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ANSYS WORK BOOK

Exercise 1: Three Point Bending

Using ANSYS Workbench
Contents
Goals.......................................................................................................................................................1
Beam under 3-Pt Bending..............................................................................................................2
Taking advantage of symmetries................................................................................................3
Starting and Configuring ANSYS Workbench..........................................................................4
A. Pre-Processing: Setting up the Model................................................................................6
A.1 Defining the Geometry....................................................................................................6
A.2 Material Properties............................................................................................................7
A.3 Material Properties Assignment...................................................................................8
A.4 Meshing.................................................................................................................................8
A.5 Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions.............................................................10
B. Solving.........................................................................................................................................11
C. Post-Processing: Evaluating the Solution......................................................................11
C.1 Specifying Result Items................................................................................................11
C.2 Total Deformation...........................................................................................................12
C.3 Visualizing Stresses & Strains....................................................................................13
D. Bonus Task: Parameterization & Optimization............................................................15
D.1 Parameterizing the Beam Geometry.......................................................................15
D.2 Output Parameters.........................................................................................................17
D.3 Optimization......................................................................................................................18

Goals
This exercise will teach you how to perform a simple, yet complete, finite element
analysis (FEA) consisting of pre-processing, solving the FE model and subsequent
post-processing using the static structural module of ANSYS Workbench.
Beam under 3-Pt Bending
We want to simulate a beam under three point bending with a force F applied at the
center as shown in Figure 1.

F t
h
w

Figure 1: Beam under three point bending

The following geometry and material data are required to model our problem:

F = 500,000 N Applied force

L = 2,000 mm Length of the beam

h = 60 mm Height of the beam cross

= 20 mm section Thickness of the beam

t = 210,000 N/mm2 cross section Young’s modulus
E Poisson’s ration
= 0.3
ν Allowable stress: yield stress of
= 235 N/mm2
steel

σyiel
d

Table 1: Geometry and material data.

Questions
With respect to this classic two-dimensional mechanical problem, we can state two
questions:

1. Will the beam break? Where would it fail?

2. Assuming that it will not fail, what would be the maximum deflection w?

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Taking advantage of symmetries
Can we take advantage of symmetries? Please, draw a simplified beam model,
which takes advantage of potential symmetries (Figure 2).

Choose appropriate boundary conditions for the simplified beam such that

 you would get the same displacement results than for the 3-pt bending
 all rigid body movements are fixed.

Figure 2: Space for drawing a simplified beam model taking advantage of symmetries.

This is the system that we now want to simulate using ANSYS.

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Starting and Configuring ANSYS Workbench
First, log in using your credentials. From the Windows start menu select and run
ANSYS Work- bench (Figure 3), opening up ANSYS Workbench’s project view
(Figure 4).

Figure 3: Starting ANSYS Workbench

launched Work- bench go to Tools → License Preferences and make sure that
Important: Please make sure to choose the right license type. After you have

ANSYS Academic Teach Ad- vanced is the default (i.e.: top-most) license
option (Figure 5). Otherwise, use the Move up and Move down buttons to
correct and finally Apply the settings.

Do not choose “ANSYS Academic Research” as the default license!

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 The project schematic
visual- izes the work- and
data-flow between the
different project
components and modules.

The Toolbox contains pre-

config- ured analysis
systems, which form the
building blocks of each Work-
bench project.

Figure 4: A new (and yet empty) ANSYS Workbench session

Figure 5: Configuring the license settings

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A. Pre-Processing: Setting up the Model
Before building the actual model, you need to create a new static-structural FE
analysis by dragging and dropping the Static Structural analysis system onto
the empty project schematic (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Creating a new static structural analysis

system

A.1 Defining the Geometry

In the newly created analysis system, double click the Geometry cell to start up
the Design- Modeler module; choose the desired units.

Create the solid beam by choosing (from the main menu) Create → Primitives →
Box. Use the
Details pane to specify the desired dimensions of the new primitive.

Please ensure that the origin of the coordinate system is located on the plane and
at the center of the cross section of the beam. The beam’s long axis must be
oriented along the global x- axis (Figure 7).

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 Figure 7: The beam in DesignModeler

A.2 Material Properties

Material models define the mechanical behavior of the components of the FE
model. We will use a simple linear-elastic and isotropic material model to
represent the behavior of our steel beam.

In your static structural analysis system in the Workbench project view, double
click the Engi- neering Data cell. This opens up a window titled Outline of
Schematic A2: Engineering Data. “Structural steel” is the default material and
is always predefined. Click the row beneath (where it says “Click here to add a
new material”) and enter any name for your new material.

In the Toolbox to the left, expand the Linear Elastic node and drag and drop
Isotropic Elas- ticity onto the Material column of your material (Figure 8).

Enter the appropriate values into the Properties window (Young’s modulus,
Poisson’s ratio), before clicking Return to Project.

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 Figure 8: Defining a new linear-elastic material

A.3 Material Properties Assignment

In the project view, double click the Model cell to launch the Mechanical module.
Your geom- etry should be imported automatically.

Make sure that the correct material model is assigned: In the Mechanical
module’s Outline pane (to the left) select the solid body representing the beam
(under the Geometry node). Then select the material in the Details pane
(Details → Material → Assignment).

A.4 Meshing
The next pre-processing step is concerned with discretizing the continuous solid
body geom- etry, also known as meshing.

The outline tree view also contains a node called Mesh with a little yellow flash
symbol. Right click on Mesh and select Insert → Mapped Face Meshing from
the context menu (Figure 9). Select all 6 faces of the beam and click Scope →
Geometry → Apply in the details pane of the Mapped Face Meshing node.

In the same way, add a Sizing sub-node to the Mesh node. This time, select the
whole body
and again apply your selection. In the Details pane of the (Body) Sizing node, select
Definition
→ Type → Element Size and set the element size to 15 mm. In the Outline, right
click on Mesh
→ Generate Mesh. The result should resemble Figure 10.

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 Figure 9: Adding a meshing method

Figure 10: Meshed beam in ANSYS Mechanical (536

elements)

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A.5 Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions
We now have to apply the loads and boundary conditions in such a way that the
FE model represents our ideas from Figure 2.

We therefore fix all degrees of freedom of one end. In the Outline right click on
the Static Structural (A5) node and select Insert → Fixed Support from the
context menu. Select an appropriate face of your solid body to be fixed.

Next, we need to apply the force to the other end of the beam. Again, right click
on the Static Structural (A5) node, but this time Insert → Force. Select the
correct face and apply a force of the appropriate magnitude and direction. The
result should resemble Figure 11.

Figure 11: The model after applying loads and boundary conditions

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B. Solving
Because this is a simple linear problem, we do not need to modify the solver
options manually (Analysis Settings in the Outline). Instead, simply right click
on the Static Structural (A5) node and select Solve. This will bring up a status
window, which should disappear again after a few seconds of computing.

C. Post-Processing: Evaluating the Solution

The primary results of an FEA are nodal displacements. Strains and stresses are
computed on demand as a post-processing step based on the determined
displacement field.

C.1 Specifying Result Items

Up until now, ANSYS only offers the solver log under Solution (A6) → Solution
Information. To visualize the results we are interested in, add the following
Items to the Solution (A6) node (Figure 12):

- Total Deformation
- Normal Elastic Strain (in the beams axial direction)
- Normal Stress (in the beams axial direction)
- Equivalent (von Mises) Stress

Right click on Solution (A6) and select Evaluate All Results.

Figure 12: Analysis outline with added post-processing items

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C.2 Total Deformation
When performing FE analyses, it is always wise to first perform some plausibility
checking. Cre- ate a contour plot of the total deformation (Figure 13).

Figure 13: (Scaled) contour plot of the total displacements.

The predicted displacements seem to be totally fine at first glance. On closer look
the maximum total displacement is more than 1000 mm, according to the scale
to the left!

The issue with this plot is that by default ANSYS automatically scales the
displayed defor- mations so that they are “easily visible.” For very small
displacements this behavior is totally fine, as they wouldn’t be visible at all
otherwise. In our case, however, this setting is deceptive. Changing the scaling
factor to 1.0 (Results toolbar) yields a completely different picture, mak- ing it
crystal clear that something has gone wrong – awfully wrong:

Figure 14: (Unscaled) contour plot of the total displacements

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assumed a much too high force. If we correct the force to be 𝐹 = 5000 N instead,
The reason for this huge displacement is that in Table 1, we (deliberately)

we get the following (unscaled) deformation plot:

Figure 15: (Unscaled) contour plot of the total deformations after applying the
correct load

C.3 Visualizing Stresses & Strains

Now that we have corrected our model, we can try to answer the question,
whether the beam will be able to resist the given load or if it will fail. For that,
create contour plots of the compo- nent strain and stress along the x-axis to
investigate tensile and compressive stresses (Figure 16, Figure 17). For ductile
materials like steel, the von Mises yield criterion can be used to predict, whether
the material is likely to deform plastically. We therefore also plot the von Mises
(equivalent) stresses (Figure 18).

Figure 16: Elastic normal strain along x

Figure 17: Elastic normal stress along x

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 Figure 18: Von Mises stress

Answering the
Questions:
1. Will the beam break? If so, where would it fail?

maximal predicted von Mises stress reaches values of 𝜎pred ≈ 220 N/mm2,
With the corrected force (F = 5,000 N) the beam will not break. The

and thus less than the ultimate yield stress of 𝜎yield = 235 N/mm2. That
means the failure criterion 𝜎pred > 𝜎yield is not fulfilled. The difference
between the two values however is small (𝜎predreaches 94 % of
𝜎yield). Many technical applications require a safety factor (SF) of 2.0 or
higher. In our example, the safety factor SF = 𝜎yield/𝜎pred is much smaller.

The critical region where we would expect the beam to start failing is
located at the left end of the half beam, at the location of maximum
stresses. For the full length beam the critical region would therefore be
located in the middle of the beam where the force was applied.

2. Assuming that it would not fail, what would be the maximum deflection w?
We predicted a maximum deflection of w = 11 mm appearing at the free
end (right side) of the simplified half model. The full length beam under
three point bending will show a maximum deflection of the same amount
in the middle.

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D. Bonus Task: Parameterization & Optimization
Given that we trust the predictions of our model, we now know that the beam can
hardly handle the desired load without safety issues. Thus, one might be
interested in how the beam has to be changed to meet the safety factor goal of

of the beam such that we achieve a SF ≥ 2.0 while using a minimum amount of
2.0. In this optional task, we are therefore now going to optimize the thickness

material, as we don’t want to waste expensive steel. This is typical example for a
constrained optimization problem.

D.1 Parameterizing the Beam Geometry

First, we have to define the input parameters that the optimization procedure
shall optimize later on. For the sake of simplicity, we will only optimize a single
parameter, the beam’s thick- ness.

Open the DesignModeler and select the beam primitive from the Tree Outline.
In the Details View click the empty box next to the FD8, Diagonal Z
Component entry (or whatever com- ponent you chose to use as the thickness
of the beam); a blue D should now appear inside the box (Figure 19). Then enter
an appropriate parameter name into the dialog window and click OK.

Figure 19: Defining the thickness as a design parameter

As we want the origin to always be located at the center of the cross section, we
also need to parameterize FD5, Point 1 Z Coordinate (i.e. the coordinates of
the first corner of the box primitive). We will make this a derived parameter (i.e.
dependent on BeamThickness) in the next step. For now, perform the same steps
as before and call this new parameter something like “BeamZOffset.”

Back in the Project View, you will notice that there appeared an additional
Parameter Set block right beneath the Static Structural analysis system.
Notice how there is only one arrow going from the Parameter Set to the
analysis system; this means that we have defined input parameters so far.

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 Figure 20: Project View after adding our two input parameters

Double click on the Parameter Set block to edit the parameter properties. As
BeamThickness
BeamZOffset should always be − enter a corresponding arithmetic

2
expression in the properties
outline for parameter P2 (= BeamZOffset). Note that you have to use the internal
parameter ID P1 instead of BeamThickness (Figure 21).

While we are at it, click on the cell with the light-gray New name entry (ID: New
input param- eter) to define a new constant. Call it TensileYieldStrength and
assign it a value of 235 [MPa] (units must be given in brackets). We will use that
later on to compute the safety factor for the current design.

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 Figure 21: Defining a derived parameter
(BeamZOffset)

D.2 Output Parameters

To express our objective, we also need an output parameter. Enter the
Mechanical module (double click on the Results cell in the Static Structural
analysis block). In the details pane of the Equivalent Stress solution item, make
the maximum stress an output parameter (Figure 22).

Figure 22: Defining an output parameter

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Return to the project view and double click on the Paramter Set block. The
output parameter P3 - Equivalent Stress Maximum should now be visible under
Output Paramters. As we did before with the TensileYieldStrength, define a new
derived parameter SafetyFactor as

SafetyFactor =TensileYieldStrength
(Figure 23).

EquivalentStressMaxi
mum

Figure 23 Defining the SafetyFactor parameter

D.3 Optimization
Back in the Project View drag and drop the Response Surface Optimization
system from the
Toolbox → Design Exploration onto the project schematic (Figure 24).

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 Figure 24 Adding the optimization system

D.3.1 Design of Experiments

To be able to optimize the BeamThickness based on a response surface (=
regression model), we first need to produce some samples (input-output pairs)
based on the full FE model. Double click the Design of Experiments cell to
define how the BeamThickness input parameter should be sampled (input range,
sample size, distribution): First make sure, that you use a Central Composite
Design (select the Design of Experiments row in the Outline of Schematic
B2, then set the Design of Experiments Type in the Properties windows
beneath; Figure 25).

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 Figure 25: Selecting a central composite DoE

Next, select the input parameter P1 (BeamThickness) and set its lower and upper
bound to 20 and 60 respectively (i.e. we assume the optimum thickness is
somewhere between 20 and 60 mm; Figure 26).

Figure 26 Defining the optimization domain

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TensileYieldStrength is a constant and should not vary. Thus, uncheck the
Enabled check box right to the P4 – TensileYieldStrength row in the Outline
of Schematic B2: Design of Ex- periments window.

Right click on the Design of Experiments row and select Update; this generates
the five design points (= five samples) and evaluates these five differently
parameterized FE models. After- wards, click Return to Project.

D.3.2 Fitting & Visualizing the Response Surface

In the Project View, double click on the Response Surface cell. In the newly
opened Proper- ties of Schematic B3: Response Surface window, make sure
that the Response Surface Type (= regression model) under Meta Model is
set to Full 2nd Order Polynomials.

Right click on Response Surface and select Update to fit the response surface
model to the sample points. When ANSYS is done, select the Goodness of Fit
node under the Metrics node. The plot as well as the computed error metrics
shows that the quadratic surrogate model is able to predict the behavior of the
full FE model (Figure 27).

Figure 27 Goodness of fit plot (prediction based on the response surface model vs. FE
model)

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We can also plot the created model (= response surface) itself by selecting the
Response node from Response Points → Response Point. Set the x-axis to
BeamThickness and the y-axis to Equivalent Stress Maximum to produce a plot
resembling Figure 28. From this plot we can already tell, that the ideal thickness
should be located somewhere around 35 mm.

Figure 28 Response surface plot (max. von Mises stress vs. beam thickness)

When you are done investigating the response surface, click Return to Project.

D.3.3 Defining Objectives and Constraints

Double click the Optimization cell to configure the optimization options. In the
Properties of Schematic B4: Optimization window, select Screening as the
Optimization Method and set the Number of Samples to 10,000.

Next, select the Objectives and Constraints row. In the table to the right
(Table of Schematic B4: Optimization) add constraints and objectives as
shown in Figure 29.

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 Figure 29 Objectives and constraints definitions

D.3.4 Determining the Optimal Thickness

Then right click on Optimization and select Update to run the optimization
procedure. After the optimization is finished, ANSYS by default displays three
candidate points (= beam thick- nesses) that meet our optimization goals (Figure
30).

Figure 30 Optimal beam thickness candidates

Candidate Point 1 seems to be the best bet for an optimum thickness. To check
whether this response surface based optimum agrees with the prediction of the
FE model, right click on Candidate Point 1 and select Verify by Design Point
Update. This will initiate a full FEA using a BeamThickness of 36.55 mm. As it
turns out, the predicted safety factor is almost identical with the one determined
via the FE model; we can therefore safely accept BeamThickness = 36,55 mm as
the optimal beam thickness (Figure 31).

Figure 31 Verified optimization result

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