Page 1 ANSYS Tutorials Grady Lemoine Table of Contents Example 1: 2-D Static Stress Analysis in

ANSYS..............................................2 Example 2: 3-D Static Stress

Analysis ................................................................5 Example 3: 2-D Frame With Multiple Materials and
Element Types...............10 Example 4: 3-D
Truss........................................................................................15 Example 5: Simple 2-D Heat
Transfer ..............................................................20 Example 6: Modal
Analysis...............................................................................22 Example 7: Plate Buckling Analysis Part 1:
Eigenvalue Buckling Analysis....26 Example 8: Plate Buckling Analysis Part 2: Nonlinear Buckling
Analysis......31 Example 9: Simple Dynamic Analysis..............................................................35 Example 10:
Box Beam .....................................................................................39 Page 2 Example 1: 2-D Static Stress
Analysis in ANSYS In this example we will examine the stress concentrations in a flat plate with three
holes, as shown in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1 Preprocessor First, we will select an element type, define
element and material properties, create a model, and mesh it in the Preprocessor. Selecting an element
type: 1. Click on ‘Preprocessor’ in the ANSYS main menu at the left side of the screen. 2. Click on
‘Element Type->Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Solid’ from the ‘Structural’ list of element
types, then ‘Quad 4node 42’ from the list on the right. This chooses a four-node quadrilateral 2D
element. 5. Click ‘OK’, then click ‘Close’ on the Element Types box and close the Element Types menu.
Defining material properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ in the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material
Models’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then
finally ‘Isotropic’. Page 3 4. Enter in values for Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. In this problem we
use a Young’s modulus of 70e9 and a Poisson’s ratio or 0.3, which are ballpark values for aluminum
(note that ANSYS understands scientific “e” notation). No other material properties will be needed, so
click ‘OK’, then close the Material Properties menu. Creating a model: 1. Click ‘Create’ under the ‘-
Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu. 2. First create the rectangle for the plate. Under the ‘-
Areas-‘ heading click ‘Rectangle’, then ‘By Dimensions’ on the menu that pops up. 3. Put 0 and 0.5 in the
X1,X2 boxes and 0 and 0.2 in the Y1,Y2 boxes. This will create a rectangle with corners at (0,0) and
(0.5,0.2). 4. Now create the circles for the holes. Under the ‘-Areas-‘ heading click Circle, then ‘Solid
Circle’ on the resulting menu. 5. Create the circles by entering the X and Y coordinates in the boxes
marked ‘WP X’ and ‘WP Y’ and the radius in the box marked ‘Radius’. (You can also create circles by
clicking in the graphics window, but this method cannot discriminate finely enough to be usable here.)
Enter in the following for the circles, clicking ‘Apply’ after each one. WP X WP Y Radius Circle 1 0.25 0.1
0.01 Circle 2 0.23 0.1 0.005 Circle 3 0.27 0.1 0.005 6. Now you are done creating areas and can subtract
the circles from the rectangle to create the desired plate with holes. Close the ‘Create’ menu, and click
‘Operate’ under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu. 7. Click ‘Subtract’ under the ‘-
Booleans-‘ heading, then click ‘Areas’. 8. First click the area you want to subtract from (the rectangle in
this case). The selected area will change color. If you select the wrong area, you can unpick it by right-
clicking to switch unpick mode, then clicking it again (you can then switch back to pick mode by right-
clicking again). Be sure that the entire area and only the area you want to subtract from is highlighted.
When you are done, click ‘OK’. 9. Now select the areas you want to subtract. Click each of the circles,
then click ‘OK’. (When clicking the center circle you will get a message saying that there is more than
one area at the location you selected. Click ‘Next’ until the circle is highlighted.) You will now have a
rectangle with three holes, and have finished creating your model. Meshing the model: 1. On the
Preprocessor menu, click ‘MeshTool’. 2. Select the size of your mesh. In this case we will use the Smart
Size feature to choose an appropriate size automatically. Click the Smart Size pinpoint and use the slider
to set the size setting to 5. (When working through a new problem, it’s always best to use a fairly coarse
mesh to begin with since it will be faster to solve and use less disk space.) 3. Leave the rest of the
settings at their defaults and click ‘MESH’. Click on the plate, then click ‘OK’ in the input box at the lower
left of the screen. Page 4 4. Since we expect large stress gradients around the holes, we’ll want to refine
the mesh around them. Click the box next to the word ‘Refine’ and select ‘at Lines’, then click the
‘Refine’ button below it. 5. Click on the edges of each hole (you will need to click once for each quadrant
of each circle), then click ‘OK’. Leave the settings at their defaults in the ‘Refine Mesh at Line’ box that
appears, and click ‘OK’. ANSYS will refine the elements in the region of the holes. 6. You are now done
meshing. Click ‘Close’ in the MeshTool box. Solution Next, we set up an analysis, define displacements
and loadings, and solve the problem. Setting up an analysis: 1. Click on ‘Solution’ in the ANSYS main
menu. 2. Click on ‘New Analysis’ under the ‘-Analysis Type-‘ heading. ‘Static’, the type desired for this
problem, will be the default; if it is not selected, select it. Then click ‘OK’. Fixing the left edge of the
plate: 1. Click on ‘Apply’ under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading. 2. Click ‘Displacement’, then ‘On Lines’. 3. Click on
the left edge of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 4. Click ‘UX’ in the box listing degrees of freedom (DOFs) to be
constrained, then enter 0 into the displacement value box. 5. Click ‘OK’, then close the Displacement
menu. Applying a stress to the right edge of the plate: 1. Click ‘Pressure’ on the Apply Loads menu, then
click ‘On Lines’. (All distributed surface forces come under the heading of pressure in ANSYS). 2. Click the
right edge of the plate, then click ‘OK’ and enter -1e6 in the upper ‘VALUE’ box. This will apply a stress of
1 megapascal, in tension (positive values correspond to compression, negative to tension). Click ‘OK’ to
apply the load. 3. Close the Apply Loads menu. Solving the problem: 1. Under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading, click
‘Current LS’. This will solve the current “Load Step”. Review the information in the window that appears
to see if everything is in order, then click ‘OK’ (or ‘Cancel’ to cancel solution). Postprocessor Finally we
use the Postprocessor to display the results. 1. Click ‘General Postproc’ on the ANSYS main menu. Page 5
2. Click ‘Plot Results’. 3. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 4. Choose the quantity
you wish to see displayed. In this case, pick ‘Stress’ from the box on the left, and ‘1st principal S1’ from
the one on the right to plot the first principal stress. ANSYS marks the locations of the maximum and
minimum values of the quantities plotted with ‘MX’ and ‘MN’ on the plot. Note that the maximum stress
occurs at the top (and bottom) of the center hole and the minimum occurs between the holes. The
maximum stress is also shown at the right side of the plot window as ‘SMX’. A close-up of the contour
plot in the region of the holes is shown in Figure 1.2. Figure 1.2 Example 2: 3-D Static Stress Analysis In
this example we will examine the stresses in a large isotropic block subjected to a point load and fixed at
the bottom. By symmetry, we can model the entire block using only one quadrant and specifying zero
displacement on two of the faces. We will use English units of feet and pounds for this problem.
Preprocessor Select an element type: 1. Click on ‘Preprocessor’ in the ANSYS main menu at the left side
of the screen. 2. Click on ‘Element Type->Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Solid’ from the
‘Structural’ list of element types, then ‘Brick 8node 45’ from the list on the right (you will need to scroll
down). This chooses a rectangular solid element with a node at each corner. Page 6 5. Click ‘OK’, then
click ‘Close’ on the Element Types box and close the Element Types menu. Defining material properties:
1. Click ‘Material Props’ in the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material Models’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’
in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally ‘Isotropic’. 2. Enter in values for
Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. In this problem we use a Young’s modulus of 144e7 and a
Poisson’s ratio of 0.34, which are ballpark values for aluminum in English units (the Young’s modulus has
been converted from lb/in2 to lb/ft2). No other material properties will be needed, so click ‘OK’, then
close the Material Properties menu. Creating a model: 1. Click ‘Create’ under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading
on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Create the block by clicking ‘Block’ under the ‘-Volumes-‘ heading, then
clicking ‘By Dimensions’. 3. Enter the following coordinates in the input boxes: X1,X2 0 10 Y1,Y2 0 10
Z1,Z2 0 10 This will create a block with one corner at the origin and the opposite corner at (10,10,10)
feet. The load will be applied to the corner at (0,0,10). Now close the ‘Block’ and ‘Create’ menus. At this
point you will need to be able to rotate the graphical display so that you can access all the edges of the
quarter-block. To do this, click the ‘PlotCtrls’ menu at the top of the screen, then click
‘Pan/Zoom/Rotate’ and use the buttons marked with a curving arrow and ‘+X’, ‘-Y’, etc., to rotate the
plot. When you are done, click ‘Close’ on the box. Note that you can use the Pan/Zoom/Rotate box while
you are doing other tasks such as picking objects for an input box. Meshing the model: 1. On the
Preprocessor menu, click ‘MeshTool’. 2. This time we will define the size variations of the elements
manually. On the ‘Plot’ menu at the top of the screen, click ‘Lines’ to show only the currently defined
lines (the edges of the quarter-block). Next, under the ‘Lines’ subheading of the ‘Size Controls’ part of
the MeshTool box, click ‘Set’. This will set the size and division spacing ratio along the lines you choose.
3. Click ‘Pick All’. 4. Enter 4 in the ‘No. of element divisions’ box and 3 in the ‘Spacing ratio’ box. This
chooses four divisions along the line, with the last three times as long as the first. (Choosing a coarse
mesh at first is especially important for 3-D problems since the total number of elements goes up as the
cube of the number of elements on a side rather than the square. A fine mesh can take a very long time
to solve.) Page 7 5. Now all the lines will have the correct number of divisions and spacing ratio, but not
all of them will have their smallest elements oriented toward the corner at (0,0,10) where the load will
be applied. To flip the orientations of those that don’t point in the correct direction, click ‘Flip’ on under
the ‘Lines’ subsection of the MeshTool box. 6. Pick all the lines that do not have their shortest elements
oriented toward (0,0,10), then click ‘OK’ to flip their orientations. 7. Now click ‘Hex’ next to ‘Shape’ on
the MeshTool box. This will use brick (six-sided) elements rather than tetrahedral elements, as is the
default. When you choose ‘Hex’, the mesher type (shown below the shape type) will automatically
change to ‘Map’, which will use the divisions of the lines to define (“map”) the mesh. 8. Click ‘Mesh’,
then click on the quarter-block and click ‘OK’ to create the mesh. If the mesh does not come out right,
you can repeat steps 2-8 to re-form it. 9. You are now done meshing and have finished with the
Preprocessor. Click ‘Close’ on the MeshTool box, then close the Preprocessor menu. Solution Now we go
to the Solution step to set up the analysis, define loadings, and solve the problem. Setting up the
analysis: 1. Click on ‘Solution’ on the ANSYS main menu. 2. Click on ‘New Analysis’ under the ‘-Analysis
Type-‘ heading. ‘Static’, the type desired for this problem, will be the default; if it is not selected, choose
it. Then click ‘OK’. Applying the load: 1. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the ‘Solution’ menu, click ‘Apply’.
2. Click ‘Force/Moment’. 3. Click ‘On Nodes’. 4. Click the corner of the quarter-block at (0,0,10), then
click ‘OK’ in the pick box. 5. Click on the box labeled ‘Direction of force/mom’, then click ‘FZ’. 6. Enter a
value of -45*2000/4 in the box labeled ‘Force/moment value’, then click ‘OK’. This applies one quarter of
a 45-ton load downward on the quarter-block. Applying displacements: The quarter-block will be fixed
at the bottom. In addition, since the whole block can be thought of as four of the quarter-blocks we’re
analyzing placed face-to-face, we know that the faces of the quarter-block in the XZ and YZ planes will
have no displacement perpendicular to their surfaces, since if they did that would indicate voids in the
full block (where the quarter-block faces displace inward) or places where material pushes through
other material (where the faces displace outward). 1. Click ‘Displacement’ on the ‘Apply’ menu. 2. Click
‘On Areas’. Page 8 3. Click on the face of the quarter-block in the YZ plane (facing in the negative X
direction), then click ‘OK’ in the pick box. If that face is not visible, you can use the Pan/Zoom/Rotate
function to rotate the model until it is. 4. Select ‘UX’ as the degree of freedom to be constrained, then
enter a displacement value of 0 and click ‘OK’. 5. Click ‘On Areas’ again, then select the face of the
quarter-block in the XZ plane (facing in the negative Y direction) and apply a ‘UY’ displacement of 0. 6.
Click ‘On Areas’ again, then this time select the bottom of the quarter-block, choose ‘All DOF’ to be
constrained, and enter a displacement value of 0. 7. You have now finished applying loads. Close the
‘Displacement’ and ‘Apply’ menus. Solving the problem: 1. Under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading, click ‘Current LS’.
Review the information in the window that appears to see if everything is in order, then click ‘OK’ (or
‘Cancel’ to cancel solution). Postprocessor Finally, we view the results. 1. Click ‘General Postproc’ on the
ANSYS main menu. 2. Click ‘Plot Results’. 3. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 4.
Choose the quantity you wish to see displayed. In this case, pick ‘Stress’ from the box on the left, and ‘Z-
direction SZ’ from the box on the right to display the normal stress in the Z direction. The resulting plot
is shown in Figure 2.1. Figure 2.1 The regions of tensile stress near the load are artifacts of the mesh.
Page 9 We can also define “paths” (sequences of elements through the model) and graph the results
along these: 1. On the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Path Operations’ (about 2/3 of the way down
the list). 2. Click ‘Define Path’. 3. Click ‘By Nodes’. 4. Click the second tier of nodes in the YZ plane, as
shown in Figure 2.2, then click ‘OK’. (Figure 2.2 was produced using the ‘Plot Paths’ function in ANSYS.)
Figure 2.2 5. Enter a name for the path in the box labeled ‘Define Path Name’, then click ‘OK’. A window
will appear showing the locations and numbers of the nodes on the path. 6. Click ‘Map onto Path’ to
transfer data from your solution to the path. 7. Choose the Z-direction stress (‘Stress’ in the left box and
‘Z-direction SZ’ in the right), then click ‘OK’. 8. Under the ‘-Plot Path Item-‘ heading, click ‘On Graph’. 9.
Choose ‘SZ’, then click ‘OK’. The resulting plot is shown in Figure 2.3. Page 10 Figure 2.3 Example 3: 2-D
Frame With Multiple Materials and Element Types In this example we will find the loads and stresses in
a two-dimensional frame with members made of different materials and having different cross-sections.
The frame is shown in Figure 3.1. Members 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are aluminum beams and have a hollow
square cross-section with outer wall size 2 cm and wall thickness 2 mm, and member 6 is a steel wire
with diameter 2 mm. The applied force is 100 N. Figure 3.1 Page 11 Preprocessor First, we will select
element types, define element and material properties, define a model, and mesh it. Element types:
Member 5 is a two-force member, so it will support only an axial force and can be most economically
modeled as a 2D spar element, which only resists axial force. Member 6 is also a two-force member, so
it will be modeled as a 2D spar as well. (A tension-only spar is available, but it is a 3D element and we
would like to keep this a strictly 2D problem.) Members 1, 2, 3, and 4 will need to support a moment, so
they should be modeled as 2D beam elements. 1. On the ANSYS main menu, click ‘Preprocessor’. 2. Click
‘Element Type’. 3. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’, then ‘Add’ on the box that appears. 4. Choose ‘Beam’ under
the Structural heading in the left box, then ‘2D elastic 3’ in the right box to select the 2D beam element,
then click ‘Apply’. 5. Click ‘Link’ under the Structural heading in the left box, then ‘2D spar 1’ in the right
box to select the 2D spar (two-force member) element. Then click ‘OK’. You have defined the element
types needed for this problem. Real constants: Now you can define cross-sectional areas and second
area moments for the members using “real constant” sets. From the ANSYS online help, “real constants
are properties that depend on the element type, such as cross-sectional properties of a beam element”.
1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Real Constants...’. 2. Click ‘Add’. 3. Click ‘Type 1 BEAM3’, then click
‘OK’ to choose to define a real constant set for the beam elements. Note that there is not a one-to-one
correspondence between real constant sets and element types—you can have more than one real
constant set for each element type, and ANSYS keeps track of real constants and element types
independently. 4. The cross-sectional area and second area moment of the beam are 1.44 cm2 and
0.7872 cm4 respectively (you can verify this yourself). To aid in keeping consistent units throughout the
analysis, we’ll enter these in terms of meters. Enter 1.44e-4 in the box marked ‘Cross-sectional area’,
0.7872e-8 in the box marked ‘Area moment of inertia’, and 2e-2 (2 cm) in the box marked ‘Total beam
height’, then click ‘OK’. 5. Now click ‘Add’ again in the Real Constants box, then choose ‘Type 2 LINK1’
and click ‘OK’. 6. This time we will define constants for member 5, the two-force hollow aluminum
member. In the box marked ‘Cross-sectional area’ enter 1.44e-4 and click ‘OK’. 7. Finally, we will define
real constants for the steel wire. Click ‘Add’ once more in the Real Constants box, then choose ‘Type 2
LINK1’ and click ‘OK’. 8. Enter 3.14159*(1e-3**2) in the box marked ‘Cross-sectional area’. (The radius of
the wire is 1 mm. Note that ANSYS uses “**” for exponentiation as in FORTRAN, rather than “^” as in
BASIC and most programmable calculators.) Then click ‘OK’. You have now finished defining real
constants; click ‘Close’ in the Real Constants box. Page 12 Next we will define material properties.
Defining material properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ in the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material
Models’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then
finally ‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter 70e9 (70 GPa) in the box for Young’s modulus (“EX”) and 0.3 in the box for
‘Poisson’s ratio’ (“PRXY”), then click ‘Apply’. (These are ballpark values for aluminum.) 5. Click ‘New
Model’ on the ‘Material’ menu in the Define Material Model Behavior window. 6. Set the material ID to
2, then click ‘OK’. 7. Double-click ‘Isotropic’ again, enter 210e9 (210 GPa) in the Young’s modulus box,
then click ‘OK’. (This is a ballpark value for steel; we don’t need to enter Poisson’s ratio since all the steel
objects in the frame are loaded uniaxially.) You have finished defining material properties. Now we will
create our model of the frame. Creating the model: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the
Preprocessor menu, click ‘Create’. 2. Click ‘Keypoints’. 3. Click ‘In Active CS’. 4. Create the following
keypoints, clicking ‘Apply’ after entering in the values for each one: Keypoint number X Y 1 0 0 2 0 1 3 0
1.3 4 0.3 1.3 5 0.8 1.3 6 -0.4 0 Then click ‘OK’ to close the Create Keypoints in Active Coordinate System
box, and close the Keypoints menu. 5. Under the ‘-Lines-‘ heading click ‘Lines’. 6. Click ‘In Active Coord’.
7. You can now create lines by clicking on their endpoints, then clicking ‘OK’ or ‘Apply’ in the Lines in
Active Coord box. Create lines between keypoints 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, 4 and 5, 2 and 4, and 3 and
6, then click ‘OK’. (Note that keypoint 1 coincides with the origin.) You have now finished creating the
geometry model for the problem; close the Lines and Create menus. Page 13 We will now specify what
material, element type, and real constant set to use with each line by defining element attributes.
Defining element attributes: 1. Under the ‘-Attributes-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click
‘Define’. 2. Click ‘Picked Lines’. 3. Click the lines between keypoints 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and 4 and
5, then click ‘OK’. 4. In the box that appears, choose material number 1 (defined earlier as aluminum),
real constant set 1 (defined for the beam elements), and element type 1 (the 2D beam element), then
click ‘OK’. (These should be the defaults anyway.) 5. Click ‘Picked Lines’ again, and choose the line
between keypoints 2 and 4. Assign this line material number 1, real constant set 2 (for the hollow
aluminum members treated as spars), and element type 2 (the 2D link). 6. Click ‘Picked Lines’ a third
time and choose the line between keypoints 3 and 6. Assign this line material number 2 (steel), real
constant set 3 (for the steel wire), and element type 2. You are now done defining attributes; close the
Define menu. Finally we will mesh the model. Meshing: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘MeshTool’.
2. First we will set element sizes on the lines. Next to ‘Lines’ under the ‘Size Controls’ heading, click ‘Set’.
3. Pick the lines between keypoints 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and 4 and 5, then click ‘OK’. 4. Enter 0.1 in
the element edge length box, then click ‘OK’. This requests that the lines be divided into elements (beam
elements in this case) 0.1 meter long. Note that ANSYS would give accurate results even if we used only
one element per line; we are using more only to get an idea of the deformed shape. 2. Click ‘Set’ for the
line size controls again, and pick the two remaining lines (keypoints 2-4 and 3-6), then click ‘OK’. 3. Clear
the element size box and set the number of element divisions to 1, then click ‘OK’. (Since these
members will remain straight, there is no point in using more elements; in fact, using more would be
detrimental in this case.) 4. Click ‘MESH’ at the bottom of the MeshTool box, then click ‘Pick All’ in the
pick box to mesh all of the lines. You have now created your mesh; close the MeshTool. You have
finished with the preprocessor; close the Preprocessor menu. Solution Now we will define the loads and
displacements and solve the problem: Defining displacements: 1. Click ‘Solution’ on the ANSYS main
menu. Page 14 2. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading, click ‘Apply’. (We don’t need to explicitly define an
analysis type here since the type we want, Static, is the default.) 3. Click ‘Displacement’. 4. Click ‘On
Keypoints’. 5. Click the bottom of the vertical portion of the frame and the lower end of the wire
(keypoints 1 and 6), then click ‘OK’. 6. Click ‘UX’ and ‘UY’ in the box that appears, and enter 0 in the box
marked ‘Displacement value’, then click ‘OK’. This applies simple support (rotation allowed but no
translation) to both selected points. You are now done defining displacements. Close the Displacement
menu. Defining loads: 1. Click ‘Force/Moment’ on the Apply menu. 2. Click ‘On Keypoints’. 3. Pick the
end of the horizontal member of the frame (keypoint 5), then click ‘OK’. 4. Select ‘FY’ from the box
marked ‘Direction of force/moment’, then enter -100 in the ‘Force/moment value’ box and click ‘OK’.
This defines a 100 N force downward on the end of the horizontal member. Solving the problem: 1. On
the Solution menu, under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading click ‘Current LS’. Review the information summary box
that appears, and if everything appears to be in order click ‘OK’. ANSYS will now solve the problem.
Postprocessor Finally, we can view and list the results in the Postprocessor: 1. Click ‘General
Postprocessor’ on the ANSYS main menu. To plot the deformed shape of the frame: 1. Click ‘Plot Results’
on the General Postprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Deformed shape’. 3. Choose ‘Def shape only’, ‘Def +
undeformed’, or ‘Def + undef edge’, depending on whether you want to see the deformed shape alone
or with the undeformed shape as well. A plot of the deformed shape with the undeformed shape’s edge
is shown in Figure 3.2. Page 15 Figure 3.2 To list the stresses in the elements as well as other element
data: 1. Click ‘List Results’ on the General Postprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Element Solution’. 3. Choose
‘LineElem Results’ in the left box, and ‘Structural’ in the right, then click ‘OK’. The results in the window
that appears can also be printed out or saved to a file from the ‘File’ menu in that window. To list the
forces at each node, repeat the above procedure but choose ‘Nodal force data’ in the left box. To list the
reactions at the supports: 1. On the List Results menu, click ‘Reaction Solu’. 2. Choose the types of
reactions you wish to see and click ‘OK’. Example 4: 3-D Truss In this example we will solve for the
member forces and deflections of an elastic three-dimensional truss, shown in Figure 4.1. Page 16 Figure
4.1 Preprocessor First we will select an element type, define element and material properties, and
define nodes and elements: Selecting an element type: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Element
Type’. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Link’ in the left box and ‘3D spar 8’ in the right,
then click ‘OK’. This selects the 3D spar (twoforce member) element. Defining real constants: For this
problem we will use inches as our distance units and pounds for our force units. 1. On the Preprocessor
menu, click ‘Real Constants’. 2. Click ‘Add’, then ‘OK’ in the box that appears. 3. Enter 1 (1 square inch)
in the box marked ‘Cross-sectional area’. All the members will have this crosssectional area, so only one
real constant set is needed. Now click ‘OK’ and close the Real Constants box. Defining material
properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material Models’, then click
‘OK’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally
‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter 30e6 in the box marked ‘EX’. This is a ballpark value for steel. Then click ‘OK’. Page 17
For this problem, we will create nodes and elements directly rather than making an intermediate model.
Defining nodes: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Create’. 2. Click
‘Nodes’ (in the bottom section of the menu). 3. Click ‘In Active CS’. 4. Enter the following nodes, clicking
‘Apply’ after each one: Node number X Y Z 1 0 0 0 2 36 0 0 3 36 36 0 4 0 36 0 5 0 0 36 6 36 0 36 7 36 36
36 8 0 36 36 9 0 0 72 10 36 0 72 11 36 36 72 12 0 36 72 13 0 0 108 After you have finished, click ‘OK’ and
close the Nodes menu. Defining elements: You almost certainly want to rotate the view in the graphics
window now so that you can see all of the nodes clearly and distinctly. You can do this by choosing
‘Pan/Zoom/Rotate’ from the PlotCtrls menu on the utility menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the
‘+X’, ‘-X’, etc. buttons until you are satisfied with the picture on the screen, then click ‘Close’. 1. Click
‘Elements’ on the Create menu (just below Nodes). 2. Under the ‘-Auto Numbered-‘ heading, click ‘Thru
Nodes’. 3. First we will create the horizontal and vertical elements, since they will clutter the graphics
window less than the diagonal elements. From this window you can create elements by clicking on the
nodes at their Page 18 ends, then clicking ‘Apply’; create elements in a square pattern between nodes 1-
2-3-4, 5-6-7-8, and 9-10- 11-12, as shown in Figure 4.2 (note that node 1 is at the origin and is not visibly
numbered). Figure 4.2 4. Now create vertical elements between vertically adjoining nodes, as shown in
Figure 4.3. Figure 4.3 5. Now create diagonal elements across each horizontal square pattern of
elements, going from the corner nearest the origin to the corner opposite, as shown in the Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4 Page 19 6. Finally, create the out-of-plane diagonal elements. These should slope down from
the node in one tier closest to the origin to the adjoining nodes in the one below (Figure 4.5), and from
the node in one tier farthest from the origin to those same nodes in the one below. There should also be
one last element from node 13 to node 11. The final configuration should match Figure 4.1 (repeated
below). Figure 4.5 Figure 4.1 (repeated) Solution Next we will apply loads and support displacements,
then solve the problem. Applying displacements: 1. On the Solution menu, under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading
click ‘Apply’. 2. Click ‘Displacement’. 3. Click ‘On Nodes’. 4. Pick nodes 1, 2, 3, and 4, then click ‘OK’. 5.
Select ‘All DOF’ and enter a displacement value of 0. This fixes the nodes at the bottom of the truss.
Applying loads: 1. On the Apply menu, click ‘Force/Moment’. Page 20 2. Click ‘On Nodes’. 3. Click node
13, then click ‘OK’. 4. Leave the direction of the force as ‘FX’, and enter a value of 1000, then click ‘OK’.
Solving the problem: 1. Under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading of the Solution menu, click ‘Current LS’. Review the
information presented, and if everything seems in order, click ‘OK’. ANSYS will solve the problem.
Postprocessor Finally we will view the deformed shape and list the member forces in the Postprocessor.
Viewing the deformed shape: 1. On the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Plot Results’. 2. Click
‘Deformed Shape’. 3. Choose ‘Def + undef edge’ to see the deformed shape plus the edges of the
original shape, then click ‘OK’. Listing member forces: 1. On the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘List
Results’. 2. Click ‘Element Solution’. 3. Click ‘Nodal force data’ in the left window, then click ‘OK’. A listing
of the forces in each element will appear. Example 5: Simple 2-D Heat Transfer In this example we will
solve a simple transfer problem on the plate-with-three-holes model we used for our first example on
static 2-D stress analysis. Preprocessor First we will read in the database file from the original example.
Reading in the database: 1. On the ‘File’ menu on the menu bar at the top of the screen, click ‘Resume
from’. 2. In the file selection box that appears, find and select your database file, then click ‘OK’. Next we
will define the new element type. Defining an element type: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click
‘Element Type’. Page 21 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’ 4. Choose ‘Solid’ under the Thermal
heading in the left box (you will need to scroll down), and ‘Quad 4node 55’ in the right box, then click
‘OK’. This selects a four-noded quadrilateral 2-D thermal element. Next we will input the additional
material property needed for this thermal problem: The material’s thermal conductivity. Defining
material properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material Models’, then
click ‘OK’. 3. Double-click ‘Thermal’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Conductivity’, then ‘Isotropic’.
4. Enter 154 in the box marked ‘KXX’ (154 W/m-K is the thermal conductivity of 6061-T4 aluminum),
then click ‘OK’. Now we will destroy the old mesh and create a new one using the new thermal element
type. Meshing: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘MeshTool’. 2. Click ‘Clear’ (near the bottom of the
box). 3. Click on the plate, then click ‘OK’ in the Clear Areas pick box (or just click ‘Pick All’ in the pick
box). The elements will now be removed (all if you have plotted the elements, they will still be shown in
the graphics window). 4. Now, in the Element Attributes section of the MeshTool, choose ‘Global’ and
click ‘Set’. 5. Click on the box labeled ‘Element type number’, then select the PLANE55 element (the
thermal element defined earlier). Now click ‘OK’. 6. Click ‘Mesh’, then ‘Pick All’ in the Mesh pick box.
ANSYS will now mesh the model with thermal fournoded quadrilateral elements. 7. Close the MeshTool.
Solution Next we apply thermal “loads” and solve the problem in the Solution phase. First we will
remove the old displacement and load boundary conditions from the earlier analysis. Applying loads: 1.
Click ‘Delete’ under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution menu. 2. Click ‘All Load Data’. 3. Click ‘All Loads
& Opts’. 4. Click ‘OK’ in the confirmation box. Page 22 Now we will apply the thermal boundary
conditions. Applying boundary conditions: 1. Click ‘Apply’ under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution
menu. 2. Under the ‘-Thermal-‘ heading, click ‘Temperature’. 3. Click ‘On lines’. 4. Pick the left edge of
the plate, then click ‘OK’ in the pick box. 5. Enter 0 into the box for load TEMP value (for 0 degrees
Celsius, or whatever reference temperature you choose), then click ‘OK’. 6. Now click ‘Heat Flux’ under
the ‘-Thermal-‘ heading on the Apply menu. 7. Click ‘On Lines’. 8. Click the right edge of the plate, then
click ‘OK’ in the pick box. 9. Enter a heat flux of 100 (100 W/m per meter depth of the plate), then click
‘OK’. The other sides are left “free”, which corresponds to perfectly insulated conditions (zero heat flux).
Now we have finished applying boundary conditions and are ready to solve the problem. Click ‘Current
LS’ under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading on the solution menu (as usual). Postprocessor Finally, we will display the
results in the Postprocessor. 1. On the Postprocessor menu, click ‘Plot Results’. 2. Click ‘Nodal Solu’. 3.
Choose ‘DOF solution’ in the left box, and ‘Temperature’ in the right (you will have to scroll down), then
click ‘OK’. A plot of the temperature distribution will appear (not shown, as it has few unusual features).
Example 6: Modal Analysis In this example we will find the first five natural modes and frequencies of a
square plate with simply supported edges and a circular hole at its center, shown in Figure 6.1. Page 23
Figure 6.1 Preprocessor Element type: Since this is an essentially three-dimensional problem (because of
the out-of-plane vibration modes of the plate), we will need a shell element rather than a simple 2-D
quadrilateral. 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Element Type’. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click
‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Shell’ under the Structural heading from the list on the left, and ‘Elastic 8node 93’ from
the list on the right, then click ‘OK’. Real constants: The plate thickness is necessary to solve this
problem, and is input as a real constant. 1. Click ‘Real Constants’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click
‘Add’. 3. Click ‘OK’ in the Element Type for Real Constants box (there is only the one element type to
define real constants for). 4. Enter 0.001 (1 mm) in all four boxes for shell thickness, then click ‘OK’. (It is
possible to define different thicknesses for different nodes on the plate, but we will choose a plate of
uniform thickness here.) Material properties: We will use generic values for aluminum for this problem.
1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor menu. Page 24 2. Click ‘Material Models’, then click ‘OK’. 3.
Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally
‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter in 70e9 (70 GPa) for Young’s modulus, and 0.3 for Poisson’s ratio, then click ‘OK’. 5.
Double-click ‘Density’ in the right side of the window, then enter 2.7e3 (2700 kg/cubic meter) for the
material’s density and click ‘OK’. Modeling: Now we will create the model. 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘
heading on the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Create’. 2. Under the ‘-Areas-‘ heading, click ‘Rectangle’. 3.
Click ‘By Dimensions’. 4. Enter in the following values: X1,X2 -0.5 0.5 Y1,Y2 -0.5 0.5 This creates a square
1 meter on a side, centered at the origin. 5. Now click ‘Circle’ under the ‘-Areas-‘ heading on the Create
menu. 6. Click ‘By Dimensions’. 7. Enter 0.2 for the outer radius, then click ‘OK’. 8. Now close the Circle
and Create menus, and under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Operate’. 9.
Under the ‘-Booleans-‘ heading, click ‘Subtract’. 10. Click ‘Areas’. 11. Click on the square, then click ‘OK’
to select the square to be subtracted from. (A box will appear saying that there are 2 areas at the
selected location, and that area 1 is selected. Area 1 will be the square, so just click ‘OK’.) 12. Next, click
on the circle, then click ‘OK’ to subtract the circle from the square. (The same box as previously will
appear; this time click ‘Next’ to designate area 2 -- the circle—to be subtracted, then click ‘OK’.) You
have now finished constructing your model. Meshing: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘MeshTool’. 2.
Under Lines in the Size Controls section, click ‘Set’. 3. In the pick box, click ‘Pick All’. Page 25 4. Enter 10
into the box for number of element divisions, then click ‘OK’. 5. In the MeshTool box, click ‘Mesh’; in the
pick box that appears, click ‘Pick All’. ANSYS will now mesh the model. You are now done with the
Preprocessor. Solution Defining the analysis: 1. On the Solution menu, click ‘New Analysis’. 2. Choose
‘Modal’, then click ‘OK’. 3. On the Solution menu, click ‘Analysis Options’. 4. Enter 5 in the box for
number of modes to extract and set the mode extraction method to ‘Subspace’, then click ‘OK’. Since we
have defined a fairly fine mesh, we can easily get accurate results for this many modes. 5. Click ‘OK’ in
the box for subspace modal analysis options. Applying boundary conditions: 1. On the Solution menu
under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading, click ‘Apply’. 2. Click ‘Displacement’. 3. Click ‘On Lines’. 4. Click the top and
bottom of the plate, then click ‘OK’. (Both the top and bottom will have the same degrees of freedom
constrained.) 5. Select ‘UY’ to be constrained, then enter a displacement value of 0 and click ‘Apply’. 6.
Select the left and right sides of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 7. Select ‘UX’ to be constrained, then enter a
displacement value of 0 and click ‘Apply’. 8. Finally, since all the edges need to be constrained in the Z
direction, click all four edges of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 9. Select ‘UZ’ to be constrained, then enter a
displacement value of 0 and click ‘OK’. Solving the problem: 1. On the Solution menu under the ‘-Solve-‘
heading, click ‘Current LS’. 2. Review the analysis summary information presented; in particular, make
sure that the number of modes to extract is the number that you want. If everything is in order, click
‘OK’ in the Solve Current Load Step window. ANSYS will now solve the problem. (For modal analysis,
ANSYS may give a warning that the mode shapes found will be for viewing purposes only; you can ignore
this.) You are now done with the Solution phase. Page 26 Postprocessor Viewing the mode shapes: 1. On
the General Postprocessor menu under the ‘-Read Results-‘ heading, click ‘First Set’. 2. Click ‘Plot
Results’. 3. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 4. Choose ‘DOF solution’ in the box on
the left, and ‘Translation UZ’ in the right to see the out-of-plane displacements. The mode frequency will
be displayed on the right side of the graphics window as ‘FREQ’. 5. To view the other modes, go back to
the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Next Set’ under the ‘-Read Results-‘ heading, then repeat steps
2-4 above. The first mode is shown in Figure 6.2 Figure 6.2 Example 7: Plate Buckling Analysis Part 1:
Eigenvalue Buckling Analysis In the first part of this example we will find the critical load for buckling of a
thin flat plate by eigenvalue buckling analysis. From the ANSYS online help: “Eigenvalue buckling analysis
predicts the theoretical buckling strength of an ideal linear elastic structure. This method corresponds to
the textbook approach to elastic buckling analysis ... However, imperfections and nonlinearities prevent
most real-world structures from achieving their theoretical elastic buckling strength.” The second part of
this example will detail the second, more accurate type of buckling analysis available in ANSYS—
nonlinear buckling analysis. Page 27 The plate to be analyzed is shown in Figure 7.1. It is 20 cm long, 10
cm wide, 1 mm thick, and made of steel with E = 210 GPa and nu = 0.3. Thin plate buckling theory
predicts that it will buckle in the second mode when the applied load is 75.9 kN/m. Figure 7.1 Eigenvalue
buckling analysis in ANSYS has four steps: 1. Build the model 2. Obtain the static solution 3. Obtain and
expand the eigenvalue buckling solution 4. Review the results Preprocessor Element type: Because the
plate will develop out-of-plane displacements, we will need to use a shell element type for it. 1. On the
Preprocessor menu, click ‘Element Type’. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Shell’
under the Structural heading from the list on the left, and ‘Elastic 8node 93’ from the list on the right,
then click ‘OK’. Real constants: 1. Click ‘Real Constants’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Add’. 3. Click
‘OK’ in the Element Type for Real Constants box. Page 28 4. Enter 0.001 (1 mm) in all four boxes for shell
thickness, then click ‘OK’. Material properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2.
Click ‘Material Models’, then click ‘OK’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then
‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally ‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter in 210e9 (210 GPa) for Young’s modulus and 0.3
for Poisson’s ratio, then click ‘OK’. Modeling: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor
menu, click ‘Create’. 2. Under the ‘-Areas-‘ heading, click ‘Rectangle’. 3. Click ‘By Dimensions’. 4. Enter in
the following values: X1,X2 0 0.2 Y1,Y2 0 0.1 Then click ‘OK’. Meshing: 1. On the Preprocessor menu,
click ‘MeshTool’. 2. Under Lines in the Size Controls section, click ‘Set’. 3. Pick the left and right edges of
the plate, then click ‘OK’. 4. Set the number of element divisions to 8, then click ‘Apply’. (We desire a
reasonably fine mesh for accuracy, but of course not too fine.) 5. Pick the top and bottom edges of the
plate, and set the number of element divisions to 16. 6. Choose ‘Map’ under the Mesher heading. This
will give a simple grid of elements from the line size controls we just set. 7. Click ‘Mesh’, then click ‘Pick
All’ on the Mesh Areas pick box. (This is faster than picking the plate, then clicking ‘OK’). ANSYS will now
mesh the plate. You are now done with the Preprocessor. Solution (static analysis) Applying boundary
conditions: 1. Click ‘Apply’ under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution menu. 2. Click ‘Displacement’.
Page 29 3. Click ‘On Lines’. 4. Click ‘Pick All’ in the pick box to apply displacement to all the edges. 5.
Select UZ to be constrained, then enter a displacement value of 0 and click ‘OK’. Applying loads: The
eigenvalue buckling analysis outputs scale factors on the pre-existing loads rather than loads
themselves, so it is most convenient to apply unit loads. 1. On the Apply Loads menu, click ‘Pressure’. 2.
Click ‘On Lines’. 3. Pick the left and right edges of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 4. Enter in a pressure value
of 1, then click ‘OK’. Turning on prestress effects: Prestress effects must be included in an eigenvalue
buckling analysis. Turn on prestress effects by typing “PSTRES,ON” (without the quotes) and pressing
Enter in the ANSYS command window. WITHOUT TURNING ON PRESTRESS EFFECTS YOU WILL NOT BE
ABLE TO PERFORM THE BUCKLING ANALYSIS. Solving the static analysis: 1. On the Solution menu under
the ‘Solve’ heading, click ‘Current LS’. 2. Review the solution information given. If everything is in order
click ‘OK’. ANSYS will then solve the static analysis. Solution (eigenvalue buckling analysis) Setting the
eigenvalue buckling analysis type: 1. On the Solution menu under the ‘-Analysis Type-‘ heading, click
‘New Analysis’. 2. Choose ‘Eigen Buckling’, then click ‘OK’. The Solution menu will disappear after this,
and you will need to bring it back up. Setting analysis options: 1. On the Solution menu, click ‘Analysis
Options’. 2. Set the mode extraction method to ‘Subspace’, and enter in 2 for the number of modes to
extract (we are only interested in the first mode in which it buckles, but the absence of any constraints
on rotation about the Z axis will introduce an extra “buckling” mode of simple rotation at a load of
approximately 0). Then click ‘OK’. 3. In the Subspace Eigenvalue Buckling box that appears, leave all the
settings at their defaults and click ‘OK’. Page 30 Setting mode expansion options: 1. Under the ‘-Load
Step Opts-‘ heading, click ‘ExpansionPass’. 2. Click ‘Expand Modes’. 3. Enter 2 in the box for number of
modes to expand, then click ‘OK’. Solving the eigenvalue buckling analysis: 1. On the Solution menu
under ‘-Solve-‘, click ‘Current LS’. 2. Review the solution information given. If everything is in order click
‘OK’. ANSYS will then solve the eigenvalue buckling analysis. Postprocessor Listing buckling loads: 1. On
the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Results Summary’. The number in the ‘TIME/FREQ’ column is the
buckling load. ANSYS gives the buckling load as 75,127 N/m, close to the expected value of 75.9 kN/m.
Viewing the buckled shape: 1. On the General Postprocessor menu under the ‘-Read Results-‘ heading,
click ‘Last Set’. This will read in the second set of mode results, the one for the actual buckling mode. 2.
On the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Plot Results’. 3. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click
‘Nodal Solu’. 4. In the left box select ‘DOF solution’, and in the right box select ‘Translation UZ’, then click
‘OK’. Figure 7.2 shows the results; the plate buckles in mode 2 as expected. Figure 7.2 Page 31 Example
8: Plate Buckling Analysis Part 2: Nonlinear Buckling Analysis In the second part of this example we will
find the critical load for buckling of a thin flat plate by nonlinear buckling analysis. Nonlinear buckling
analysis in ANSYS is somewhat simpler than eigenvalue buckling analysis since there is only one solution
step; however, it can require more than one load step in solution. In general, a nonlinear buckling
analysis is simply a nonlinear static analysis in which the load is increased until the solution fails to
converge, indicating that the structure cannot support the applied load (or that numerical difficulties
prevent solution). If the structure does not lose its ability to support additional load when it buckles (the
plate we are analyzing is an example of such a structure), a nonlinear buckling analysis can also be used
to track post-buckling behavior. We will not carry out post-buckling analysis here because of uncertainty
in the validity of the results. We will use the plate model from the previous part of this example, so we
do not need to use the Preprocessor. Solution Setting the analysis type: 1. On the Solution menu, click
‘New Analysis’. 2. Choose ‘Static’, then click ‘OK’. 3. Click ‘Analysis Options’. 4. Set large deformation
effects (NLGEOM) to ‘ON’. 5. Under the ‘[SSTIF][PSTRES]’ heading near the bottom of the box, click the
box next to ‘Stress stiffness or prestress’ and choose ‘Stress stiff ON’. Then click ‘OK’. Applying loads: We
will use two load steps for this problem. From the ANSYS manual, “A load step is simply a configuration
of loads for which a solution is obtained.” Each load step is divided into one or more substeps, where
solutions are calculated. In a nonlinear static analysis, multiple substeps are used to apply the loads
gradually so that a more accurate solution can be obtained; in a dynamic analysis they are used to
specify time steps for integration. For this problem we will use one load step to load the plate edges up
to 70 kN/m, then another to slowly increase the load from 70 kN/m to 80 kN/m, past the expected
buckling load. We will also apply a small out-of-plane load to the plate where maximum displacement
occurred in the eigenvalue buckling analysis, to generate the initial out-of-plane displacement to get
buckling started. First load step: 1. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution menu, click ‘Apply’. 2.
Click ‘Pressure’. 3. Click ‘On Lines’. Page 32 4. Pick the left and right edges of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 5.
Enter a pressure value of 70e3, then click ‘OK’. 6. On the Apply Loads menu, click ‘Force/Moment’. 7.
Click ‘On Nodes’. 8. Click the fourth node from on the left on the centerline of the plate, then click ‘OK’.
9. Select ‘FZ’ for the force direction and enter a load value of 0.1 (0.1 N), then click ‘OK’. This is the load
to generate the out-of-plane displacements 10. Under the ‘-Load Step Opts-‘ heading on the Solution
menu, click ‘Time/Frequenc’. 11. Click ‘Time and Substeps’. 12. Enter a time at end of load step of 70e3
and a number of substeps of 3. (Since this is not a timedependent problem, time is just a dummy
variable and will be used in this case to keep track of the applied load. The number of substeps is chosen
to give the solution plenty of chance to converge.) Leave the boundary conditions set to ‘Ramped’ to
gradually apply the load. 13. On the Solution menu, click ‘Write LS File’. (You will need to click
‘Unabridged Menu’ on the Solution menu to access this menu item in ANSYS 5.7.) 14. Enter a load step
number of 1, then click ‘OK’. Second load step: 1. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution menu,
click ‘Apply’. 2. Click ‘Pressure’. 3. Click ‘On Lines’. 4. Pick the left and right edges of the plate, then click
‘OK’. 5. Enter a pressure value of 80e3, then click ‘OK’. 6. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the Solution
menu, click ‘Delete’. 7. Click ‘Force/Moment’. 8. Click ‘On Nodes’. 9. Pick the node where we applied the
out-of-plane force, then click ‘OK’. 10. Leave the force/moment to be deleted set to ‘ALL’, and click ‘OK’.
11. Under the ‘-Load Step Options-‘ heading on the Solution menu, click ‘Output Ctrls’. 12. Click
‘DB/Results File’. 13. Choose a file write frequency of every substep, then click ‘OK’. (We will want to
view the results at every load value to determine the buckling load). 14. Under the ‘-Load Step Options-‘
heading on the Solution menu, click ‘Time/Frequenc’. 15. Click ‘Time and Substps’. Page 33 16. Enter a
time at the end of the load step of 80e3 and a number of substeps of 10. Also enter a minimum number
of substeps of 10 in the automatic time stepping section below, so that in case ANSYS decides to
perform automatic time stepping it will give at least as many load values as desired. Then click ‘OK’. 17.
On the Solution menu, click ‘Write LS File’. 18. Enter a load step number of 2, then click ‘OK’. Solving the
problem: 1. Under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading on the Solution menu, click ‘From LS Files’. 2. Enter a starting LS
file number of 1 and an ending file number of 2, then click ‘OK’. ANSYS will now solve the problem. Since
there are 13 total solutions specified and each is somewhat long, the solution will take a while. General
Postprocessor 1. Under the ‘-Read Results-‘ heading on the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘First Set’.
2. Click ‘Plot Results’. 3. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 4. Choose ‘DOF solution’
in the left box and ‘Translation UZ’ in the right, then click ‘OK’. As before, the lack of rotation constraints
will mean some of the solutions will show rotation of the plate. This can be ignored. 5. To see the rest of
the results, under the ‘-Read Results-‘ heading on the General Postprocessor menu, click ‘Next Set’, then
repeat steps 2-4 above. From the contour plots of UZ, the plate appears to buckle at a load between 70
kN/m and 71 kN/m (time—load—is shown at the right side of the window). The plot at 71 kN/m is
shown in Figure 8.1. Figure 8.1 This is a comparatively coarse way of determining buckling load. To get a
more precise value we could modify load step 2 to go from 70 kN/m to 71 kN/m with as many substeps
as before. If the plate had Page 34 buckled catastrophically (losing its ability to support further load), we
could also have found the buckling load quickly by activating automatic time stepping, which would have
bisected the load range repeatedly until it reached the (user-specified) minimum load increment
between the upper and lower bounds on the buckling load. However, since the plate continues to
support additional load after it buckles, ANSYS cannot tell by itself when buckling occurs in this case.
Time History Postprocessor We will use the Time History Postprocessor to plot the out-of-plane
displacement of the plate versus load. 1. On the ANSYS Main menu, click ‘TimeHist Postpro’. 2. We will
need to see the elements and nodes, so click ‘Elements’ under the ‘Plot’ menu on the ANSYS utility
menu bar at the top of the screen. 3. On the TimeHist Postprocessor menu, click ‘Define Variables’. 4.
Click ‘Add’. 5. Leave the variable type set to ‘Nodal DOF result’, and click ‘OK’. 6. Pick the fourth node
from the right on the centerline of the plate, then click ‘OK’. 7. Choose ‘Translation UZ’ in the lower right
box for the data item to be placed in a variable. You can also define a name (such as “zdisp”) for the
variable for convenience. When you are done click ‘OK’. 8. On the TimeHist Postprocessor menu, click
‘Graph Variables’. 9. Enter 2 as the first variable to graph (variables here must be referred to by their
reference number rather than their user-defined names), then click ‘OK’. The resulting plot is shown in
Figure 8.2. Figure 8.2 The Z displacement before 70 kN/m load is due to the out-of-plane force. The jump
in z displacement from 70 kN/m to 71 kN/m corresponds to buckling, although it is less noticeable than
the out-of-plane displacements before it. Page 35 Example 9: Simple Dynamic Analysis In this example
we will observe the deflection over time of the end of a beam hit with a short-duration impact. The
beam is 1 meter long, has a 2 cm by 2 cm square cross-section, and is made of aluminum. Preprocessor
Element type: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Element type’. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click
‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Beam’ under the Structural heading from the list on the left, and ‘2D elastic 3’ from the
list on the right, then click ‘OK’. Real constants: 1. Click ‘Real constants’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2.
Click ‘Add’ 3. Click ‘OK’ in the Element Type for Real Constants box. 4. Enter 4e-4 for the cross-sectional
area, 16e-8/12 for the area moment for inertia (ANSYS will do the arithmetic for us), and 2e-2 for the
total beam height, then click ‘OK’. Material properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor
menu. 2. Click ‘Material Models’, then click ‘OK’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the
window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally ‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter in 70e9 for Young’s modulus, 2.7e3
for density, and 0.3 for Poisson’s ratio. Modeling: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor
menu, click ‘Create’. 2. Click ‘Keypoints’. 3. Click ‘In Active CS’. 4. Define the following keypoints:
Keypoint X Y 1 0 0 2 1 0 Page 36 5. On the Create menu, under the ‘-Lines-‘ heading click ‘Lines’. 6. Click
‘In Active Coord’. 7. Click the two keypoints, then click ‘OK’. Meshing: 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click
‘MeshTool’. 2. Under Lines in the Size Controls section, click ‘Set’. 3. In the pick box, click ‘Pick All’. (This
is faster than clicking the one line then clicking ‘OK’). 4. Enter 20 into the box for number of element
divisions, then click ‘OK’. 5. In the MeshTool box, click ‘Mesh’; in the pick box, click ‘Pick All’. The model
is now meshed, and you are done in the Preprocessor. Solution Defining the analysis: 1. On the Solution
menu, click ‘New Analysis’. 2. Choose ‘Transient’, then click ‘OK’. Applying loads: In a transient analysis
in ANSYS, the total time span of the analysis is broken up into “load steps”, specific periods of different
loading configurations. In this analysis we will use four load steps: Ramped application of the force to
the end of the beam from time 0 to 10-5 seconds. Constant force on the beam from 10-5 seconds to
5x10-5 seconds Ramped removal of the force from 5x10-5 seconds to 6x10-5 seconds No applied loads
from 6x10-5 seconds to 0.06 seconds. In defining these load steps we will take advantage of ANSYS’s
feature of automatically ramping loads to their final values. First load step: 1. Under the ‘-Loads-‘
heading on the Solution menu, click ‘Apply’. 2. Click ‘Displacement’. 3. Click ‘On Keypoints’. 4. Click the
left end of the beam, then click ‘OK’. 5. Click ‘All DOF’, then click ‘OK’. 6. On the Apply Loads menu, click
‘Force/Moment’. 7. Click ‘On Keypoints’. 8. Click the right end of the beam, then click ‘OK’. Page 37 9.
Choose the direction of the force as FY and enter a value of 1e3 (1 kN), then click ‘OK’. 10. On the
Solution menu, under the ‘-Load Step Opts-‘ heading click ‘Output Ctrls’. 11. Click ‘DB/Results File’. 12.
Choose a file write frequency of once every substep, then click ‘OK’. 13. On the Solution menu, under
the ‘-Load Step Opts-‘ heading click ‘Time/Frequency’. 14. Click ‘Time - Time Step’. 15. Enter a time at
the end of the load step of 1e-5 and a time step of 1e-6, then click ‘OK’. 16. On the Solution menu, click
‘Write LS File’. (You will need to click ‘Unabridged Menu’ on the Solution menu to access this menu item
in ANSYS 5.7.) 17. Enter a load step number of 1, then click ‘OK’. Second load step: We will be able to
keep most of the same settings from the previous load step now. 1. On the Solution menu, under the ‘-
Load Step Opts-‘ heading click ‘Time/Frequency’. 2. Click ‘Time - Time Step’. 3. Enter a time at the end of
the load step of 5e-5 and a time step size of 5e-6, the click ‘OK’. We will keep the same loading,
constraints, and so forth. The force on the end of the beam was ramped in the last load step, but since
in this load step it has the same starting and ending value it will be constant. 4. On the Solution menu,
click ‘Write LS File’. 5. Enter a load step number of 2, then click ‘OK’. Third load step: 1. On the Solution
menu, under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading click ‘Delete’. 2. Click ‘Force/Moment’ under the ‘-Structural-‘
heading. 3. Click ‘On Keypoints’. 4. Click the right end of the beam, then click ‘OK’. 5. Leave the
force/moment to be deleted set to ‘ALL’, and click ‘OK’. 6. On the Solution menu, under the ‘-Load Step
Opts-‘ heading click ‘Time/Frequency. 7. Click ‘Time - Time Step’. 8. Enter a time at the end of the load
step of 6e-5 and a time step size of 1e-6, then click ‘OK’. 9. On the Solution menu, click ‘Write LS File’.
10. Enter in a load step number of 3, then click ‘OK’. Page 38 Fourth load step: 1. On the Solution menu,
under the ‘-Load Step Opts-‘ heading click ‘Time/Frequency’. 2. Click ‘Time - Time Step’. 3. Enter in a
time at the end of the load step of 0.06 and a time step of 6e-4. (This will result in a large number of
individual steps in solution, but since each step in this transient analysis takes a very short amount of
time the total time for solution will still be okay.) 4. On the Solution menu, click ‘Write LS File’. 5. Enter a
load step number of 4, then click ‘OK’. Solving the problem: 1. On the Solution menu, under the ‘-Solve-‘
heading click ‘From LS Files’. 2. Enter a starting load step number of 1 and an ending load step number
of 4, then click ‘OK’. ANSYS will now solve the problem according to the load step files. Postprocessor
For problems with multiple steps, we use the Time History Postprocessor. In this problem, we will use
the Time History Postprocessor to graph the deflection of the beam tip versus time. 1. On the ANSYS
main menu, click ‘TimeHist Postpro’. 2. Click ‘Define Variables’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Leave the type of
variable set to ‘Nodal DOF result’ and click ‘OK’. 5. Click the right end of the beam, then click ‘OK’. 6.
Choose ‘Translation UY’ from the box at the right. You can also give the variable a name such as
“disp_end” in the user-specified label box. Then click ‘OK’. 7. On the TimeHist Postprocessor menu, click
‘Graph Variables’. 8. Enter ‘2’ as the first variable to graph (in this section ANSYS only recognizes variable
reference numbers, not user-specified names). Then click ‘OK’. The graph is shown in Figure 9.1. Page 39
Figure 9.1 Example 10: Box Beam In this example we will analyze a box beam—that is, a beam
constructed of a thin web intended to bear shear stress between a set of booms intended to bear
normal stresses. This structure is very similar to the idealized beam sections modeled in AA 332, except
that the booms and web will be modeled as beam and plate elements rather than axial-force-only rods
and shear-only panels; this will provide a more realistic model, and using only rods and shear panels for
this sort of analysis often leaves too many unconstrained degrees of freedom for ANSYS to solve. The
beam to be analyzed is shown in Figure 10.1; it is 1 meter long, 20 cm wide, and 20 cm deep; the booms
have a square cross-section 1 cm on a side and the web is 0.5 mm thick. The entire structure is made of
aluminum with E = 70 GPa and nu = 0.3. A load of 1 kilonewton is applied at the center of the top boom
at the right end of the beam. Page 40 Figure 10.1 Preprocessor Element type: We will need two element
types for this problem: a 3D beam element and a shell element. 1. On the Preprocessor menu, click
‘Element Type’. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’. 4. Choose ‘Beam’ under the Structural heading
on the left and ‘3D elastic 4’ on the right (you will need to scroll down), then click ‘Apply’. 5. Choose
‘Shell’ under the Structural heading on the left and ‘Elastic 4node 63’ on the right, then click ‘OK’. Real
constants: 1. Click ‘Real Constants’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Add/Edit/Delete’. 3. Click ‘Add’.
3. Choose ‘Type 1 BEAM1’, then click ‘OK’. 4. Enter an area of 1e-4, second area moments of 1e-8/12,
and thicknesses in the Y and Z directions of 1e2, then click ‘OK’. 5. Click ‘Add’ again. 6. Choose ‘Type 2
SHELL63’, then click ‘OK’. 7. Enter a thickness at each node of 0.0005, then click ‘OK’. Page 41 Material
properties: 1. Click ‘Material Props’ on the Preprocessor menu. 2. Click ‘Material Models’, then click
‘OK’. 3. Double-click ‘Structural’ in the right side of the window, then ‘Linear’, then ‘Elastic’, then finally
‘Isotropic’. 4. Enter a modulus of elasticity (“EX”) of 70e9 and a Poisson’s ratio (“PRXY”) of 0.3, then click
‘OK’. Modeling: Defining keypoints: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click
‘Create’. 2. Click ‘Keypoints’. 3. Click ‘In Active CS’. 4. Define the following keypoints, clicking ‘Apply’
after each: Keypoint number X Y Z 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.2 0 3 0 0.2 0.2 4 0 0 0.2 5 1.1 0 0 6 1.3 0 0 The last two
keypoints are not part of the model; however, they will be used later to help create the areas for the
model. When you have finished, click ‘Cancel’. Creating lines: 1. On the ‘Create’ menu, click ‘Lines’. 2.
Click ‘Straight Line’. 3. Create lines from keypoints 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-1 by clicking on the endpoints of
each line. You should have a square in the YZ plane. Note that you will need to use the Pan-Zoom-Rotate
function on the PlotCtrls menu to be able to select the points. 4. Create a line between keypoints 5 and
6, then click ‘Cancel’. Creating areas: 1. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click
‘Operate’. 2. Click ‘Extrude / Sweep’. This menu allows you to easily create prisms and bodies of
revolution. Page 42 3. Under the ‘-Lines-‘ heading, click ‘Along Lines’. 4. Select the lines in the square
between keypoints 1-4, then click ‘OK’. 5. Select the line between keypoints 5 and 6, then click ‘Apply’.
ANSYS will now create areas defined by sweeping the lines selected in step 4 through the direction and
length of the line just picked. 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 (selecting the lines at the “front” of each newly
created set of areas) until you have five square tubular segments, then click ‘Cancel’. These segments
will form the box beam. 7. You will now want to remove the line between keypoints 5 and 6 so that it
won’t get in the way later. Under the ‘-Modeling-‘ heading on the Preprocessor menu, click ‘Delete’. 8.
Click ‘Lines and Below’. This will delete a line and all the points used to define it. 9. Click the line
between keypoints 5 and 6, then click ‘OK’. Defining element attributes: 1. On the Preprocessor menu,
click ‘MeshTool’. 2. Under ‘Element Attributes’, click ‘Areas’, then click ‘Set’. 3. Click ‘Pick All’, choose
real constant set 2 (for the shell elements) and element type 2 (SHELL63), then click ‘OK’. 4. Again under
‘Element Attributes’, click ‘Lines’, then click ‘Set’. 5. Click ‘Pick All’, choose real constant set 1 (for the
beam elements) and element type 1 (BEAM4), then click ‘OK’. Meshing: We will use a moderate-sized
mesh for this problem, since theory says that the stresses in the box beam will not vary rapidly. 1. In the
MeshTool box, under the Size Controls heading, click ‘Set’ next to ‘Global’ 2. Enter 4 as the number of
element divisions, then click ‘OK’. 4. Under the Mesh heading, choose ‘Areas’, then choose the mapped
mesher and click ‘Mesh’. 5. Click ‘Pick All’. ANSYS will now mesh the web of the box beam. 6. Under the
Mesh heading, choose ‘Lines’, then click ‘Mesh’. 7. Click ‘Pick All’. ANSYS will now mesh the booms. You
are now done with the Preprocessor. Solution Applying loads: 1. Under the ‘-Loads-‘ heading on the
Solution menu, click ‘Apply’. 2. Click ‘Displacement’. Page 43 3. Click ‘On Lines’. 4. Click the four lines at
the back end of the box beam (in the YZ plane), then click ‘OK’. 5. Choose ‘All DOF’ as the degree of
freedom to be constrained, then enter a displacement value of zero and click ‘OK’. 6. On the ‘Apply’
menu, click ‘Force/Moment’. 7. Click ‘On Nodes’. 8. Pick the node at center of the top line at the end of
the beam (the line furthest in the X and Y directions), then click ‘OK’. 9. Choose a force direction of FY
and enter a value of -1000, then click ‘OK’. Solving the problem: 1. Under the ‘-Solve-‘ heading, click
‘Current LS’. 2. Review the information that appears. If everything appears to be in order, click ‘OK’.
ANSYS will now solve the problem. Postprocessor Viewing the von Mises stress in the beam: Since
aluminum is a ductile material, the von Mises failure criterion is appropriate for it. Since the von Mises
stress is a combined measure of all the stresses on a material, it will also help show whether the stress
in the sides of the beam is uniform as predicted by theory. 1. On the General Postprocessor menu, click
‘Plot Results’. 2. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 3. Choose ‘Stress’ from the left
box and ‘von Mises SEQV’ from the right box (you will need to scroll down), then click ‘OK’. A plot of the
von Mises stress in the beam appears (shown in Figure 10.2). Although the stresses are not uniform near
the fixed end of the beam, further out they are close to constant. Page 44 Figure 10.2 Viewing the shear
stress in the web: From an idealized-structure analysis, we expect the shear stress in the web at the
sides to be 5 MPa and the shear stress in the web at the top and bottom to be zero. 1. On the General
Postprocessor menu, click ‘Plot Results’. 2. Under the ‘-Contour Plot-‘ heading, click ‘Nodal Solu’. 3.
Choose ‘Stress from the left box and ‘XY-shear SXY’ from the right box, then click ‘OK’. The resulting plot
of shear stresses is shown in Figure 10.3; the magnitude of the stress in the side webs is close to 5 MPa,
and the XY shear stress in the top and bottom webs is small. (For a more accurate estimate we could list
the results.) Plots of the other two shear stresses also yield results consistent with theory, although
there are XZ shear stress concentrations around the ends of the vertical booms. Figure 10.3
ANSYS 5.6 Tutorials Lecture # 2 - Static Structural Analysis Example 1 – Static Analysis of a Bracket 1.
Problem Description: The objective of the problem is to demonstrate the basic ANSYS procedures for
performing a simple analysis. This problem is a simple 2 dimensional static structural problem of a
simple bracket as shown in the figure. This bracket is made of a 20 mm thick steel plate. The material
properties of steel are given below: Young’s modulus or Elastic Modulus, E = 200x109 Pascals Poisson’s
ratio, g = 0.3 Density, r = 7860 kg/m3 Loading and Boundary conditions: The plate is to be welded at the
two smaller weld holes and a point load of 1000 N has to be applied along the y-axis as shown. The
welded holes restrain the model in both x and y directions. 2. Approach and Assumptions: We assume
this problem to be a 2 dimensional problem as the applied loads and the boundary conditions are in the
x-y plane only. The thickness can be taken into account into the calculations in ANSYS without actually
modeling in 3D. The approach is to model the bracket as a 2D solid model and generate the elements
and mesh automatically. We can also create the nodes and elements separately. But such an approach
would be a waste of time for a simple model as given in the example. 80 60 R10(TYP) R20(TYP) R30 R50
PLATE THICKNESS: 20 mm ALL DIM IN mm P=1000N 3. Summary of Steps: a) Preprocessing: - Create the
solid model. - Choose the element type. - Assign real constants for the chosen element type - Assign
material properties. - Mesh the model. b) Solution: - Apply the displacement boundary conditions -
Apply the loads - Solve the model c) Post processing: - Read the results. - Plot the deformed shape.
Compare with the undeformed shape. - Plot the von Mises stress. - Animate the stress output and study
the trend - List the reaction solution - Exit ANSYS 5.6 4. Outline of Hand-out Conventions: Before
entering ANSYS 5.6, here is an outline of the layout of the tutorial handout. · The handout starts from,
“How to enter ANSYS 5.6?” to “How to end session?” However, the user may find some problems due to
the version of ANSYS or some lack of continuity in the handout or due to a different operating system.
The user may contact the instructor for clarifications. · This tutorial is designed for use on ANSYS 5.6
operating on Windows 95/97/2000 or Windows NT. Also the tutorials follows the GUI mode (Graphic
User Interface). · Whenever the handout has commands in ITALICS, it means that the user should follow
the menu options as directed. · There would also be a description of the operation performed to help
the user to understand what he is doing. · The handout will also provide with pictures, tables and menus
as it appears on the ANSYS window for more clarity. · The Analysis procedure described in the handout
may not be the only procedure to do the analysis. Neither is it the easiest procedure. But it has been
designed such that the user gets exposed to as much options as possible. 5. Starting ANSYS 5.6: · Start ->
Programs -> Engineering Programs -> ANSYS 5.6 -> Interactive · In the opened window, change the
working directory to C:\temp · Run You have now entered the ANSYS workspace. You can find that the
main menu of ANSYS is open. If not, go to MenuCtrls -> Main Menu 6. File Operations: 6.1 Title of
Analysis: In the Utility menu bar (the menu bar on the top of the screen), go to File -> Change Title. You
can give a title name of your choice. Say, “ Static Analysis of a Bracket”. 6.2 Analysis File Name: It is a
good practice to give a file name even before you start the analysis. File -> Save As One more word of
caution. ANSYS does not save the analysis into your file name when you give File -> Save. Instead it saves
it into the default filename “file.db”. So every time to save a file, we have to say File -> Save As and
overwrite the existing file. 7. Creating the Model: This is the first step of preprocessing. Preprocessing is
the ANSYS analysis phase where you provide data regarding the geometry, element type, material
properties and meshing. It would be referred in ANSYS as PREP7. The model can be created in many
different ways. One of the easiest ways is to use the Rectangle and Circle Primitives – Primitives are
simple predefined geometric shapes ANSYS provides - as effectively as possible. So the geometry is to be
viewed as an assemblage of circles and rectangles. a) Define the Rectangle: The first step is to create a
base rectangle to which circles and other rectangles are to be added upon or subtracted from. Let us
consider the lower left corner of the bracket as the origin. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Create -> (-Areas-) Rectangle -> By 2 Corners CAUTION: It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that
the consistency of units be maintained throughout the analysis. It is best to first solve a simple problem
as given in the assignment for which the analytical results are available. · Close the Rectangle Menu after
creating it. b) Create the Circle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle ->
Solid Circle · The area plot shows both rectangle and circle, which are areas, in the same color. To more
clearly distinguish between areas, turn on area numbers and colors. The "Plot Numbering Controls"
dialog box on the Utility Menu controls how items are displayed in the Graphics Window. By default, a
"replot" is automatically performed upon execution of the dialog box. The replot operation will repeat
the last plotting operation that occurred (in this case, an area plot). Utility Menu -> PlotCtrls ->
Numbering -> Area numbering ON c) Adding the Circle and Rectangle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Add -> Areas · The Select window opens. Select both the areas and
press OK. · Now you can see that the areas are merged into a single area and the area number and color
is also single. d) Creating the R30 bigger hole: · As in the previous case, we have to first draw the circle
and then perform the Boolean operation to subtract that area from the original area · Main Menu –>
Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas CIRCLE CREATION MENU BOOLEAN (Subtraction)
MENU · During the Boolean Subtraction - Pick the area from which subtraction is going to take place(the
bigger area, A3), PRESS OK. Then Pick area which is being subtracted (smaller area, A1), PRESS OK. e) To
create the Fillet: · To create the Fillet, we have to first create the Line Fillet. Then an area is created by
the enclosure formed by the line fillet and then performing the Boolean Subtraction to subtract the fillet
area from the main area. · It is better to operate with lines when we create a line fillet. · Utility Menu ->
Plot -> Lines · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->(-Modeling-) Create -> (-Lines-)Line Fillet · As shown in the
adjoining figure, the lines that are to be filleted are selected and the fillet radius is given as 20. This
creates the line fillet over the already existing area. So we have to create an area by the lines
encompassing this fillet and subtract it from the bracket area. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Arbitrary -> By Lines · In the select window, select the 3 lines that make
the area of the first fillet and click apply. Then select the area which form the second fillet and select OK
· Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · Now pick the
bracket area (Base area from which subtraction is done) and press OK in the Pick Window. Then pick the
Fillet areas (Areas to be subtracted) and press OK. f) To create the Weld Holes: · Similar to the R 30 hole
which we created in step (b), we can create the two weld holes with the following parameters.
Parameter Weld Hole 1 Weld Hole 2 WP X 20 20 WP Y 20 80 Radius 10 10 · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -
> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle · Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · The completed geometry would look like the figure below
SAVE AS.. Ur Filename.db 8. Element Type, Real Constants and Material Properties: a) Element Types -
Indicates the element types used in the problem; over 100 element types are available in ANSYS. You
choose an element type which characterizes, among other things, the degree-of-freedom set
(displacements and/or rotations, temperatures, etc.) the characteristic shape of the element (line,
quadrilateral, brick, etc.), whether the element lies in 2-D space or 3-D space, the response of your
system, and the accuracy level you're interested in. For this analysis, we can use a 8 noded structural
solid element called PLANE82. Since our system is of relatively simple geometry and loading, PLANE82 is
sufficient. Results can be made accurate by having a very fine mesh. · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->
Element type -> Add/Edit/Delete -> · Structural Family of Elements -> Solid -> Quad 8 node 82 -> OK · To
account for the thickness of the bracket, the element options is selected to include calculation of stress
including the thickness of the bracket. · Defined Element type Window -> Options -> (Pull down Menu)
Element Behavior K3 -> Plane strs w/thk . ELEMENT DEFINITION ELEMENT OPTION DEFINITION b) Real
Constants: Real constants provide additional geometry information for element types whose geometry
is not fully defined by its node locations. Typical real constants include shell thickness for shell elements
and cross-sectional properties for beam elements. All properties required as input for a particular
element type are entered as one set of real constants. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> Real constants -
> Add ->Real Constant Set Number -> THK 20 c) Material Properties: Physical properties of a material
such as modulus of elasticity or density that are independent of geometry. Although they are not
necessarily tied to the element type, the material properties required to solve the element matrices are
listed for each element type for your convenience. Depending on the application, material properties
may be linear, nonlinear, and/or anisotropic. As with element types and real constants, you may have
multiple material property sets (to correspond with multiple materials) within one analysis. Each set is
given a reference number. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> (-Constant-) Isotropic ·
Give the material a number label and press OK. · Input the material properties in the Material property
window. ANSYS provides us with a library of materials also. For accessing this library, we have to find the
path name under the ANSYS directory for MATLIB directory. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing ->
MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Library path · The Library path typically would be something like
this, c:\ansys56\matlib · Once you have entered the library, you can select from the list of materials
available in ANSYS. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Import Library
9. The Meshing Process: Having defined the material properties, element type and the real constants,
we can go ahead and mesh the model. One nice feature available in ANSYS is that we can generate the
mesh automatically without breaking our heads to calculate the optimum mesh size. Depending on the
degree of refinement required, we can choose either a course or a fine mesh size. Depending on the
generated mesh, we can even refine it further. · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Size Cntrls ->
(-Manual Size-) (-Global-)Size · In the Size field, enter the number 5. This means that the element is to
have a nominal size of 5x5 mm2 . Press OK · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Mesh -> (-Areas-)
Free · Pick the area to be meshed and press OK. You should be getting a mesh close to the one shown
below. · SAVE AS …….. filename.db 10. Loads and Constraints: Now we have started the SOLUTION phase
of the analysis. ANSYS analysis phase where you define analysis type and options, apply loads and load
options, and initiate the finite element solution. A new, static analysis is the default. a) Application of
Displacement Constraints: · As described in the problem description, the 2 smaller holes are to be
welded from the inside. This means that the degrees of freedom (dofs) are zero in the x and y directions
i.e. no displacements in the x and y directions. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Loads-) Apply ->(-Structural-)
Displacement -> On Lines · Pick the lines that comprise the weld holes and press OK. · Pick All DOF under
Lab2 -> Enter 0 for Value. · This simulates the effect of a rigidly welded hole in actual practice. b)
Application of a Point Load: As specified in the problem, a vertical load of 1000 N has to be applied on
the larger hole at the bottom quadrant point. · Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->
Force/Moment -> On Keypoints… … · Pick the Keypoint in the lower quadrant and press OK. · In the Load
Window, Choose the direction of force to be Fy. · The Apply as field is to be set at the default value of
‘Constant Value’ · In the Force/Moment Value, Input force value as –1000 as the force is a downward (-
ve y) acting force . 11. SOLUTION: Now we have finished modeling, meshing and defining the loads of
the model. Now we have to solve the model and get the results. The default setting for solution control
holds good for such a model. We have to modify the solution controls for different types of analysis as
the case demands. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Solve-) Current LS. · The above command indicates that
we are solving for the current load step. Once you click on the OK button, a dialog box that shows the
different input parameters appears. We need to review the parameters and when we find it to be
satisfactory, we can start the solution by pressing OK after closing the dialog box. · If the model is good,
a dialog box appears to say that the solution is done. · The solutions are stored in the results file “file.rst”
as this is a structural analysis. If it had been a thermal analysis, the results file is “file.rth”. · SAVE_AS
jobname.db 12. POST PROCESSING: The model has been solved and the user now has to invoke the
POSTPROCESSING to view the results in a user-friendly manner. The postprocessor processes the results
of the FEA, which is a huge 2n x 1 matrix of the displacements in the x and y directions, into user friendly
plots. Also the post processor calculates other derived quantities like Stress, Strain, Strain energy etc. for
the user to peruse. · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> (-Read Results-) Last Set · The above command
reads the final iteration result of the analysis. a) To plot the deformed shape: · Main Menu ->
Postprocessing -> Plot Results -> Deformed Shape · Now we select Def + Undefrmed press OK. · We
should get an output that should resemble something like the figure given below. b) To plot the von
Mises Stress field: · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> Plot Results ->(-Contour Plot-) -> Nodal Solution · In
the plot results window, click on the Stress field and on the right hand box, scroll down till we find von
Mises SEQV. The dialogue box would look like this. Press OK. The results would look something like the
plot given below. 13. Modifying the loads and reviewing the results: This section is an extension of the
previous model for the student to gain more insight into the analysis powers of ANSYS. The user has to
go back to the solution and delete the point load and apply other types of loads. a) Try out with a
pressure of 10000 N/m2 acting on the lower quadrant of the bigger hole. b) Include into the above
model the effect of self-weight by including the gravitational loads – Gravitational loads are listed in
Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->Gravity c) Compare the results of the above two models. d)
While solving the model with the gravity observe the solution status window before solving. The
solution status window is the one given below. 14. Quitting ANSYS 5.6: · Utility Menu -> File -> Exit -
>………… . On the window, pick on Quit, No Save References: 1. www.ansys.com 2. www.uni-
karlsruhe.de/~ANSYS/ALBERT/bracket/bracket.html 3. ANSYS Structural Analysis Command Guide
ANSYS 5.6 Tutorials Lecture # 2 - Static Structural Analysis Example 1 – Static Analysis of a Bracket 1.
Problem Description: The objective of the problem is to demonstrate the basic ANSYS procedures for
performing a simple analysis. This problem is a simple 2 dimensional static structural problem of a
simple bracket as shown in the figure. This bracket is made of a 20 mm thick steel plate. The material
properties of steel are given below: Young’s modulus or Elastic Modulus, E = 200x109 Pascals Poisson’s
ratio, g = 0.3 Density, r = 7860 kg/m3 Loading and Boundary conditions: The plate is to be welded at the
two smaller weld holes and a point load of 1000 N has to be applied along the y-axis as shown. The
welded holes restrain the model in both x and y directions. 2. Approach and Assumptions: We assume
this problem to be a 2 dimensional problem as the applied loads and the boundary conditions are in the
x-y plane only. The thickness can be taken into account into the calculations in ANSYS without actually
modeling in 3D. The approach is to model the bracket as a 2D solid model and generate the elements
and mesh automatically. We can also create the nodes and elements separately. But such an approach
would be a waste of time for a simple model as given in the example. 80 60 R10(TYP) R20(TYP) R30 R50
PLATE THICKNESS: 20 mm ALL DIM IN mm P=1000N 3. Summary of Steps: a) Preprocessing: - Create the
solid model. - Choose the element type. - Assign real constants for the chosen element type - Assign
material properties. - Mesh the model. b) Solution: - Apply the displacement boundary conditions -
Apply the loads - Solve the model c) Post processing: - Read the results. - Plot the deformed shape.
Compare with the undeformed shape. - Plot the von Mises stress. - Animate the stress output and study
the trend - List the reaction solution - Exit ANSYS 5.6 4. Outline of Hand-out Conventions: Before
entering ANSYS 5.6, here is an outline of the layout of the tutorial handout. · The handout starts from,
“How to enter ANSYS 5.6?” to “How to end session?” However, the user may find some problems due to
the version of ANSYS or some lack of continuity in the handout or due to a different operating system.
The user may contact the instructor for clarifications. · This tutorial is designed for use on ANSYS 5.6
operating on Windows 95/97/2000 or Windows NT. Also the tutorials follows the GUI mode (Graphic
User Interface). · Whenever the handout has commands in ITALICS, it means that the user should follow
the menu options as directed. · There would also be a description of the operation performed to help
the user to understand what he is doing. · The handout will also provide with pictures, tables and menus
as it appears on the ANSYS window for more clarity. · The Analysis procedure described in the handout
may not be the only procedure to do the analysis. Neither is it the easiest procedure. But it has been
designed such that the user gets exposed to as much options as possible. 5. Starting ANSYS 5.6: · Start ->
Programs -> Engineering Programs -> ANSYS 5.6 -> Interactive · In the opened window, change the
working directory to C:\temp · Run You have now entered the ANSYS workspace. You can find that the
main menu of ANSYS is open. If not, go to MenuCtrls -> Main Menu 6. File Operations: 6.1 Title of
Analysis: In the Utility menu bar (the menu bar on the top of the screen), go to File -> Change Title. You
can give a title name of your choice. Say, “ Static Analysis of a Bracket”. 6.2 Analysis File Name: It is a
good practice to give a file name even before you start the analysis. File -> Save As One more word of
caution. ANSYS does not save the analysis into your file name when you give File -> Save. Instead it saves
it into the default filename “file.db”. So every time to save a file, we have to say File -> Save As and
overwrite the existing file. 7. Creating the Model: This is the first step of preprocessing. Preprocessing is
the ANSYS analysis phase where you provide data regarding the geometry, element type, material
properties and meshing. It would be referred in ANSYS as PREP7. The model can be created in many
different ways. One of the easiest ways is to use the Rectangle and Circle Primitives – Primitives are
simple predefined geometric shapes ANSYS provides - as effectively as possible. So the geometry is to be
viewed as an assemblage of circles and rectangles. a) Define the Rectangle: The first step is to create a
base rectangle to which circles and other rectangles are to be added upon or subtracted from. Let us
consider the lower left corner of the bracket as the origin. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Create -> (-Areas-) Rectangle -> By 2 Corners CAUTION: It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that
the consistency of units be maintained throughout the analysis. It is best to first solve a simple problem
as given in the assignment for which the analytical results are available. · Close the Rectangle Menu after
creating it. b) Create the Circle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle ->
Solid Circle · The area plot shows both rectangle and circle, which are areas, in the same color. To more
clearly distinguish between areas, turn on area numbers and colors. The "Plot Numbering Controls"
dialog box on the Utility Menu controls how items are displayed in the Graphics Window. By default, a
"replot" is automatically performed upon execution of the dialog box. The replot operation will repeat
the last plotting operation that occurred (in this case, an area plot). Utility Menu -> PlotCtrls ->
Numbering -> Area numbering ON c) Adding the Circle and Rectangle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Add -> Areas · The Select window opens. Select both the areas and
press OK. · Now you can see that the areas are merged into a single area and the area number and color
is also single. d) Creating the R30 bigger hole: · As in the previous case, we have to first draw the circle
and then perform the Boolean operation to subtract that area from the original area · Main Menu –>
Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas CIRCLE CREATION MENU BOOLEAN (Subtraction)
MENU · During the Boolean Subtraction - Pick the area from which subtraction is going to take place(the
bigger area, A3), PRESS OK. Then Pick area which is being subtracted (smaller area, A1), PRESS OK. e) To
create the Fillet: · To create the Fillet, we have to first create the Line Fillet. Then an area is created by
the enclosure formed by the line fillet and then performing the Boolean Subtraction to subtract the fillet
area from the main area. · It is better to operate with lines when we create a line fillet. · Utility Menu ->
Plot -> Lines · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->(-Modeling-) Create -> (-Lines-)Line Fillet · As shown in the
adjoining figure, the lines that are to be filleted are selected and the fillet radius is given as 20. This
creates the line fillet over the already existing area. So we have to create an area by the lines
encompassing this fillet and subtract it from the bracket area. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Arbitrary -> By Lines · In the select window, select the 3 lines that make
the area of the first fillet and click apply. Then select the area which form the second fillet and select OK
· Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · Now pick the
bracket area (Base area from which subtraction is done) and press OK in the Pick Window. Then pick the
Fillet areas (Areas to be subtracted) and press OK. f) To create the Weld Holes: · Similar to the R 30 hole
which we created in step (b), we can create the two weld holes with the following parameters.
Parameter Weld Hole 1 Weld Hole 2 WP X 20 20 WP Y 20 80 Radius 10 10 · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -
> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle · Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · The completed geometry would look like the figure below
SAVE AS.. Ur Filename.db 8. Element Type, Real Constants and Material Properties: a) Element Types -
Indicates the element types used in the problem; over 100 element types are available in ANSYS. You
choose an element type which characterizes, among other things, the degree-of-freedom set
(displacements and/or rotations, temperatures, etc.) the characteristic shape of the element (line,
quadrilateral, brick, etc.), whether the element lies in 2-D space or 3-D space, the response of your
system, and the accuracy level you're interested in. For this analysis, we can use a 8 noded structural
solid element called PLANE82. Since our system is of relatively simple geometry and loading, PLANE82 is
sufficient. Results can be made accurate by having a very fine mesh. · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->
Element type -> Add/Edit/Delete -> · Structural Family of Elements -> Solid -> Quad 8 node 82 -> OK · To
account for the thickness of the bracket, the element options is selected to include calculation of stress
including the thickness of the bracket. · Defined Element type Window -> Options -> (Pull down Menu)
Element Behavior K3 -> Plane strs w/thk . ELEMENT DEFINITION ELEMENT OPTION DEFINITION b) Real
Constants: Real constants provide additional geometry information for element types whose geometry
is not fully defined by its node locations. Typical real constants include shell thickness for shell elements
and cross-sectional properties for beam elements. All properties required as input for a particular
element type are entered as one set of real constants. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> Real constants -
> Add ->Real Constant Set Number -> THK 20 c) Material Properties: Physical properties of a material
such as modulus of elasticity or density that are independent of geometry. Although they are not
necessarily tied to the element type, the material properties required to solve the element matrices are
listed for each element type for your convenience. Depending on the application, material properties
may be linear, nonlinear, and/or anisotropic. As with element types and real constants, you may have
multiple material property sets (to correspond with multiple materials) within one analysis. Each set is
given a reference number. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> (-Constant-) Isotropic ·
Give the material a number label and press OK. · Input the material properties in the Material property
window. ANSYS provides us with a library of materials also. For accessing this library, we have to find the
path name under the ANSYS directory for MATLIB directory. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing ->
MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Library path · The Library path typically would be something like
this, c:\ansys56\matlib · Once you have entered the library, you can select from the list of materials
available in ANSYS. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Import Library
9. The Meshing Process: Having defined the material properties, element type and the real constants,
we can go ahead and mesh the model. One nice feature available in ANSYS is that we can generate the
mesh automatically without breaking our heads to calculate the optimum mesh size. Depending on the
degree of refinement required, we can choose either a course or a fine mesh size. Depending on the
generated mesh, we can even refine it further. · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Size Cntrls ->
(-Manual Size-) (-Global-)Size · In the Size field, enter the number 5. This means that the element is to
have a nominal size of 5x5 mm2 . Press OK · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Mesh -> (-Areas-)
Free · Pick the area to be meshed and press OK. You should be getting a mesh close to the one shown
below. · SAVE AS …….. filename.db 10. Loads and Constraints: Now we have started the SOLUTION phase
of the analysis. ANSYS analysis phase where you define analysis type and options, apply loads and load
options, and initiate the finite element solution. A new, static analysis is the default. a) Application of
Displacement Constraints: · As described in the problem description, the 2 smaller holes are to be
welded from the inside. This means that the degrees of freedom (dofs) are zero in the x and y directions
i.e. no displacements in the x and y directions. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Loads-) Apply ->(-Structural-)
Displacement -> On Lines · Pick the lines that comprise the weld holes and press OK. · Pick All DOF under
Lab2 -> Enter 0 for Value. · This simulates the effect of a rigidly welded hole in actual practice. b)
Application of a Point Load: As specified in the problem, a vertical load of 1000 N has to be applied on
the larger hole at the bottom quadrant point. · Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->
Force/Moment -> On Keypoints… … · Pick the Keypoint in the lower quadrant and press OK. · In the Load
Window, Choose the direction of force to be Fy. · The Apply as field is to be set at the default value of
‘Constant Value’ · In the Force/Moment Value, Input force value as –1000 as the force is a downward (-
ve y) acting force . 11. SOLUTION: Now we have finished modeling, meshing and defining the loads of
the model. Now we have to solve the model and get the results. The default setting for solution control
holds good for such a model. We have to modify the solution controls for different types of analysis as
the case demands. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Solve-) Current LS. · The above command indicates that
we are solving for the current load step. Once you click on the OK button, a dialog box that shows the
different input parameters appears. We need to review the parameters and when we find it to be
satisfactory, we can start the solution by pressing OK after closing the dialog box. · If the model is good,
a dialog box appears to say that the solution is done. · The solutions are stored in the results file “file.rst”
as this is a structural analysis. If it had been a thermal analysis, the results file is “file.rth”. · SAVE_AS
jobname.db 12. POST PROCESSING: The model has been solved and the user now has to invoke the
POSTPROCESSING to view the results in a user-friendly manner. The postprocessor processes the results
of the FEA, which is a huge 2n x 1 matrix of the displacements in the x and y directions, into user friendly
plots. Also the post processor calculates other derived quantities like Stress, Strain, Strain energy etc. for
the user to peruse. · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> (-Read Results-) Last Set · The above command
reads the final iteration result of the analysis. a) To plot the deformed shape: · Main Menu ->
Postprocessing -> Plot Results -> Deformed Shape · Now we select Def + Undefrmed press OK. · We
should get an output that should resemble something like the figure given below. b) To plot the von
Mises Stress field: · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> Plot Results ->(-Contour Plot-) -> Nodal Solution · In
the plot results window, click on the Stress field and on the right hand box, scroll down till we find von
Mises SEQV. The dialogue box would look like this. Press OK. The results would look something like the
plot given below. 13. Modifying the loads and reviewing the results: This section is an extension of the
previous model for the student to gain more insight into the analysis powers of ANSYS. The user has to
go back to the solution and delete the point load and apply other types of loads. a) Try out with a
pressure of 10000 N/m2 acting on the lower quadrant of the bigger hole. b) Include into the above
model the effect of self-weight by including the gravitational loads – Gravitational loads are listed in
Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->Gravity c) Compare the results of the above two models. d)
While solving the model with the gravity observe the solution status window before solving. The
solution status window is the one given below. 14. Quitting ANSYS 5.6: · Utility Menu -> File -> Exit -
>………… . On the window, pick on Quit, No Save References: 1. www.ansys.com 2. www.uni-
karlsruhe.de/~ANSYS/ALBERT/bracket/bracket.html 3. ANSYS Structural Analysis Command Guide
ANSYS 5.6 Tutorials Lecture # 2 - Static Structural Analysis Example 1 – Static Analysis of a Bracket 1.
Problem Description: The objective of the problem is to demonstrate the basic ANSYS procedures for
performing a simple analysis. This problem is a simple 2 dimensional static structural problem of a
simple bracket as shown in the figure. This bracket is made of a 20 mm thick steel plate. The material
properties of steel are given below: Young’s modulus or Elastic Modulus, E = 200x109 Pascals Poisson’s
ratio, g = 0.3 Density, r = 7860 kg/m3 Loading and Boundary conditions: The plate is to be welded at the
two smaller weld holes and a point load of 1000 N has to be applied along the y-axis as shown. The
welded holes restrain the model in both x and y directions. 2. Approach and Assumptions: We assume
this problem to be a 2 dimensional problem as the applied loads and the boundary conditions are in the
x-y plane only. The thickness can be taken into account into the calculations in ANSYS without actually
modeling in 3D. The approach is to model the bracket as a 2D solid model and generate the elements
and mesh automatically. We can also create the nodes and elements separately. But such an approach
would be a waste of time for a simple model as given in the example. 80 60 R10(TYP) R20(TYP) R30 R50
PLATE THICKNESS: 20 mm ALL DIM IN mm P=1000N 3. Summary of Steps: a) Preprocessing: - Create the
solid model. - Choose the element type. - Assign real constants for the chosen element type - Assign
material properties. - Mesh the model. b) Solution: - Apply the displacement boundary conditions -
Apply the loads - Solve the model c) Post processing: - Read the results. - Plot the deformed shape.
Compare with the undeformed shape. - Plot the von Mises stress. - Animate the stress output and study
the trend - List the reaction solution - Exit ANSYS 5.6 4. Outline of Hand-out Conventions: Before
entering ANSYS 5.6, here is an outline of the layout of the tutorial handout. · The handout starts from,
“How to enter ANSYS 5.6?” to “How to end session?” However, the user may find some problems due to
the version of ANSYS or some lack of continuity in the handout or due to a different operating system.
The user may contact the instructor for clarifications. · This tutorial is designed for use on ANSYS 5.6
operating on Windows 95/97/2000 or Windows NT. Also the tutorials follows the GUI mode (Graphic
User Interface). · Whenever the handout has commands in ITALICS, it means that the user should follow
the menu options as directed. · There would also be a description of the operation performed to help
the user to understand what he is doing. · The handout will also provide with pictures, tables and menus
as it appears on the ANSYS window for more clarity. · The Analysis procedure described in the handout
may not be the only procedure to do the analysis. Neither is it the easiest procedure. But it has been
designed such that the user gets exposed to as much options as possible. 5. Starting ANSYS 5.6: · Start ->
Programs -> Engineering Programs -> ANSYS 5.6 -> Interactive · In the opened window, change the
working directory to C:\temp · Run You have now entered the ANSYS workspace. You can find that the
main menu of ANSYS is open. If not, go to MenuCtrls -> Main Menu 6. File Operations: 6.1 Title of
Analysis: In the Utility menu bar (the menu bar on the top of the screen), go to File -> Change Title. You
can give a title name of your choice. Say, “ Static Analysis of a Bracket”. 6.2 Analysis File Name: It is a
good practice to give a file name even before you start the analysis. File -> Save As One more word of
caution. ANSYS does not save the analysis into your file name when you give File -> Save. Instead it saves
it into the default filename “file.db”. So every time to save a file, we have to say File -> Save As and
overwrite the existing file. 7. Creating the Model: This is the first step of preprocessing. Preprocessing is
the ANSYS analysis phase where you provide data regarding the geometry, element type, material
properties and meshing. It would be referred in ANSYS as PREP7. The model can be created in many
different ways. One of the easiest ways is to use the Rectangle and Circle Primitives – Primitives are
simple predefined geometric shapes ANSYS provides - as effectively as possible. So the geometry is to be
viewed as an assemblage of circles and rectangles. a) Define the Rectangle: The first step is to create a
base rectangle to which circles and other rectangles are to be added upon or subtracted from. Let us
consider the lower left corner of the bracket as the origin. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Create -> (-Areas-) Rectangle -> By 2 Corners CAUTION: It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that
the consistency of units be maintained throughout the analysis. It is best to first solve a simple problem
as given in the assignment for which the analytical results are available. · Close the Rectangle Menu after
creating it. b) Create the Circle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle ->
Solid Circle · The area plot shows both rectangle and circle, which are areas, in the same color. To more
clearly distinguish between areas, turn on area numbers and colors. The "Plot Numbering Controls"
dialog box on the Utility Menu controls how items are displayed in the Graphics Window. By default, a
"replot" is automatically performed upon execution of the dialog box. The replot operation will repeat
the last plotting operation that occurred (in this case, an area plot). Utility Menu -> PlotCtrls ->
Numbering -> Area numbering ON c) Adding the Circle and Rectangle: · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Add -> Areas · The Select window opens. Select both the areas and
press OK. · Now you can see that the areas are merged into a single area and the area number and color
is also single. d) Creating the R30 bigger hole: · As in the previous case, we have to first draw the circle
and then perform the Boolean operation to subtract that area from the original area · Main Menu –>
Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas CIRCLE CREATION MENU BOOLEAN (Subtraction)
MENU · During the Boolean Subtraction - Pick the area from which subtraction is going to take place(the
bigger area, A3), PRESS OK. Then Pick area which is being subtracted (smaller area, A1), PRESS OK. e) To
create the Fillet: · To create the Fillet, we have to first create the Line Fillet. Then an area is created by
the enclosure formed by the line fillet and then performing the Boolean Subtraction to subtract the fillet
area from the main area. · It is better to operate with lines when we create a line fillet. · Utility Menu ->
Plot -> Lines · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->(-Modeling-) Create -> (-Lines-)Line Fillet · As shown in the
adjoining figure, the lines that are to be filleted are selected and the fillet radius is given as 20. This
creates the line fillet over the already existing area. So we have to create an area by the lines
encompassing this fillet and subtract it from the bracket area. · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -> (-
Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Arbitrary -> By Lines · In the select window, select the 3 lines that make
the area of the first fillet and click apply. Then select the area which form the second fillet and select OK
· Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-) Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · Now pick the
bracket area (Base area from which subtraction is done) and press OK in the Pick Window. Then pick the
Fillet areas (Areas to be subtracted) and press OK. f) To create the Weld Holes: · Similar to the R 30 hole
which we created in step (b), we can create the two weld holes with the following parameters.
Parameter Weld Hole 1 Weld Hole 2 WP X 20 20 WP Y 20 80 Radius 10 10 · Main Menu –> Preprocessor -
> (-Modeling-) Create -> (-Areas-) Circle -> Solid Circle · Main menu –> Preprocessor -> (-Modeling-)
Operate -> (-Boolean-) Subtract -> Areas · The completed geometry would look like the figure below
SAVE AS.. Ur Filename.db 8. Element Type, Real Constants and Material Properties: a) Element Types -
Indicates the element types used in the problem; over 100 element types are available in ANSYS. You
choose an element type which characterizes, among other things, the degree-of-freedom set
(displacements and/or rotations, temperatures, etc.) the characteristic shape of the element (line,
quadrilateral, brick, etc.), whether the element lies in 2-D space or 3-D space, the response of your
system, and the accuracy level you're interested in. For this analysis, we can use a 8 noded structural
solid element called PLANE82. Since our system is of relatively simple geometry and loading, PLANE82 is
sufficient. Results can be made accurate by having a very fine mesh. · Main Menu -> Preprocessor ->
Element type -> Add/Edit/Delete -> · Structural Family of Elements -> Solid -> Quad 8 node 82 -> OK · To
account for the thickness of the bracket, the element options is selected to include calculation of stress
including the thickness of the bracket. · Defined Element type Window -> Options -> (Pull down Menu)
Element Behavior K3 -> Plane strs w/thk . ELEMENT DEFINITION ELEMENT OPTION DEFINITION b) Real
Constants: Real constants provide additional geometry information for element types whose geometry
is not fully defined by its node locations. Typical real constants include shell thickness for shell elements
and cross-sectional properties for beam elements. All properties required as input for a particular
element type are entered as one set of real constants. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> Real constants -
> Add ->Real Constant Set Number -> THK 20 c) Material Properties: Physical properties of a material
such as modulus of elasticity or density that are independent of geometry. Although they are not
necessarily tied to the element type, the material properties required to solve the element matrices are
listed for each element type for your convenience. Depending on the application, material properties
may be linear, nonlinear, and/or anisotropic. As with element types and real constants, you may have
multiple material property sets (to correspond with multiple materials) within one analysis. Each set is
given a reference number. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> (-Constant-) Isotropic ·
Give the material a number label and press OK. · Input the material properties in the Material property
window. ANSYS provides us with a library of materials also. For accessing this library, we have to find the
path name under the ANSYS directory for MATLIB directory. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing ->
MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Library path · The Library path typically would be something like
this, c:\ansys56\matlib · Once you have entered the library, you can select from the list of materials
available in ANSYS. · Main Menu -> Preprocessing -> MaterialProps -> Material Library -> Import Library
9. The Meshing Process: Having defined the material properties, element type and the real constants,
we can go ahead and mesh the model. One nice feature available in ANSYS is that we can generate the
mesh automatically without breaking our heads to calculate the optimum mesh size. Depending on the
degree of refinement required, we can choose either a course or a fine mesh size. Depending on the
generated mesh, we can even refine it further. · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Size Cntrls ->
(-Manual Size-) (-Global-)Size · In the Size field, enter the number 5. This means that the element is to
have a nominal size of 5x5 mm2 . Press OK · Main menu -> Preprocessor -> (-Meshing-) Mesh -> (-Areas-)
Free · Pick the area to be meshed and press OK. You should be getting a mesh close to the one shown
below. · SAVE AS …….. filename.db 10. Loads and Constraints: Now we have started the SOLUTION phase
of the analysis. ANSYS analysis phase where you define analysis type and options, apply loads and load
options, and initiate the finite element solution. A new, static analysis is the default. a) Application of
Displacement Constraints: · As described in the problem description, the 2 smaller holes are to be
welded from the inside. This means that the degrees of freedom (dofs) are zero in the x and y directions
i.e. no displacements in the x and y directions. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Loads-) Apply ->(-Structural-)
Displacement -> On Lines · Pick the lines that comprise the weld holes and press OK. · Pick All DOF under
Lab2 -> Enter 0 for Value. · This simulates the effect of a rigidly welded hole in actual practice. b)
Application of a Point Load: As specified in the problem, a vertical load of 1000 N has to be applied on
the larger hole at the bottom quadrant point. · Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->
Force/Moment -> On Keypoints… … · Pick the Keypoint in the lower quadrant and press OK. · In the Load
Window, Choose the direction of force to be Fy. · The Apply as field is to be set at the default value of
‘Constant Value’ · In the Force/Moment Value, Input force value as –1000 as the force is a downward (-
ve y) acting force . 11. SOLUTION: Now we have finished modeling, meshing and defining the loads of
the model. Now we have to solve the model and get the results. The default setting for solution control
holds good for such a model. We have to modify the solution controls for different types of analysis as
the case demands. · Main Menu -> Solution -> (-Solve-) Current LS. · The above command indicates that
we are solving for the current load step. Once you click on the OK button, a dialog box that shows the
different input parameters appears. We need to review the parameters and when we find it to be
satisfactory, we can start the solution by pressing OK after closing the dialog box. · If the model is good,
a dialog box appears to say that the solution is done. · The solutions are stored in the results file “file.rst”
as this is a structural analysis. If it had been a thermal analysis, the results file is “file.rth”. · SAVE_AS
jobname.db 12. POST PROCESSING: The model has been solved and the user now has to invoke the
POSTPROCESSING to view the results in a user-friendly manner. The postprocessor processes the results
of the FEA, which is a huge 2n x 1 matrix of the displacements in the x and y directions, into user friendly
plots. Also the post processor calculates other derived quantities like Stress, Strain, Strain energy etc. for
the user to peruse. · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> (-Read Results-) Last Set · The above command
reads the final iteration result of the analysis. a) To plot the deformed shape: · Main Menu ->
Postprocessing -> Plot Results -> Deformed Shape · Now we select Def + Undefrmed press OK. · We
should get an output that should resemble something like the figure given below. b) To plot the von
Mises Stress field: · Main Menu -> Postprocessing -> Plot Results ->(-Contour Plot-) -> Nodal Solution · In
the plot results window, click on the Stress field and on the right hand box, scroll down till we find von
Mises SEQV. The dialogue box would look like this. Press OK. The results would look something like the
plot given below. 13. Modifying the loads and reviewing the results: This section is an extension of the
previous model for the student to gain more insight into the analysis powers of ANSYS. The user has to
go back to the solution and delete the point load and apply other types of loads. a) Try out with a
pressure of 10000 N/m2 acting on the lower quadrant of the bigger hole. b) Include into the above
model the effect of self-weight by including the gravitational loads – Gravitational loads are listed in
Main Menu -> Solution ->(-Loads-) Apply ->Gravity c) Compare the results of the above two models. d)
While solving the model with the gravity observe the solution status window before solving. The
solution status window is the one given below. 14. Quitting ANSYS 5.6: · Utility Menu -> File -> Exit -
>………… . On the window, pick on Quit, No Save References: 1. www.ansys.com 2. www.uni-
karlsruhe.de/~ANSYS/ALBERT/bracket/bracket.html 3. ANSYS Structural Analysis Command Guide