Ansys Constraints and Loads

Constraints and loads are defined in the Solution section. The symbol D is used for
any general type of nodal constraint and the symbol F is used for any general type of
applied nodal action. This derives from the concept of F = Kd. Distributed loads are
defined with several different symbols. For example, SF is a surface force applied at
nodes with SFBEAM for beams in particular.
The Constraint: A constraint is defined with the D command. Constraints
include not only roller, pin, and fixed supports in mechanical systems, but also
things like voltage and temperature for other types of analyses. There are at
least three options that follow these commands. They are separated by a
comma.
1. The node number where the constraint is applied
2. The constraint type
UX for translation in the X direction
UY for translation in the Y direction
UZ for translation in the Z direction
ROTX for rotation about the X axis
ROTY for rotation about the Y axis
ROTZ for rotation about the Z axis
ALL for all six of the above
VOLT for voltage
TEMP for temperature
3. The value. This is usually zero for structural analysis, but is the voltage
or temperature in others cases.

4. Additional constraints can be given starting with the seventh option with
commas setting off default values
The commands looks like this:
D,1,UY,0
D,3,UX,0,,,,UY
D,1,ALL
D,1,VOLT,20
D,2,TEMP,300

!
!
!
!
!

constrain node 1 in y direction (roller)

constrain node 1 in x and y direction (pin)
constrain node 1 all 6 degrees of freedom
voltage of node 1 is 20
temperature of node 2 is 300

Constraints can be applied to a set of regularly spaced nodes by using the fifth
and sixth options. As with the Load command, the fifth option is the last node
number in the series and the sixth option is the node increment between the
loads. For example, the lines:
nrows = 5
D,1,TEMP,400,,(nrows*10+1),10

! number of element rows

! temp of inside nodes

constrain the temperature to be 400 at nodes 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51.
The Concentrated Load: A concentrated load is defined with the F command
and has at least three options.
1. The node number where the load is applied
2. The load type
FX for a force in the X direction
FY for a force in the Y direction
FZ for a force in the Z direction
MX for a moment about the X axis
MY for a moment about the Y axis
MZ for a moment about the Z axis
3. The value of the load.
The commands looks like this:

F,1,FX,1000
F,4,FY,-20e3
F,1,MX,4e3
F,2,MZ,42e3

!
!
!
!

force X direction at node 1

force -Y direction at node 4
moment about X axis at node 1
moment about Z axis at node 2

Loads can be applied to a set of regularly spaced nodes by using the fifth and
sixth options. The fifth option is the last node number in the series and the sixth
option is the node increment between the loads. For example, the line:
F,1,FY,-1000,,5,2

applies a downward 1000 force at nodes 1, 3, and 5. Notice the double comma
after 1000.
The Distributed Beam Load: A distributed load on a beam is defined with the
SFBEAM command, which has at least four options. The first option is the
element number where the load is applied. Use ALL when the load applies to
all selected elements. The second option is 1 while the third option is PRES, for
pressure. The fourth option is the pressure value that applies uniformly
throughout unless there is a fifth option. The fifth option specifies the pressure
at the other end of the element to designate a tapered load. The command looks
like this:

SFBEAM,1,1,PRES,60
SFBEAM,1,1,PRES,0,60
SFBEAM,2,1,PRES,60,0
SFBEAM,ALL,1,PRES,60

!
!
!
!

uniform
tapered
tapered
uniform

load
load
load
Load

60 lb/in
0-60 lb/in
60-0 lb/in
60 lb/in

The first line creates a uniform load of 60 on the first element while the second
gives a tapered load from 0 to 60 on the first element. The third command puts
a load tapered from 60 to 0 on element 2 while the fourth command loads all
selected elements uniformly with 60.
The General Distributed Load: A distributed load from pressure or thermal
convection can be defined in several ways. The most general way is with the SF
command, which has at least three options depending on the type of load. The
first option is the node number where the load is applied. Use ALL when the
load applies to all selected nodes. The second option is PRES for pressure or
CONV for thermal convection. The third option is the pressure value for PRES.
For CONV, the third option is the convection coefficient and the fourth option
is the ambient temperature. If the pressure or temperature apply to only some of
the nodes, you must select the nodes first with the NSEL command. For
example:

NSEL,S,NODE,,9,49,10
SF,ALL,PRES,pressu
NSEL,ALL

! select top nodes

! load on upper surface
! reselect all nodes

SF,ALL,CONV,0.2,70

the first NSEL command starts a new selection set with the S option. The
second option specifies that nodes are to be selected. The next option is the
default. The fourth and fifth options specify that node 9 is the first and node 49
is the last in the set. The sixth option increments the node numbers increment
by 10. Therefore the selected nodes are 9, 19, 29, 39, and 49. The second
command applies to the selected nodes, a pressure defined previously by
pressu. The third command reselects all nodes. The fourth command applies a
convection load to all selected nodes using a convection coefficient of 0.2 and a
temperature of 70.

MENG 421 -- Source Program -- Ansys index -- Class assignments

Last revised: February 5, 2004 -- Copyright 1997-2004 ARMiller