Customer Training Material

W k h 9.1
Workshop
91
Parameter Management
g

Introduction to ANSYS
Mechanical
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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Goals

Customer Training Material

Goal:
Use the Workbench Parameter Workspace to setup multiple
scenarios to explore structural responses in the bracket shown.
Material thickness will be varied in the gusset with the bracket
thickness held constant then the process will be reversed.

Bracket
Gusset

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Project Schematic

Customer Training Material

Open the Project page.

From the Units menu verify:
Project units are set to Metric
Metric (kg, mm, s, C, mA, mV).
Display Values in Project Units is checked (on).

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Project Schematic

Customer Training Material

1. From the Toolbox double click

Static Structural to create a new
system.

1.

2. RMB the geometry cell and

Import
Import Geometry
Geometry and browse to
Bracket.stp.

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2.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Preprocessing

Customer Training Material

3. Double click the Model cell to open the

Mechanical application.
3.

4. Set/verify the working unit system:

Units > Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).

4.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Preprocessing

Customer Training Material

5. Highlight the part Bracket and

enter a thickness = 2mm in the
details.
6. Highlight the part Gusset and
enter a thickness = 1mm in the
details.
7. Make both thicknesses
parametric by toggling the
check box.

5.

7.
6.
8. Highlight the Geometry branch
and in the Property details,
and,
details
toggle the Mass parameter on.
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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Preprocessing

Customer Training Material

9. Highlight the Connections branch, RMB >

Insert > Connections Group.
9.

10 In the details for the connections group

10.
change the Auto Detections for Face/Edge
to Yes.

10
10.
11. Highlight the connections group RMB >
Create Automatic Connections.
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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Environment

Customer Training Material

12. Apply constraints to the model (highlight

Static Structural branch (A5):

a.

a. Select the edge of one hole.

b. RMB > Insert > Fixed Support.
c. Highlight the face surrounding the fixed hole.
d. RMB > Insert > Frictionless Support.

b.

d
d.
c.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Environment

Customer Training Material

13. Apply Loads to the model:

a.
b.
c.
d.

Select the of the hole shown below.

RMB > Insert > Force.
In the Details switch to the component method.
Enter a magnitude of -20 N in the X direction.

c.

d.
a.
b.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Solution Setup
14. Insert Results (highlight
Solution branch (A6):
a. RMB > Insert > Stress >
Equivalent (von Mises).

Customer Training Material

a.

15. In the result detail,, toggle

gg
the Maximum result as a
parameter.

15.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

16. Access the Parameter Set:

a. From the schematic double click Parameter
Set.

When the parameter workspace opens

make sure the 2 thicknesses, the mass and
the stress are all shown in the parameter
li t
list.
a.

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

17. Enter thickness values as shown below. For the first 3 DPs the
bracket will be held constant while the gusset thickness varies.
For the last 3 the reverse will be solved.

18. Update All Design Points will instruct Mechanical to execute a

solve for each scenario in the Design Point table.
18.
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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

Once the update process begins a message will appear as shown

here. In fact the Mechanical application window will close during
the update process. This is normal.

When the updates are complete the table will show calculated
values for both output parameters.
parameters

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

19. There are several ways we can present the design point information. In
this case well see how output quantities vary with each design point:
a. Highlight the output parameter Equivalent Stress Maximum (P5 here).
b Double
b.
D bl click
li k the
th Design
D i Points
P i t Vs
V P5 choice
h i in
i the
th Toolbox
T lb (again,
(
i
parameter numbers will vary depending on the order of their definition).

b.
a.

Repeat the above steps with the Geometry Mass parameter (P3 in this case).

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

20. Highlight the stress per design point chart to display (here the charts
have been renamed according to their content):

20.

Stress per Design Point

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

21. Highlight the mass plot to display.

21.

Mass per Design Point

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Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

. . . Parameter Management

Customer Training Material

Repeat step 19 and create a stress vs DP plot.

In the properties window choose to display Geometry Mass on the
right side Y axis as shown below.

Plots like this one allow us to visualize the trade off that often accompanies these
kinds of choices.
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WorkingwithNonParametric
GeometryFiles(e.g.,STEP)
l (
)
The
Thepreviousexercisehighlightedonewayyoucanworkwith
previous exercise highlighted one way you can work with
parametersinANSYSworkbench
ThebracketpartwasprovidedasaSTEPfile,whichisnota
parametric format
parametricformat
Youmodifiedthethicknessofthepart,butthegeometry
neveractuallychangedthicknessisjustastructuralproperty
inthismodelsimilartohowcrosssectionalareaisastructural
propertyforabeamelementbutthebeamelementitself
neverexhibitsanychangeinvolumeorthickness
Whenworkingwithanonparametricgeometryformat,you
arenotabletomodifypreexistingdimensions,butyoucan
y
addfeaturestothemodelandmodifythose

WorkingwithNonParametric
GeometryFiles(e.g.,STEP)
l (
)

IfyouimportasimpleLbracketasaSTEPfile,youcannotchangethepre
existingdimensionssuchaslengthofeachsideorthickness
i i di
i
h l
h f
h id
hi k
YouCANaddafilletinthecornerandthenmakethataparameterthat
canbeupdatedbyANSYS

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

IfyouimportthesamesimpleLbracketasaSolidWorks part,thenyou
cangainaccessdirectlytothepartdimensions
i
di
l
h
di
i
ANSYSwillimporttheCADparametersforuseinyouranalysis,butonly
theparameternamesthatbeginwithDSwillbeimported
Forexample,theSolidWorks partdimensionsmustberenamedtoinclude
aDSprefix
SolidWorks

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

UseSolidWorks todrawaplate100mmx50mmx2mmthick
Placea30mmdia holeinthecenteroftheplateanddimensionthe
locationoftheholerelativetothecenteroftheplate youcanuse
constructionlinestomarkthecenteroftheplate
MakethexdimensionandydimensionoftheholelocationDS
parameters

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

Applyfrictionlesssupports(B)ononeendfaceandthebacksurface
Applyafixedsupportononecorneredge(A)
Apply10Nforceontheunsupportedendface(C)

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

SolveforvonMises stressandapplyanautomatedconvergencetoolto
refinethemeshautomatically
fi
h
h
i ll

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

PerformaparametricanalysistoevaluatethepeakvonMises stressasa
f
functionofholeposition
i
fh l
ii
Lookonlyat2.5mmincrementsasshownbelow(only5designpoints)

WorkingwithParametricGeometry
Files(e.g.,SolidWorks)
l (
ld
k)

TTowhatextendtoxandydeviationsoftheholeeffectpeakvonMises
h t t dt
d d i ti
f th h l ff t
k
Mi
stress?
Whatisthestressconcentrationfactor(intension)forthecaseofthe
centered hole and ho does it compare to o r e pectations from theor ?
centeredholeandhowdoesitcomparetoyourexpectationsfromtheory?