoulli beam
theory. Discuss the comparison between the finite-element and beam theory results.

Learning Goals

 The purpose of this Experiment is to showcase how the manner in which assumptions of
planar behavior affect the results of analyses in simple beam bending. The plane stress and
plane strain assumptions lead to bounds on the actual three-dimensional behavior

Pre-Analysis:
  It is recommended that you make some back-of-the-envelope estimates of expected results
before launching into your computer solution. Here this can be done using Euler-Bernoulli
beam theory. Calculate the expected non-dimensionalised maximum deflection from E-B
beam theory.

 Compare this to the ANSYS results later. Also, list the assumptions embedded in your
beam theory result.

Procedure:

 Launch ANSYS Workbench and start a "Static Structural" analysis in the project page.
 Start Workbench Session
 Click and drag Static Structural from the Analysis Systems Toolbox into Project
Schematic.
 Underneath the new system, rename the project from 'Static Structural' to ‘2D Beam’.

1. Material Selection

 Double click on Engineering Data.

 With Structural Steel selected in Outline of Schematic, and Isotropic Elasticity selected in
Toolbox, turn your attention to the properties of Structural Steel at the bottom of the
window. Double check that the values and units for Young’s Modulus and Poisson Ratio
of Structural Steel are correct.
 Return to Project.
 Save Project.
 Upon saving you should verify that both a .wbpj file and a folder of project files have been
created.
2. Geometry

 First create a sketch and then a "surface body" from the sketch. The "surface body" is
nothing but an area that we can mesh and apply boundary conditions to. Following steps
should be followed to create the sketch and surface body.
 In Workbench, right click on Geometry Cell A3. Select Properties.
 Under Property > Advanced Geometry Options > Analysis Type, select 2D. Close
Properties of Schematic A3.
 Right Click on Geometry in cell A3 and click on Design Modeler.
 Select inch from units drop down menu.
 To create a sketch in the XY Plane:

a. Highlight XY Plane in the Tree Outline.

b. Select Look at Face/Plane/Sketch to change the view in the graphics
window to that of the highlighted XY Plane.
c. Click on Sketching tab.
d. Under the Draw toolbox, select Rectangle.

e. Hover mouse around origin and when it is coincident with the origin draw
a rectangle. For that hold down left mouse button and draw a rectangle in the (+x,
+y) quadrant.

f. Click on the Dimensions toolbox. With General selected, click on the sides
of the rectangle to create dimensions.

g. In Details View, change the length to 100in and the height to 8in in
accordance with the problem specification.

 To add points to the baseline geometry for later application of a point load:
h. Under the Modify toolbox, scroll down the list of options. Select Split.

i. Hover pointer over one of the horizontal edges. Click on edge to split it
(anywhere). Do the same for the lower horizontal edge.
 j. Under Constraints toolbox, scroll down the list of options. Select Equal
Length.

k. Select first line for equal length constraint (on top horizontal line, to the left
of the newly created point). Then select the second line for equal length constraint
(on bottom horizontal line, to the left of the newly created point).
l. Click on the Dimensions toolbox. With General selected, click on one of
the newly constrained edges to create a dimension.
m. In Details View, change the length to 25 in in accordance with the problem
specification.

 To create an area from the sketch:

a. Select Concept > Surfaces from Sketches.

b. With the Edge selection tool, select any one of the edges on the sketch

c. Click on the sketch to select base object.

d. In Details View > Base Objects, select Apply.

e. Click Generate.

 Save Project.

3. Mesh

 In Workbench, double-click on Model cell A4.

 To view the default mesh:
a. Highlight Mesh in the Project Tree.
b. Click Update.
 To make a regular mesh:
a. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Mapped Face Meshing.

b. Using the Face Selection Tool, click on the rectangular geometry. Click
Geometry > Apply.

c. Click Update and generate mesh from Tree>Mesh.

 To change the element size:

a. Highlight Mesh in the Project Tree. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing.
b. Using the Face Selection Tool, click on the rectangular geometry. Click
Geometry > Apply.
c. Next to Element Size, type the following to insert an expression: = 8/3 d.
Hit Enter.
  Save Project.

To double check on mid-side nodes:

a. Select Mode to be box select from drop down menu.

b. Select node from toolbar.

c. Draw a box over a few elements in the mesh by holding down the right mouse
button.

Mid-side nodes provide higher accuracy in real world problems.

2. Save Project.

4. Physics Setup

 The following steps show how to specify the physics of the problem: plane stress
approximation, material properties (Young's modulus and Poisson ratio) and boundary
conditions. These settings get fed into the element formulation when obtaining the
numerical solution later.
 In ANSYS open Setup (Mechanical) from projects schematic, double-check units,
behavior, thickness value, and material assignment:
 a. Select Units > U.S. Customary (in, lbm, lbf, F, s, V, A).

b. In Project Tree, highlight Geometry. Under Details of ‘Geometry’, verify 2D

Behavior is set to Plane Stress.
c. In Project Tree, expand Geometry. Highlight Surface Body. Under Details of
‘Surface Body’, verify Thickness is set to 3in in accordance with problem
statement.
d. Verify Material > Assignment > Structural Steel in accordance with problem
statement.

 To apply displacement constraints:

a. In Project Tree, highlight Static Structural.
b. In toolbar, select Environment > Fixed Support.
c. Using Vertex Selection Tool, hold down CTRL button and select bottom two
vertices on rectangle.

d. Click Geometry > Apply.

 To apply loads:
a. In Project Tree, highlight Static Structural.
b. In toolbar, select Environment> Force.
c. Using Vertex Selection Tool, select point of load application on rectangle.
Click Geometry > Apply.

d. Click Define By > Components. Change Y Component value to -10000

 Save Project.

5 Numerical Solution

 The following Steps show how to obtain the numerical solution where the ANSYS solver
will form the stiffness matrix for each element, assemble the global stiffness matrix and
invert it to get the nodal displacements.

 In ANSYS Mechanical, highlight Solution in Outline Tree. Click Solve.

 To see what element type ANSYS used:

a. Highlight Solution Information in Outline Tree.
b. Click anywhere under Solver Output.
c. Press Ctrl+F. In the search box, type: element type. You can see that the
element type used is PLANE183.

 Save Project.
Numerical Results

 The following Steps show how to plot the deformed shape and use it to check if the
boundary conditions (displacement constraints and point load) have been applied correctly.

 To view the shape of deformation:

a. In ANSYS Mechanical, highlight Solution in Outline Tree.
b. From toolbar, Select Solution> Deformation > Total.
c. Click Solve.

 To view and compare the undeformed and deformed shapes of the beam:
a. Select Edges > Show Undeformed WireFrame.

 To find the magnitude of the max deformation:

a. The max deformation magnitude will be shown in the colorbar in the
graphics window.
b. Select Maximum. A tag will appear in the graphics window at the location
of maximum deformation.

 To view the unscaled deformation of the beam:

a. Click on the Result in the Toolbar that says: 2.8e+002 (Auto Scale)
b. Select 1.0 (True Scale)

 To animate the displacement:

a. Press the Play button in the Graph window.

 Save Project.

Verification & Validation

 "Verification and validation" can be thought of as a formal process for checking

results. We previously performed some sanity checks on the deformed shape. A further
basic check is how the results change on refining the mesh. The following steps show how
to recalculate the results on a refined mesh.
  Easily investigate the change of deformed shape and max deformation of the beam
with mesh refinement. Make a copy of the model:
a. In Project Schematic, right click on Model.
b. Select Duplicate.
c. Rename the copied project “2D Beam (refined mesh)".

 Refine the mesh in the copied project:

a. Double click on Setup in the copied version of the project to launch
Mechanical.
b. In the Project Tree, click on Mesh > Face Sizing.
c. Change Element Size to 0.8in.
d. Click Update.
 To redo the solution on the refined mesh:
a. Click Solve.

 We see from the above steps that at least one more level of mesh refinement is necessary.
Please carry that out. Note that we also need to closely interrogate the comparison with
Euler-Bernoulli beam theory as part of the "Verification and validation" process.
 To save and exit when you are done, select "File > Save" and "File > Exit" in the project
view (yellow icon in taskbar). When transferring the project to another location, you
need to transfer the "2d_beam.wbpj" file as well as the "2d_beam_files" folder. The
project cannot be read into ANSYS without both these entities.