ME 477

Finite Element Analysis

General Procedures for Running an ANSYS (V. 11.0) Analysis
Getting started:
Programs ANSYS 11.0 ANSYS Product Launcher
1) Make sure the Working Directory is set to C:\temp. ANSYS creates several files for
each project, and constantly writes and retrieves information from these files during an
analysis. The working directory should be set to the local computer you are working on
to prevent a high traffic load over the network during the analysis. After completion,
important files should be saved in your own directory.
2) The default Job Name defined by ANSYS is file. You can define a new job name for
each analysis (this name will be used on all files created for that analysis, with different
extensions for each file).
3) Click Run

The layout of the ANSYS workspace is shown below:

Utility Menu

Graphics/Plot Window

Plot Controls
Main Menu

Set initial parameters:

1) Utility Menu File Change Jobname or Change Directory(In case you
forgot when you started ANSYS.)
2) Utility Menu File Change Title (This step is not necessary, but it is a good idea.
The Title will appear on plots and in other output files.)
3) ANSYS Main Menu Preferences Set the Preferences for GUI Filtering (This
step is not necessary, but it is a good idea. Commands not related to a particular analysis
type will be filtered out of the GUI. In this class, we will perform Structural and Thermal
analyses. Also, we will generally use the h-method Discipline option.)

General procedures for an ANSYS analysis:

ANSYS Main Menu Preprocessor
1)
2)
3)
4)

Define Element Type

Define Real Constants (if necessary)
Define Material Properties
Create the geometric Model (define in ANSYS or import
geometry from Pro/E or SolidWorks)
5) Create a Mesh for the model

ANSYS Main Menu Solution

1) Define Analysis Type (static, harmonic, transient, etc.)
2) Define Loads (apply loads and constraints/boundary conditions)
3) Solve the model (run the anaylsis)

ANSYS Main Menu General (or TimeHist) Postprocessor

1) Read Results (extract results from the results file, and read into
the database file)
2) Plot and/or List results of interest (e.g., deformed geometry,
stresses, strains, displacements, reaction forces, temperatures, etc.)

Save important files:

After finishing an ANSYS session, save the important files to your own directory. At a
minimum, you should save the database file (filename.db) and the results file (filename.rst). The
database file is created as soon as you start ANSYS, and contains all model geometry data,
material properties, mesh details, and loads and constraints. This file should be saved
periodically during a session (click the SAVE_DB button on the toolbar). You can resume from
that database file at a later time by clicking the RESUM_DB button, after the jobname has been
defined. A log of all commands entered during a particular session can be saved by the
following command:
Utility Menu File Write DB Log File (Assign a filename and click OK to save it. The
default extension on the file is .lgw)