Design Optimization

4.5 Case Study with ANSYS Workbench

Problem Description: A combination wrench is a convenient tool that is used to apply torque to
loosen or tighten a fastener. The wrench shown below is made of stainless steel and has a
thickness of 3 mm. Determine the maximum deformation and the distribution of von Mises
stresses under the given distributed load and boundary conditions.
 Step 1: Start an ANSYS Workbench Project
Launch ANSYS Workbench and save the blank project as ‘Wrench.wbpj’.

Step 2: Create a Static

Structural (ANSYS) Analysis
System

Drag Static Structural from the Analysis

Systems Toolbox and drop inside the
highlighted green rectangle in the Project
Schematic window to create a static
structural analysis system.
Step 3: Add a New Material
Double-click (or right- click and choose Edit) on the Engineering Data cell in the Project Schematic to edit or
add a material. In the following Engineering Data interface, click the empty box highlighted below and type
‘Stainless Steel’ as the name for the new material.
Select ‘Stainless Steel’ from the Outline window, and double-click Isotropic Elasticity under Linear Elastic in the
leftmost Toolbox panel. Enter ‘193E9’ for Young’s Modulus and ‘0.27’ for Poisson’s Ratio in the bottom center
Properties window. Close the A2: Engineering Data tab to go back to the Project Schematic.
Step 4: Launch the SpaceClaim Program
Right-click on the Geometry Cell and choose Properties from its drop-down con-text menu to bring up the Properties of
Schematic A3: Geometry panel.

In the Properties panel under

Basic Geometric Options,
make sure that Surface
Bodies is checked to enable
surface modeling. Also, select
2D for Analysis Type in the
panel. Next, double-click on
the Geometry cell to launch
the SpaceClaim program.
Step 5: Create Surface Sketch
To customize units, select the
SpaceClaim Options from the File
menu to display the following
SpaceClaim Options window.

Click Units from the navigation panel

on the left, and select Millimeters from
the drop- down list of Length as the
default unit used for length.

Next, change the Minor Grid Spacing to

1mm. Click OK to save your changes
and close the window.
Right-click anywhere in the Graphics Window and click Select New Sketch Plane from
the drop-down context menu.
Mouse over x-y plane, and click to select the highlighted x-y plane. This will change the sketch plane from
the default x-z plane (shown above) to the x-y plane (shown below).
Click Plan View on the toolbar to view the sketch grid head-on
 Click Sketch Mode on the Design tab to begin a sketch. Click on the Line icon. Draw two
lines as shown below. To draw a line, click a start point and then an end point in the sketch
grid.
Here for conveniences, you
may click a point and then
enter a distance value to
create a line. Click Point 1,
drag horizontally, and enter
40 in the distance box to
draw the 1st line.

Click Point 3, drag

honrizontally, and enter 40
in the distance box to draw
the 2nd line. When
necessary, press the Esc key
to end the line creation.
Next, Click the Three-Point Arc icon. Click Point 2 first and then Point 4, and
enter 10 in the box for radius R.
 Click Point 3 first and then Point 1, and enter 12.5 in the box for radius R. Click Save icon, and type Wrench as
the file name in the popup window to save the active design as a SpaceClaim document.

Note that the file name

of the SpaceClaim
design has been
changed to Wrench
after the file save.
Click the Polygon
icon in the toolbox.
In the Wrench
graphics window,
click Point 5 to set
the Polygon’s center,
and click to set its
orientation
and Ø as 12mm as shown below. When entering values for the Ø and Sides of the polygon, press the Tab key to switch
between the Ø and Sides boxes for data entry. Here Ø represents the diameter of inscribed circle of the polygon.
Click on the Line icon. Draw one horizontal line from Point 6 to 7, another horizon-tal line from Point 8 to 9, and
one verticle line from Point 6 to 8, as shown below. Note that the distance is 10 mm in between Point 6 and 1,as
well as in between Point 8 and 3. Point 7 and 9 are where the two lines intersect with the left arc.
Next, click on the Trim Away icon. Click on the arc in between Point 7 and 9 in the Graphics Window to remove this
arc segment.
Click the Create Rounded Corner icon. Click line A and line C, and enter 2.5 in the box for the fillet radius R.
Next, click line C and line B, enter 2.5 in the box for the fillet radius R. Press Esc to exit fillet creation.
Step 6: Create Surface Body
Click the Pull icon on the Design tab. A Surface will be created based on the sketch.
Click the Home view icon. Click on the hexagon surface in the Graphics Window and hit
Delete. The following surface will be created with the hexagonal area being removed.
Click on Surface from the Structure Tree, and enter 3 for the Midsurface Thickness in the lower left Properties
panel. Click Save and exit the program.
Step 7: Launch the Static Structural Program
Double-click on the Model cell to launch the Static Structural program. Click Units and select Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV,
mA).
Click on Geometry in the Outline tree. In the Details of “Geometry”, the follow-ing options are available for the
2D Behavior selection: plane stress, axisym-metric, plane strain, generalized plane strain (assuming a finite
length in the z direction, as opposed to the infinite value assumed for the standard plane stain option), and by
body (allowing you to set 2D behavior options for indi-vidual bodies that appear under Geometry in the outline
tree). Choose Plan Stress as the desired 2D Behavior.
Click Sys\Surface under Geometry in the left Project Outline Tree. In the Details of “SYS\Surface”, click to the right
of the Material Assignment field and select Stainless Steel from the drop-down context menu.
Step 8: Generate Mesh
Right click on Mesh in the Project Outline tree. Select Insert and then Method from the context menu. Click on the surface
body in the Graphics window and apply it to the Geometry selection in the Details of “Automatic Method”.
Right click on Mesh in the Project Outline. Select Insert and then Sizing from the context menu.
In the Details of “Body Sizing”, enter 1.5 for the Element Size. Click on the sur-face body in the Graphics window and
apply it to the Geometry selection. In the Outline of Project, right-click on Mesh and select Generate Mesh.
The following mesh plot will show up.
Step 9: Apply Boundary Conditions
Right-click on Static Structural (A5) and select Insert and then Fixed Support from the context menu.
Ctrl-Click all six sides of the polygon as highlighted in the Graphics window. You must turn on the Edge Selection
filter to select a line. Click Apply on the Geometry selection field in the Details of “Fixed Support”.
Step 10: Apply Loads
In the Project Outline, right-click on Static Structural (A5). Choose Insert and then Pressure.
Click on the arc as shown below and apply it to the Geometry selection in the Details of “Pressure”. The Edge
Selection filter must be turned on to allow this selection. In the Details of “Pressure”, choose Vector for the Define By
field, and enter ‘2e6’ for Magnitude.

Click on the vertical line

as shown below and
click Apply to confirm
on the Direction
selection. Make sure the
vector is pointing
downward. If not, click
the left or right arrow at
the bottom left corner to
toggle direction
Step 11: Retrieve Solution
Insert a Total Deformation item by right-clicking on Solution (A6) in the Outline tree.
Insert an Equivalent Stress item by right-clicking on Solution (A6) in the Outline tree.
Right-click on Solution (A6) in the Outline tree and select Solve. The program will start to solve the model. After
completion, click Total Deformation in the Outline to review the total deformation results. As shown below, the maxi-
mum deformation occurs at the two end tips on the left side of the wrench with a magnitude of 0.13839 mm under the
assigned pressure load.
Select Equivalent Stress in the Outline to review the von-Mises stress distribution. The following figure shows that the
maximum von Mises stress is located at the two entrant corners on the right side of the wrench with a magnitude of
159.77 MPa, which is below 207 MPa, the yield strength of Stainless Steel. Decrease the element size in the Details of
“Body Sizing” and solve again to see if any increase in the solution accuracy.
Double-click on the Geometry cell in Project Schematic to launch SpaceClaim. For the imported wrench model, set
Millimeters as the unit for Length in SpaceClaim Options. Next, click on the Surface item in the Structure Tree,
and enter 3 for Thickness in the lower left Properties panel. Close SpaceClaim and double-click on the Model
cell in the Project Schematic to launch the Static Structural program. A wrench surface is now ready for plane
stress analysis.
Modeling tips: ANSYS Workbench can work with native geometric models created in other CAD systems such
as SolidWorks, CATIA and Pro/E. It also allows geometry to be imported in neutral file formats such as IGES,
Parasolid and SAT.
To import a Parasolid file of a planar geometry for example, you may right-click on the Geometry cell. Choose
Import Geometry and Browse to select the Parasolid geometry file. Right-click on the Geometry cell and
select Properties in the context menu. For plane stress models, make sure that the Analysis Type is changed to
2D in the Properties of Schematic A3: Geometry window.

University of Dundee – School of Engineering – ME40001: Computer Aided Engineering– Dr. Bankole Oladapo