FEA Lab Manual for SV College of Engineering

SRI VENKATESWARA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
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Experiment No. Date:
SRI VENKATESWARA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECH

(AUTONOMOUS)
RVS NAGAR, CHITTOOR-517127
DEPATMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
I M.Tech I Sem
FEA-I LAB (2015-16)
COMMON TO CAD/CAM &MACHINE DESIGN
LABORATORY MANUAL
Prepared by
DEPATMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SRI VENKATESWARA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
RVS NAGAR, CHITTOOR-51712
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1. Analysis of cantilever beam using ANSYS Workbench
Figure 01 shows an overview of the beam problem for load case 1 (point load) and figure 02
shows a representative finite element model for this load case.
Figure 01: Overview of Simple Beam Problem with Vertical Point Load (Case 1)
The beam is 2 metres long with the left hand edge built into a thick wall and the centre of the
beam is simply supported.The beam is made from steel with E = 200 GPa.
. We will use SI system units for this tutorial: length = m, mass = kg, time = sec, force = N,
stress/pressure = Pa.
Step 1: Launch ANSYS Work bench

Step 2: Define Material Properties
Step 3: Define the Beam Cross Section
Unfortunately the problem definition doesn't actually specify which type of cross section the
beam has. That isn't a problem and we can work around it. We know that the beam cross section
has a second moment of area of I = ?
type of cross section to fit this second moment of area value. We will assume that the beam has a
I section:
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Figure 03: Calculating the beam second moment of Inertia
The Aluminium used for the beam has the following material properties.
Density 2,700 kg/m^3
Youngs Modulus 70x10^9 Pa
Poisson Ratio 0.35.
Start ANSYS Workbench & Load Files
In this section we will launch ANSYS Workbench and then load the project file,
"cantilever.wbpj" that was created in the "Cantilever Beam" tutorial.
Start > All Programs > ANSYS 12.1 > Workbench
File > Open

Then choose the "cantilever.wbpj" file that you created in the "Cantilever Beam" tutorial.
Management of Screen Real Estate
This tutorial is specially configured, so the user can have both the tutorial and ANSYS open at
the same time as shown below. It will be beneficial to have both ANSYS and your internet
browser displayed on your monitor simultaneously. Your internet browser should consume
approximately one third of the screen width while ANSYS should take the other two thirds as
shown below.
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Modal (ANSYS) Project Selection
Left, click on Modal ANSYS, and drag it to the right of the "Cantilever" project. You should then
see a red box to the right of the "Cantilever" project that says "Create standalone system" as
shown below.
Next, enter "Aluminium" and press enter. You should now have Aluminum listed as one of the
materials in table called "Outline of Schematic B2: Engineering Data", as shown below.
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Then, (expand) Linear Elastic, as shown below.
Now, (Double Click) Isotropic Elasticity. Then set Young's Modulus to 70e9 Pa and set
Poisson's Ratio to 0.35 , as shown below
Next, (expand) Physical Properties, as shown below
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Now, (Double Click) Density. Then, set Density to 2,700 kg / m^3 , as shown below
Now, the material properties for Aluminum have been specified. Lastly, (Click) Return To
Project,
Save
Save your project now and periodically, as you work. ANSYS does not have an auto-save
feature.
Step 2 Geometry: Attach Geometry from Cantilever to Cantilever Modal

The geometry for the "Cantilever Beam Modal Analysis" tutorial is the same as the geometry for
the "Cantilever Beam" tutorial. Instead of recreating the geometry, we will simple attach the
geometry from the Static Structural Analysis System (Cantilever) to the Modal Analysis System
(Cantilever Modal). In order to attach the geometry, (left click) Geometry in the "Cantilever"
project and drag it to Geometry in the "Cantilever Modal" project, as shown below.
Then release the left mouse button. You should now see that the geometries are shared as shown
in the following image.
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Save
Step 3:
Mesh
Launch Mechanical
Generate Default Mesh
First, (click) Mesh in the tree outline. Next, (click) Mesh > Generate Mesh as shown below
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Size Mesh
In this section we will size the mesh, such that it has ten uniform elements. In order to size the
mesh, first expand Sizing located within the
Details of "Mesh" table. Next, set Element Size to 0.40 m, as shown below.
Now, (click) Mesh > Generate Mesh in order to generate the new mesh. You should obtain the
mesh, that is shown in the following image.
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Note that in this simulation we are working with beam elements, which are simply line segments.
As a visualization tool ANSYS displays a beam with width and height. In order to display the
actual mesh (click) View > (deselect) Thick Shells and Beams. You will then see the mesh
displayed in its native form. SAVE.
Step 4:
Physics Setup
Material Assignment
At this point, we will tell ANSYS to assign the Aluminum material properties that we specified
earlier to the geometry. First, (expand) Geometry then (click) Line Body, as shown below.
Then, (expand) Material in the "Details of Line Body" table and set Assignment to Aluminum,
as shown below.
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Fixed Support
First, (right click) Modal > Insert > Fixed Support, as shown below.
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Next, click the vertex selection filter button,. Then, click on the left end of the beam and apply it
as the Geometry in the "Details of Fixed Support" table.
First, (right click) Modal > Insert > force, as shown below.
Numerical Solution
Specify Results (Deformation)
Here, we will tell ANSYS to find the deformation for the first six modes. Then, we will be able
to see the shapes of the six modes. Additionally, we will be able to watch nice animations of the
six modes.
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In order to request the deformation results (right click) Solution > Insert > Deformation > Total
as shown below.
Save.
Run Calculation
In order to run the simulation and calculate the specified outputs, click the Solve button,
Results:
Calculate Deformation and stresses, factor of safety
Maximum principle stress: 1.0367e7 Pa
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2.Two dimensional truss using ANSYS
Determine the displacement distribution and stress distribution in the framework due to
the applied loading and boundary conditions. A two-dimensional structural truss element (often
also called a "spar", "spring" or "link" element) will be used for this analysis. The Figure below
shows an overview of the truss problem on the left hand side and a representative finite element
model on the right hand side.
Figure 01 : Overview of Truss Framework Problem and Representative FE Model
The relevant node and element data are given in the tables below. We will use SI system units for
this tutorial: length = m, mass = kg, time = sec, force = N, stress/pressure = Pa.
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We can use the information in the tables above to define our nodes and elements. In order to
define the boundary conditions and loads on the finite element model we can reference figure 01
in order to generate a list of constraints and loads on each node, as shown in the table below.
Figure 02 shows an overview of the expected results from the Practical Stress Analysis with
Finite Elements book. We are going to attempt to recreate these results here.
Figure 02: Expected Results from the Finite Element Analysis
Step 1: Launch ANSYS
We have already covered how to launch ANSYS properly in tutorials 1 and 2. Please go back and
re-read these tutorials if you cannot remember how to do it.
Step 2: Define Element Type
1. In the Main Menu select Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete
2. Click on Add in the dialog box that appears.
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3. Select Link in the left hand menu and 3Dfinit stn 180 in the right hand menu and then
click Ok
4. This will define element type 1 as a LINK 180 element. LINK 180 is actually a 3D truss
element but we are going to use it as a 2D truss by later suppressing some of it's degrees
of freedom.
5. Click Close to close the Element Type dialog box.
Step 3: Define Element Cross Sectional Area (Real Constant)
1. In the Main Menu select Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
3. Click on OK to define a real constant for element type 1 LINK 180
4. Enter the value for cross sectional area for element 1: 0.05m2 and then click OK
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5. Click on Close to close the real constants dialog box.
Step 4: Define the Material Behaviour
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Models,
the Define Material Model Behaviour dialog box will now appear.
2. Expand the options in the right hand pane of the dialog box: Structural > Linear >
Isotropic
3. In the dialog box that pops up, enter suitable material parameters for steel ( E = 210 x
109 Pa, Poissons ratio = 0.3):
4. Click on Ok to close the dialog box in which you entered the material parameters.
5. Close the Define Material Model Behaviour dialog box by clicking on the X in the upper
right corner.
Step 5: Define Nodes and Elements
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Nodes > In Active
CS
2. In the dialog box that appears: enter the x and y coordinates for node 1 (i.e. 0,0) and click
on Apply (note that Apply issues the command to create the node but keeps the dialog
box open, clicking OK would also issue the command to create the node but would close
the dialog box).
3. Now enter the x and y coordinates for node 2 (i.e. 2,1.5) and click Apply
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4. Enter the x and y coordinates for node 3 (i.e. 0,1.5) and click OK to dismiss the dialog
box
5. You may have notice nodes appearing on the main window when you clicked apply. You
should now be able to see 3 nodes in the main window (note that node 1 is at the origin so
you may not be able to see it due to the display of the triad at the origin, this is OK):
6. We must now create the elements that join the nodes together: click on Preprocessor >
Modeling > Create > Elements > Auto Numbered > Thru Nodes
7. In the main window click on node 1 and then node 2. Then click Apply in the dialog box.
You should see a line element appear joining nodes 1 and 2.
8. Now click on node 2 and then node 3 and click OK. A line element should appear joining
nodes 2 and 3.
9. Your display should now look like this:
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Step 6: Define Boundary Conditions
1. In this case we are using a 3D truss to model a 2D truss problem so we must prevent the
nodes from moving in the Z direction (i.e. only allow movement in the X and Y
directions). In order to do this we constrain all nodes in the finite element model in the Z
direction.
2. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On
Nodes
3. Select Pick All in the dialog box that appears.
4. Select UZ in the next dialog box that appears and enter a value of 0 for displacement
value
5. Click Ok to close the dialog box. You should notice blue crosses appearing at each of the
nodes.
6. Now we can apply the problem boundary conditions.
7. Using the table above: we must constrain node 1 and 3 in both the X and Y directions.
8. Again, select: Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural >
Displacement > On Nodes
9. Click on Nodes 1 and 3 and then click Ok
10. Select UX, UY and UZ and enter a value of 0 for displacement value
11. Click Ok to close the dialog box. Your should have noticed extra constraints appearing at
nodes 1 and 3 (blue triangles pointing in the horizontal and vertical directions)
Step 7: Define Loads
1. Select Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/ Moment
> On Nodes
2. Pick node 2 and click on Ok
3. In the dialog box that appears make sure that the direction of force is set to FY and that
the Force/ Moment value is 100000
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4. Click on Ok to close the dialog box.

5. You should see a red arrow appear on node 2 pointing to upwards.
Step 8: Solve the Problem
1. In the Main Menu select Solution > Analysis Type > New Analysis
2. Make sure that Static is selected in the dialog box that pops up and then click on OK to
dismiss the dialog.
3. Select Solution > Solve > Current LS to solve the problem
4. A new window and a dialog box will pop up. Take a quick look at the infromation in the
window ( /STATUS Command) before closing it.
5. Click on OK in the dialog box to solve the problem.
6. Once the problem has been solved you will get a message to say that the solution is done,
close this window when you are ready.
Step 9: Examine the Results
1. In the Main Menu select General Postproc > Plot Results > Deformed Shape
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In the dialog box that appears make sure that Def + undef edge is selected. This shows
the deformed shaped overlaid on the original shape of the finite element model. Click
on OK to plot the deformed shape:
2. Now, select General Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution > DOF solution >
Displacement Vector Sum and click OK
3. You should get a screen similar to this:
4. This gives us the displacement results for each node in the finite element model.
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5. The truss element that we have used is quite basic and it is difficult to get stress results
directly from it. In order to access stress results we have to define an element table.
6. Select General Postproc > Element Table > Define Table > Add
7. Edit the options in the dialog box so that they look like this:
8. It is very important to add the "1" after "LS, " !

9. Click on Ok to define the element table.
10. Click on Close to close the other dialog box.
11. Now select General Postproc > Element Table > List Elem Table you should get a
listing like this:
12. This listing gives the stress in each element, for example element 1 has an axial stress of
0.3333 x 106 Pa or 0.333 MPa
13. Finally, we need to obtain the reaction forces for each node in the finite element
model: select General Postproc > List Results > Reaction Solu and click on OK in the
dialog box that appears, you should see a listing like this:
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14. This listing gives the reaction force at each node, for example node 3 has a x direction
reaction force of 13,333 N.
Step 10: Validate the Results
Result Quantity Ansys Result Result in book % Accuracy
X Displacement of Node 2 -0.25397e-5 m -0.2539e-5 m 100%

Y Displacement of Node 2 0.1e-4 m 1e-5 m 100%
6
Stress in Element 1 0.33333e6 Pa 0.33 x 10 Pa 100%
Stress in Element 2 -0.26667e6 Pa -0.266 x 106 Pa 100%
RX of Node 1 -13,333 N -13,333 N 100%
RY of Node 1 -10,000 N -10,000 N 100%
RX of Node 3 13,333 N 13,333 N 100%
RY of Node 3 0N 0N 100%
As the table above clearly shows, our finite element results are consistent with those given in the
book.
Summary
This tutorial has given you the following skills:
1. The ability to model 2-D truss problems in ANSYS.

2. The ability to generate finite element models using the direct method (i.e. defining nodes
and then defining elements linking those nodes, as opposed to taking a solid model and
dividing it up into elements which we will do in subsequent tutorials).
3. The ability to define element types, real constants and material parameters for a finite
element model.
4. The ability to apply boundary conditions and loads to specific nodes in a finite element
model.
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5. The ability to run a simple linear static analysis.

6. The ability to plot the deformed shape of a model and overlay it on the original shape
7. The ability to list displacement results for each node in the finite element model.
8. The ability to create an element table to obtain additional results from a finite element
model and to list these results.
Experience in comparing the results obtained from your finite element model with other results
and validating your results against the other results
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3. 3D Plane stress rectangular block with hole using ANSYS Workbench
Problem Specification
Consider the classic example of a small circular hole in a rectangular plate of constant thickness
subjected to an in-plane tensile load. The material is structural steel with a Young's Modulus of
29E6 psi and a Poisson ratio of 0.3. The geometric dimensions and applied tensile load are
shown below.
P =6.89GPa
a = 12.7 mm
W = 127 mm
L = 254 mm
t = 5 mm
This Exercise will show you how to use ANSYS Workbench to find the displacement and
the stresses in the plate.
Analytical vs. Numerical Approaches
We can either assume the geometry as an infinite plate and solve the problem analytically, or
approximate the geometry as a collection of "finite elements", and solve the problem
numerically. The following flow chart compares the two approaches.
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Open ANSYS Workbench
Now that we have the pre-calculations, we are ready to do a simulation in ANSYS Workbench!
Open ANSYS Workbench by going to Start > ANSYS > Workbench. Similar to first exercise.
To begin, we need to tell ANSYS what kind of simulation we are doing. The plate with a hole is
a static structural simulation. Load the static structural tool box by dragging and dropping it into
the Project Schematic.
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Name the Project "Plate with a Hole" by double clicking the text Static Structural and typing in
Plate with a Hole.
Material Selection
Now we need to specify what type of material we are working with. Double click Engineering
Data and it will take you to the Engineering Data Menus.
Engineering Data Window, you will see that the default material is Structural Steel. The Problem
Specification specifies the material's Modulus of Elasticity and Poisson's ratio. To add a new
material, click in an empty box labeled Click here to add a new material and give it a name.
On the left hand side of the screen in the Toolbox window, expand Linear Elastic and double
click Isotropic Elasticity to specify the Elastic Modulus and Poisson's Ratio.
Now that the material has been specified, we are ready to make the geometry in ANSYS.
Step2 Geometry creation:
Create in solid works modeling software and convert to .IGS or STEP.
That file import to ANSYS Workbench.
Step 3 Mesh Generation:
Go to Units > U.S. Customary (in. lbm, lbf, F, s, V, A) to make sure the proper units are selected.
To begin the Mesh process, click Mesh in the outline window. This will bring up the Mesh Menu
bar in the Menu bar.
We want to control the size of the elements in the mesh for this problem; to accomplish this,
click Mesh Control > Sizing. We now need to pick the geometry we are going to mesh. Make
sure the Face Selection Filter is selected then click the face of the geometry to select it. In the
Details window click Geometry > Apply. Now, we can set some of the details of our mesh.
Select Element Size > Default, this will allow you to change the size of the element. Choose the
size of the elements to be .05 mm.
Turn off the Advanced Size Function in the details window of "Mesh". If we leave the Advanced
Size Function on, ANSYS will override the face sizing we applied.
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In the details window, change the Refinement parameter from 1 to 3, this will give us the finest
mesh at the hole which will improve accuracy of the simulation.
Now that we have our mesh setup, click Mesh > Generate Mesh. This will create the mesh to
our specifications. Click to display it. It should look something like this:
Now that the mesh has been created, we are ready to specify the boundary conditions of the
problem.
Step4.Physics define:
Boundary conditions:
Click Loads > Pressure to specify a traction. Select the right edge of the geometry and apply it
in the details view window. The pressure's magnitude from the problem specification is -1e6 psi
(pressure in ANSYS defaults to compression, and we need tension, hence the negative sign).
Now that the forces have been set, we need to set up the solution before we solve.
Click Fixed other two sides.
Step 5 Results:
Calculate deformation ,stress for above exercise.
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4. Buckling analysis on linear materials using ANSYS APDL
Problem Description:
Determine the critical buckling load of an axially loaded long slender bar of length l with hinged
ends. The bar has a cross-sectional height h, and area A. Only the upper half of the bar is
modeled because of symmetry.
The boundary conditions become free-fixed for the half-symmetry model. The moment of inertia
of the bar is calculated as I =Ah^2/12
After you enter the ANSYS program, follow these steps to set the title.
1. Choose menu path Utility Menu> File> Change Title.
2. Enter the text "Buckling of a Bar with Hinged Ends" and click on OK.
Problem Specifications:
The model is assumed to act only in the X-Y plane.
The following material properties are used: E =200E5 N/mm^2
The following geometric properties are used:
L= 100mm
A=0.25 mm^2
H= 0.5 mm^2
F= 1 Kg.
Problem Sketch:
Bar with Hinged Ends:
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Set the Analysis Title:
After you enter the ANSYS program, follow these steps to set the title.
1. Choose menu path Utility Menu> File> Change Title.
2. Enter the text "Buckling of a Bar with Hinged Ends" and click on OK.
Define the Element Type
In this step, you define BEAM188 as the element type.

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Element Type> Add/Edit/Delete. The
Element Types
dialog box appears.
2. Click on Add. The Library of Element Types dialog box appears.
3. In the scroll box on the left, click on "Structural Beam" to select it.
4. In the scroll box on the right, click on "2 Node 188" to select it.
5. Click on OK. The Library of Element Types dialog box closes.
6. Click on Options in the Element Types dialog box.
7. Choose Element Behavior K3 : Cubic Form. Click on OK.
8. Click on Close in the Element Types dialog box.
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Define the Real Constants and Material Properties

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Sections> Beam> Common Sections. The
BeamTool
dialog box appears.
2. Enter .5 for B and .5 for H.
3. Click on OK.
4. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Material Props> Material Models. The
Define Ma-
terial Model Behavior dialog box appears.
5. In the Material Models Available window, double-click on the following options: Structural,
Linear,
Elastic, Isotropic. A dialog box appears.
6. Enter 30e6 for EX (Young's modulus), and click on OK. Material Model Number 1 appears in
the Mater-ial Models Defined window on the left.
7. Choose menu path Material> Exit to remove the Define Material Model Behavior dialog box.
Define Nodes and Elements

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Modeling> Create> Nodes> In Active CS.
The Create
Nodes in Active Coordinate System dialog box appears.
2. Enter 1 for node number.
3. Click on Apply. Node location defaults to 0,0,0.
4. Enter 11 for node number.
5. Enter 0,100,0 for the X, Y, Z coordinates.
6. Click on OK. The two nodes appear in the ANSYS Graphics window.
Note
The triad, by default, hides the node number for node 1. To turn the triad off, choose menu
path Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Window Controls> Window Options and select the "Not
Shown" option for Location of triad. Then click OK to close the dialog box.
7. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Modeling> Create> Nodes> Fill between
Nds. The
Fill between Nds picking menu appears.
8. Click on node 1, then 11, and click on OK. The Create Nodes Between 2 Nodes dialog box
appears.
9. Click on OK to accept the settings (fill between nodes 1 and 11, and number of nodes to fill 9).
10. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Modeling> Create> Elements> Auto
Numbered>
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Thru Nodes. The Elements from Nodes picking menu appears.

11. Click on nodes 1 and 2, then click on OK.
12. Choose menu path Main Menu> Preprocessor> Modeling> Copy> Elements> Auto
Numbered. The
Copy Elems Auto-Num picking menu appears.
13. Click on Pick All. The Copy Elements (Automatically-Numbered) dialog box appears.
14. Enter 10 for total number of copies and enter 1 for node number increment.
15. Click on OK. The remaining elements appear in the ANSYS Graphics window.
Define the Boundary Conditions

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Unabridged Menu> Analysis Type> New
Analysis. The
New Analysis dialog box appears.
2. Click OK to accept the default of "Static."
3. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Analysis Type> Analysis Options. The Static or
Steady-
State Analysis dialog box appears.
4. In the scroll box for stress stiffness or prestress, scroll to "Prestress ON" to select it.
5. Click on OK.
6. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Define Loads> Apply> Structural>
Displacement> On
Nodes. The Apply U,ROT on Nodes picking menu appears.
7. Click on node 1 in the ANSYS Graphics window, then click on OK in the picking menu. The
Apply U,ROT on Nodes dialog box appears.
8. Click on "UY" and ROTZ to select them, and click on OK.
Displacements> On
Nodes. The Apply U,ROT on Nodes picking menu appears.
10. Click on node 11 in the ANSYS Graphics window, then click on OK in the picking menu.
The Apply
U,ROT on Nodes dialog box appears.
11. Click on "UX" to select it, and click on OK.
Force/Moment> On
Nodes. The Apply F/M on Nodes picking menu appears.
13. Click on node 11, then click OK. The Apply F/M on Nodes dialog box appears.
14. In the scroll box for Direction of force/mom, scroll to "FY" to select it.
15. Enter -1 for the force/moment value, and click on OK. The force symbol appears in the
ANSYS Graphics window.
Displacement>
Symmetry B.C.> On Nodes. The Apply SYMM on Nodes box dialog appears.
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17. In the scroll box for Norml symm surface is normal to, scroll to z-axis and click on OK.
Solve the Static Analysis

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Solve> Current LS.
2. Carefully review the information in the status window, and click on Close.
3. Click on OK in the Solve Current Load Step dialog box to begin the solution.
4. Click on Close in the Information window when the solution is finished.
Solve the Buckling Analysis
1. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Analysis Type> New Analysis.
Note
Click on Close in the Warning window if the following warning appears: Changing the
analysis type is only valid within the first load step. Pressing OK will cause you to exit and
reenter SOLUTION. This will reset the load step count to 1.
2. In the New Analysis dialog box, click the "Eigen Buckling" option on, then click on OK.
3. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Analysis Type> Analysis Options. The
Eigenvalue Buckling
Options dialog box appears.
4. Enter 1 for number of modes to extract.
5. Click on OK.
6. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Load Step Opts> ExpansionPass> Single
Expand> Expand Modes.
7. Enter 1 for number of modes to expand, and click on OK.
8. Choose menu path Main Menu> Solution> Solve> Current LS.
9. Carefully review the information in the status window, and click on Close.
10. Click on OK in the Solve Current Load Step dialog box to begin the solution.
11. Click on Close in the Information window when the solution is finished.
Review the Results

1. Choose menu path Main Menu> General Postproc> Read Results> First Set.
2. Choose menu path Main Menu> General Postproc> Plot Results> Deformed Shape. The
Plot De-
formed Shape dialog box appears.
3. Click the "Def + undeformed" option on. Click on OK. The deformed and undeformed shapes
appear
in the ANSYS graphics window.
Exit ANSYS
1. In the ANSYS Toolbar, click on Quit.
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2. Choose the save option you want and click on OK.
Log Files / Input Files
The log file for this tutorial may also be used as an input file to automatically run the analysis in
ANSYS. In order to use this file as an input file save it to your working directory and then select
Utility Menu > File > Read input from... and select the file. You should notice ANSYS
automatically building the finite element model and issuing all the commands detailed above.
Quitting ANSYS
To quit ANSYS select Utility Menu > File > Exit.... In the dialog box that appears click on Save
Everything (assuming that you want to) and then click on Ok
5.Analysis of bracket using ANSYS APDL
The problem to be modeled in this example is a simple bracket shown in the following figure.
This bracket is to be built from a 20 mm thick steel plate. A figure of the plate is shown below.
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This plate will be fixed at the two small holes on the left and have a load applied to the larger
hole on the right.
Preprocessing: Defining the Problem
1. Give the Bracket example a Title
Utility Menu > File > Change Title
2. Import geometry to ANSYS
Utility Menu > File >Import>IGS
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3. Define the Type of Element
As in the verification model, PLANE183 will be used for this example
o Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete
o Use the 'Options...' button to get a plane stress element with thickness
o Under the Extra Element Output K3 select nodal stress.
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2. Define Geometric Contants

o Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
o Enter a thickness of 20mm.
3. Element Material Properties

o Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Library > Structural > Linear >
Elastic > Isotropic
We are going to give the properties of Steel. Enter the following when prompted:
EX 200000
PRXY 0.3
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4. Mesh Size
o Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > Manual Size > Areas > All Areas
o Select an element edge length of 5. Again, we will need to make sure the model
has converged.
5. Mesh
o Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Areas > Free and select the area when
prompted
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Saving Your Job

Utility Menu > File > Save as...
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Solution Phase: Assigning Loads and Solving
You have now defined your model. It is now time to apply the load(s) and constraint(s) and solve
the the resulting system of equations.
1. Define Analysis Type

o 'Solution' > 'New Analysis' and select 'Static'.
2. Apply Constraints
As illustrated, the plate is fixed at both of the smaller holes on the left hand side.
o Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On Nodes
o Instead of selecting one node at a time, you have the option of creating a box,
polygon, or circle of which all the nodes in that area will be selected. For this
case, select 'circle' as shown in the window below. (You may want to zoom in to
select the points Utilty Menu / PlotCtrls / Pan, Zoom, Rotate...) Click at the
center of the bolt hole and drag the circle out so that it touches all of the nodes on
the border of the hole.
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o Click on 'Apply' in the 'Apply U,ROT on Lines' window and constrain all DOF's
in the 'Apply U,ROT on Nodes' window.
o Repeat for the second bolt hole.
3. Apply Loads
As shown in the diagram, there is a single vertical load of 1000N, at the bottom of the
large bolt hole. Apply this force to the respective keypoint ( Solution > Define Loads >
Apply > Structural > Force/Moment > On Keypoints Select a force in the y direction
of -1000)
The applied loads and constraints should now appear as shown below.
4. Solving the System
Solution > Solve > Current LS
Post-Processing: Viewing the Results
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We are now ready to view the results. We will take a look at the deflected shape and the stress
contours once we determine convergence has occured.
1. Convergence using ANSYS
As shown previously, it is necessary to prove that the solution has converged.

Reduce the mesh size until there is no longer a sizeable change in your
convergence criteria.
2. Deformation
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Def + undeformed to view both the
deformed and the undeformed object.
The graphic should be similar to the following
o Observe the locations of deflection. Ensure that the deflection at the bolt hole is
indeed 0.
3. Deflection
o To plot the nodal deflections use General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour
Plot > Nodal Solution then select DOF Solution - USUM in the window.
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Alternatively, obtain these results as a list. (General Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution...)
Are these results what you expected? Note that all translational degrees of freedom were
constrained to zero at the bolt holes.
Stresses
General Postproc > Plot Results > Nodal Solution... Then select von Mises Stress in the window.
You can list the von Mises stresses to verify the results at certain nodes
General Postproc > List Results. Select Stress, Principals SPRIN
Quitting ANSYS
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6.Creation and analysis of solid model I Using ANSYS APDL
The loading, material, and the boundary conditions are planar symmetric about XY plane. So
create the bottom half of the clamp using Top down approach.
A.Define Primitives
Create a solid cylinder of radius 50 and depth 20,with centre at centre at 0,0.
1.Choose pre-processor> Modelling>Create>Volumes>Cylinder>Solid cylinder. In the solid
cylinder dialog box, enter the following
Parameter Value
X Value 0
Y Value 0
Radius 50
Depth 20
Create a volumetric block of 68 X 46 X 20.
2.Choose pre-processor>Modelling>Create>Volumes>Block>By Dimensions dialog box, specify
the two diagonal corners of cuboids as -34,-75,0 and 34,0,20 respectively.
Create clamp Beam with Dimension 100 X 46 X 20.
3.Choose pre-processor>Modelling>Create>Volumes>Block>By Dimensions. Specify two
diagonal corners as 0,-23,0 and 100,23,20.
Create a partial cylinder to complete the round for the clamp beam.
4. Choose pre-processor>Modelling>Create>Volumes>Cylinder>partial Cylinder. Enter the
following parameters in the Partial Cylinder dialog box.
Parameter Value
X Value 100
Y Value 0
Radius-1 23
Theta-1 -90
Radius-2 0
Theta-2 90
Depth 20
Now you get results, as shown in below.
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B. Add volumes:
5.Select Pre-processor>Modelling>Operate>Booleans>Add>Volumes. Choose Pick All in the
Add Volumes picker menu to select volumes. The geometry is now converted into a single block.
6.Refresh the geometry. From the utility Menu choose plot>Replot.
C. Create volumes:
Create cylinders to generate holes in the clamp.
7. Choose pre-processor>Modelling>Create>Volumes>Cylinder>Solid Cylinder. Enter X,Y
coordinate value as 0,0.Specify radius value as 32 and depth as 20.
8.Similarly create another solid cylinder with X,Y value 100,0 with radius and height as 12.5 and
20 respectively.
D. Subtract Volumes:
9.Select Pre-processor>Modelling>Operate>Booleans>Substract>Volumes.Select the main
Block and choose OK .Next select the cylinders to be subtract from main model.
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Create an opening(jaw) in the clamp by subtracting a block.

10. Choose pre-processor>Modelling>Create>Volumes>Block>By 2 Corners & Z and input the
following values.
Parameter Value
X Value -6
Y Value -75
Width 12
Height 75
Depth 20
11.Substract the block from the main block, as illustrated below.
E. Change View:
Change the view to isometric for better visualization.
12.From the slandered Toolbar, select icon (or) from the utility Menu, choose Plot Ctrls>Pan
Zoom Rotate....In the Pan-Zoom-Rotate dialog box, click Iso button. View changes to isometric.
ANSYS provides option to rotate the view dynamically (using CTRL+ Right mouse
button).CTRL+Left button is used to pan the view.CTRL+Middle button is used to rotate
and magnify the view.
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F. Align Work plane:

To create bolt holes for the geometry the work plane has to be positioned normal to the cylinder's
height.
13.From the utility Menu, choose work plane>Align WP with>Keypoints+.Click 1,2 and 3 points
as illustrated below to align the wok plane.
G. Create Bolt Holes:

14.Construct a solid cylinder with centre at 0,20 with radius and depth value as 6 and -68
respectively.
15.Substract the cylinder from the main block.
The completed model looks as shown below.
16.Save the geometry as clamp.db in your directory.

17.Quit ANSYS Session.
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3. Select solid in the left hand menu and 2 node 186 in the right hand menu and then click
on OK.
4. This will define element type 1 as a SOLID 186 element. SOLID 188 is actually a 3D
clamp element but we are going to use it as a 1D truss by later suppressing some of it's
degrees of freedom Click Close to close the Element Type dialog box.
3.Define the Material Behaviour
Isotropic
3. In the dialog box that pops up, enter suitable material parameters for steel ( E = 67500 Pa,
Poissons ratio = 0.34)
right corner.
6. Density= 2.7e-6 kg/m^3
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4.: Mesh the Geometry
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh Tool
2. This will open the Mesh Tool window.
3. We are now going to use the Mesh Tool to set the size of the elements to all be a constant
size before we begin the meshing process. In the Mesh Tool click on Volumes > Set as
shown in the figure below:
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In the dialog box, check smart size and set the value to 4.Choose Tetragonal shape and free mesh
type. Pick Mesh button and when prompted to select volumes, Select Pick All Button in the
picker. Ignore any warning. The meshed model looks as shown below.
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5.Apply Loads and find Solution:

Apply Displacement Constraints
Set all degree of freedom to zero on the inner face of the clamp.
1.Choose Solution>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Displacement>On Areas. Select the inner
cylindrical faces and set ALL DOF to zero.
Apply Pressure:
Apply a bolt pressure of 70 N/mm^2 on the washer area.
2. Define Loads>Apply>Structural> Force/Moment>On nodes. Click Pick All in the picker
menu.
Choose FY as direction of a force and -25 as force value in the negative direction.
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6.Solution:
Run the analysis choosing Solution>Solve>Current LS from the main Menu. Ignore waning.
7.Postpocessing:
1.Display stress contours
Choose General Postprocc>Element Table>Define Table. Click add..In the Define Additional
Element Table Items dialog box, enter user label as stress. Choose item. Comp Results data item
as stress, vonMises and press OK. Close the dialog box.
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2.Choose General Postproc>Element Table>Plot Elem Table. Choose Stress under item to be
plotted. The element table is plotted on the screen as shown below.
3.Choose General post proc>Plot Results>Deformed Shape. In the plot Deformed Shape dialog
box choose Def+undeformed.
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The deflection is plotted on the screen as shown below.

8.Concusion:
According to Von Mises theroy (suitable for ductile materials) the maximum stress should be less
than the permissible yield stress. The max stress values and deflection value indicate it is far safe
and hence can be optimized.
Redesign the clamp lessening the thickness of clamp beam as shown and find the value.
Stress--------------------------------
Strain----------------------------------
This design should be safe and weight reduction should be considerable.
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7. Creation and analysis of solid model II Using ANSYS APDL
Axisymmetric Solid Tutorial: Pressure Vessel
In this tutorial you will examine the expansion of a pressure vessel due to an internal
pressure using ANSYS. The problem is adapted from case study E on page 327 of the textbook
Practical Stress Analysis with Finite Elements (2nd Ed) by Bryan J. Mac Donald. You will
determine the principal stresses in the pressure vessel due to the applied loading and boundary
conditions. An axisymmetric solid element will be used for this analysis. We will use SI system
units for this tutorial: length = m, mass = kg, time = sec, force = N, stress/pressure = Pa. In this
case the vessel is made from steel (E = 207 Gpa, v = 0.27) and the internal pressure is 10,000 Pa.
There are standard theories available for the behaviour of thin and thick walled cylinders
subjected to internal pressure. These equations can be found in any text book on mechanics of
solids or in any reference book. We can use these theories to predict the expected stresses in the
pressure vessel due to the applied loading. The calculations for the various stresses is shown on
pages 328 to 329 of Practical Stress Analysis with Finite Elements (2nd Ed) by Bryan J. Mac
Donald and is summarised in the table below.
An axisymmetric analysis assumes that the geometry and all loads and boundary conditions can
be expressed in the XY plane and this plane is then swept 360 degrees around the Y-axis to form
the full model. An axisymmetric model is appropriate in this case as the geometry of the pressure
vessel is axisymmetric and the loading is also axisymmetric. Figure 2 shows an overview of the
axisymmetric model we will build:
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1. In the Main Menu select Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete 2. Click on Add in
the dialog box that appears:
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3. Select Solid in the left hand menu and Quad 8 node 183 in the right hand menu and then click
OK
4. This defines element type 1 as a 2D quadratic 8-node quadrilateral element (i.e. a rectangle
with curved edges) 5. Now we must define how this element behaves. Click on Options in the
Element Types dialog box:.
5. Now we must define how this element behaves. Click on Options in the Element Types dialog
box:
6. In the element type options dialog box that appears, make sure that the Element behavior is set
to "Axisymmetric" as shown in the figure below:
7. Click on OK and then click close to close the Element Type dialog box.
Step 3: Define the Material Model
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Models, the Define
Material Model Behaviour dialog box will now appear.
2. Expand the options in the right hand pane of the dialog box: Structural > Linear > Isotropic
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3. In the dialog box that pops up, enter suitable material parameters for steel ( E = 207 x 109 Pa,
Poissons ratio = 0.27):
5. Close the Define Material Model Behaviour dialog box by clicking on the X in the upper right
corner.
Step 5: Create the Model Geometry
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Modelling > Create > Areas > Rectangle > By 2
Corners
2. Enter the values shown below to create the bottom rectangle of the pressure vessel:
3. Repeat the above process and enter these values to create the side wall of the pressure vessel:
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4. Finally, repeat the process again to create the top rectangle of the pressure vessel:
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5. Your screen should now look like this:
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6. Note: if the background of your screen is black then that is not a problem. In the image above
reverse video has been used. If you want to use reverse video (i.e. have a white background) then
simply go to: Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Style > Colors > Reverse Video
7. Now we must add the three areas together to form one area that defines the pressure vessel
geometry. Main Menu > Modelling > Operate > Booleans > Add > Areas
8. Click on "Pick All" in the picker dialog box:
9. You should notice that all the areas merged into one area.
Step 6: Mesh the Geometry
3. We are now going to use the Mesh Tool to set the size of the elements to all be a constant size
before we begin the meshing process. In the Mesh Tool click on Areas > Set as shown in the
figure below:
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4. Use your mouse to click on the plate geometry. Once you have clicked on it, the Element Size
at Picked Areas dialog box will appear. Enter 0.002 m for the Element Edge Length to define the
size of each element, as shown below:
5. Click on OK to close the dialog box.
6. In the MeshTool make sure that Quad and Free are selected and then click on Mesh. Click on
the geometry in order to mesh it.
7. Your model should now look like this:
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Step 7: Apply the Boundary Conditions
1. Although the solver already knows that we are performing an axisymmetric analysis due to an
axisymmetric element being used, we still need to place a symmetry constraint on the edges of
the model that touch the Y-axis.
2. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > Symmetry B.C.
> On Lines pick the lines on the axis of symmetry (i.e. the two vertical lines on the left hand
edge of the model) then click OK in the picker dialog box.
3. You should notice small "S" symbols appear near the lines to indicate that a symmetry
boundary condition has been applied.
4. In order to prevent any unwanted movement of the entire model in the vertical direction (rigid
body motion) we must constrain at least one node in the vertical direction:
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5. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On Nodes
6. Click on any node in the centre of the side wall of the vessel and then click on OK
7. In the dialog box that appears make sure the DOFs to be constrained is set to UY only and
then click on OK.
1. Although the solver already knows that we are performing an axisymmetric analysis due to an
axisymmetric element being used, we still need to place a symmetry constraint on the edges of
the model that touch the Y-axis.
2. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > Symmetry B.C.
> On Lines pick the lines on the axis of symmetry (i.e. the two vertical lines on the left hand
edge of the model) then click OK in the picker dialog box.
3. You should notice small "S" symbols appear near the lines to indicate that a symmetry
boundary condition has been applied.
4. In order to prevent any unwanted movement of the entire model in the vertical direction (rigid
body motion) we must constrain at least one node in the vertical direction:
6. Click on any node in the centre of the side wall of the vessel and then click on OK 7. In the
dialog box that appears make sure the DOFs to be constrained is set to UY only and then click on
OK.
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8. You will probably get a warning saying that "Both solid model and finite element boundary
conditions have been applied to this model. As solid loads are transferred to the nodes or
elements, they can overwrite directly applied loads". This is OK just click on Close to dismiss
this dialog.
Step 8: Apply the Internal Pressure Load
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural >
Pressure > On Lines
2. Click on all the lines representing the internal wall of the pressure vessel and then click on OK
in the picker dialog box.
3. The "Apply Pres on a Line" dialog box will now appear. Enter 10000 as the pressure value as
shown below:
5. You should notice a red arrows appearing on your model to indicate the pressure load as
shown below:
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dismiss the dialog.
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2. Select Def + undef edge in order to show both the deformed and undeformed shapes.
3. Your screen should look something like this:
4. It is clear that the side wall of the pressure vessel has slightly "bowed" out due to the internal
pressure. The end caps have significantly deformed in comparison to the side wall. The
maximum displacement is, however, approximately 2 x 10-6 m which is well below the yield
stress for steel meaning our assumption of a linear elastic material is valid. Note that ANSYS, by
default, will exaggerate any deformation by scaling it up in order to make it obvious.
5. Now let's examine the principal stresses: General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot >
Nodal Solu > Stress > 1st Principal Stress, click on OK to display the plot, which should look
like this:
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6. The first principal stress is the Hoop Stress and we are expecting a value of approximately
55,000 Pa based on our analytical calculations. Clearly something is wrong with this plot. We are
seeing very large stress concentrations at the sharp corner where the end caps join the side wall.
It is likely that the stress in the side wall itself is quite close to the predicted analytical value.
Let's investigate this by only displaying results for the elements at the middle of the vessel side
wall:
7. Utility Menu > Select > Entities
8. In the "Select Entities" dialog box that appears make sure that "Elements" is selected in the top
box and then click on OK
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9. The "Select Elements" picker dialog box will appear. Change the picking type to "Box" as
10. Now draw a box around the central elements in the side wall, as shown below:
11. Click on OK in the "Select Elements" picker dialog to select all the elements inside the box.
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12. Now, only the selected elements will be displayed in any stress contour plots and the rest of
the model will be ignored.
13. Your screen should now look something like this:
14. Now, let's replot the 1st principal stress: General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot >
Nodal Solu > Stress > 1st Principal Stress, click on OK to display the plot, which should look
like this:
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15. Notice that the maximum value is 56,680 Pa which is reasonably close to our predicted value
of 55,455 Pa
16. Let's check the Axial Stress: General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Nodal Solu >
Stress > 2nd Principal Stress, click on OK to display the plot, which should look like this:
17. Notice that the axial stress varies between 22,158 Pa and 23,340 Pa which is, again,
reasonably close to our predicted value of 22,727 Pa.
18. Let's now check the radial stress: General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Nodal
Solu > Stress > 3rd Principal Stress, click on OK to display the plot, which should look like this:
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19. In this case the maximum radial stress is -9,993 Pa which is very close to our predicted value
of 10,000 Pa.
20. When you are finished looking at the results for this subset of elements, you can re-select the
entire model by issuing the command: Utility Menu > Select > Everything. Now if you replot a
stress contour you will see the entire model again.
This Exercise has given the following skills:
1. The ability to model axisymmetric problems in ANSYS.
2. The ability to select a subset of a finite element model and only examine the result for that
subset.
3. Experience in comparing the results obtained from your finite element model with other
results and validating your results against the other results.
Quitting ANSYS
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8. Application of distributed loads Using ANSYS APDL
Figure 01: Overview of Simple Beam Problem with Applied Bending Moment
Figure 02: Representative Finite Element Model of the Simple Beam Problem with Applied
Bending Moment
beam is simply supported.
UDL beam load of 12 kN/m is 1m remaining 1m free load. The beam is made from steel with E
= 200 GPa and I = 4 x 10-6 m4 .
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We can use the information in the tables above to define our nodes, elements and boundary
conditions.
7.
8. Select Beam in the left hand menu and 2 node 188 in the right hand menu and then click
on OK.
9. This will define element type 1 as a BEAM 188 element. BEAM 188 is actually a 3D
beam element but we are going to use it as a 1D truss by later suppressing some of it's
degrees of freedom
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beam has. That isn't a problem and we
can work around it. We know that the beam cross section has a second moment of area of I = 4 x
10-6 m4 so let's choose the simplest
rectangular cross section:
Figure 03: Calculating the beam height from the given second moment of area
1. In the Main Menu select Preprocessor > Sections > Beam > Common Sections
2. The beam tool should appear as shown below. Enter a value of 0.0832358 for B and for
H.
3.
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4. Click on OK to close the Beam Tool.
Isotropic
109 Pa, Poissons ratio = 0.3)
right corner.
CS
on Apply
(note that Apply issues the command to create the node but keeps the dialog box open,
clicking OK
would also issue the command to create the node but would close the dialog box).
3. Now enter the x and y coordinates for node 2 (i.e. 1,0) and click Apply
4. Finally, enter the x and y coordinate for node 3 (i.e. 2,0) and click OK.
Modeling > Create > Elements > Auto Numbered >
Thru Nodes In the main window click on node 1 and then node 2. Then click Apply in
the dialog box.
You should see a line element appear joining nodes 1 and 2. (Note: node 1 is probably
hidden behind the x-y symbol ar the origin -
this is know as "the triad" - if you can't see node 1 then just click on the triad and it
should automatically be selected.)
nodes 2 and 3.
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1. In this case we are using a 3D beam to model a 1D beam problem so we must prevent the
nodes from moving in the X and Z direction
(i.e. only allow movement in the Y direction for bending). Since beam elements also have
rotational degrees of freedom at each
node we must also constrain rotations about the X and Y axis (i.e. only allow rotations
about the Z axis - for bending moments in the X-Y plane).
In order to do this we constrain all nodes in the finite element model in the UX, UZ,
ROTX and ROTY directions.
Step 7: Apply a Distributed Load to Element 1
1. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structrual > Pressure > On Beams
2. Click on element 1 and then click on OK to close the picker dialog box
3. Make sure the Load Key is changed to 2 and enter 12000 for the Pressure Value at Node
I
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4. The default Load Key is 1 and this makes the distributed load act in the Y-Z plane, which
is the default for beam elements. Putting a value of 2 here makes the load act in the X-Y
plane, which is what we want. If we wanted a non-constant distributed load in the beam
then we could enter another value for node J, but because we want a constant load, we
simply leave this blank.
5. Now, click on OK to close the dialog box.
7. Notice the red line indicating the distributed load.
dismiss the dialog.
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2. You screen should look something like this:
3. Now we must examine the displacement and rotation (i.e. slope) at each node, as before.
Follow the instructions given above for case 1 to get printouts of the displacement and
rotation of each node in the finite element model. You should obtain results similar to
these:
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4.
Notice that the dispalcement of node 1 is 0.002 m and the displacement of node 2 is
0.0057 m. The slope at both nodes is 0.00375 radians.
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9.Nonlinear analysis of a cantilever beam Using ANSYS APDL

3.
on OK.
degrees of freedom
Isotropic
right corner.
If you are wondering why a 'Linear' model was chosen when this is a non-linear example,
it is because this example is for non-linear geometry, not non-linear material properties. If
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we were considering a block of wood, for example, we would have to consider non-linear
material properties.
2. The beam tool should appear as shown below. Enter a value of 0.125 for B and for H for
0.25.
Step 5: Define Keypoints
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In
Active CS
on Apply
clicking OK
3. Now enter the x and y coordinates for node 2 (i.e. 5,0) and click OK.
4. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Lines > Create lines
Select 1 and 2 Key points and create line.
Step 6: Define Meshing
1.Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Lines > All Lines...
For this example we will specify an element edge length of 0.1 " (50 element divisions
along the line).
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Mesh the frame
Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Lines > click 'Pick All'
LMESH,ALL.
Solution: Assigning Loads and Solving
Solution > New Analysis > Static

ANTYPE,0
2. Set Solution Controls
Select Solution > Analysis Type > Sol'n Control...
The following image will appear:
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Ensure the following selections are made (as shown above)
A. Ensure Large Static Displacements are permitted (this will include the effects of
large deflection in the results)
B. Ensure Automatic time stepping is on. Automatic time stepping allows ANSYS to
determine appropriate sizes to break the load steps into. Decreasing the step size
usually ensures better accuracy, however, this takes time. The Automatic Time
Step feature will determine an appropriate balance. This feature also activates the
ANSYS bisection feature which will allow recovery if convergence fails.
C. Enter 5 as the number of substeps. This will set the initial substep to 1/5 th of the
total load.
The following example explains this: Assume that the applied load is 100 kg*m.
If the Automatic Time Stepping was off, there would be 5 load steps (each
increasing by 1/5 th of the total load):
20 kg*m
40 kg*m
60 kg*m
80 kg*m
100 kg*m
Now, with the Automatic Time Stepping is on, the first step size will still be 20
kg*m. However, the remaining substeps will be determined based on the response
of the material due to the previous load increment.
D. Enter a maximum number of substeps of 1000. This stops the program if the
solution does not converge after 1000 steps.
E. Enter a minimum number of substeps of 1.
F. Ensure all solution items are writen to a results file.
NOTE
There are several options which have not been changed from their default values. For
more information about these commands, type help followed by the command into the
command line.
Function Command Comments
Load Step KBC Loads are either linearly interpolated (ramped) from
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the one substep to another (ie - the load will increase

from 10 kgs to 20 kgs in a linear fashion) or they are
step functions (ie. the load steps directly from 10 kgs
to 20 kgs). By default, the load is ramped. You may
wish to use the stepped loading for rate-dependent
behaviour or transient load steps.
Output OUTRES This command controls the solution data written to

the database. By default, all of the solution items are
written at the end of each load step. You may select
only a specific iten (ie Nodal DOF solution) to
decrease processing time.
Stress Stiffness SSTIF This command activates stress stiffness effects in

nonlinear analyses. When large static deformations
are permitted (as they are in this case), stress
stiffening is automatically included. For some special
nonlinear cases, this can cause divergence because
some elements do not provide a complete consistent
tangent.
Newton Raphson NROPT By default, the program will automatically choose

the Newton-Raphson options. Options include the
full Newton-Raphson, the modified Newton-
Raphson, the previously computed matrix, and the
full Newton-Raphson with unsymmetric matrices of
elements.
Convergence Values CNVTOL By default, the program checks the out-of-balance

load for any active DOF.
Apply Constraints
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On Keypoints
Fix Keypoint 1 (ie all DOFs constrained).
Apply Loads
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/Moment > On Keypoints
Place a -100 kg*m moment in the MZ direction at the right end of the beam (Keypoint 2)
Solve the System

SOLVE
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The following will appear on your screan for NonLinear Analyses
General Postprocessing: Viewing the Results
1. View the deformed shape
General Postproc > Plot Results > Deformed Shape... > Def + undeformed
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2. View the deflection contour plot
General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Nodal Solu... > DOF solution,
UY
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If this example is performed as a linear model there will be no nodal deflection in

the horizontal direction due to the small deflections assumptions. However, this is
not realistic for large deflections. Modeling the system non-linearly, these
horizontal deflections are calculated by ANSYS.
General Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution...> DOF solution, UX
Other results can be obtained as shown in previous linear static analyses
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EXTRA EXERCISES
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Using P-Elements
Introduction
This tutorial was completed using ANSYS 7.0. This tutorial outlines the steps necessary for
solving a model meshed with p-elements. The p-method manipulates the polynomial level (p-
level) of the finite element shape functions which are used to approximate the real solution.
Thus, rather than increasing mesh density, the p-level can be increased to give a similar result.
By keeping mesh density rather coarse, computational time can be kept to a minimum. This is
the greatest advantage of using p-elements over h-elements.
A uniform load will be applied to the right hand side of the geometry shown below. The
specimen was modeled as steel with a modulus of elasticity of 200 GPa.
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1. Give example a Title
Utility Menu > File > Change Title ...

/title, P-Method Meshing
2. Activate the p-Method Solution Options
ANSYS Main Menu > Preferences

/PMETH,ON
Select p-Method Struct. as shown below
3. Open preprocessor menu
ANSYS Main Menu > Preprocessor

/PREP7
4. Define Keypoints
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In Active CS...
K,#,x,y,z
We are going to define 12 keypoints for this geometry as given in the following
table:
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Keypoint Coordinates (x,y,z)

1 (0,0)
2 (0,100)
3 (20,100)
4 (45,52)
5 (55,52)
6 (80,100)
7 (100,100)
8 (100,0)
9 (80,0)
10 (55,48)
11 (45,48)
12 (20,0)
5. Create Area
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Arbitrary > Through KPs
A,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
Click each of the keypoints in numerical order to create the area shown below.
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Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete...
For this problem we will use the PLANE145 (p-Elements 2D Quad) element. This
element has eight nodes with 2 degrees of freedom each (translation along the X and Y
axes). It can support a polynomial with maximum order of eight.
After clicking OK to select the element, click Options... to open the keyoptions window,
shown below. Choose Plane stress + TK for Analysis Type.
Keyopts 1 and 2 can be used to set the starting and maximum p-level for this element
type. For now we will leave them as default.
Other types of p-elements exist in the ANSYS library. These include Solid127 and
Solid128 which have electrostatic DOF's, and Plane145, Plane146, Solid147, Solid148
and Shell150 which have structural DOF's. For more information on these elements, go to
the Element Library in the help file.
Define Real Constants

Preprocessor > Real Constants... > Add...
In the 'Real Constants for PLANE145' window, enter the following geometric properties:
i. Thickness THK: 10
This defines an element with a thickness of 10 mm.
Define Element Material Properties

Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Models > Structural > Linear > Elastic >
Isotropic
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In the window that appears, enter the following geometric properties for steel:
i. Young's modulus EX: 200000

ii. Poisson's Ratio PRXY: 0.3
Define Mesh Size

Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Areas > All Areas...
For this example we will use an element edge length of 5mm.
Mesh the frame

Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Areas > Free > click 'Pick All'
Solution > Analysis Type > New Analysis > Static

ANTYPE,0
Set Solution Controls
Solution > Analysis Type > Sol'n Controls
The following window will pop up.
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A) Set Time at end of loadstep to 1 and Automatic time stepping to ON

B) Set Number of substeps to 20, Max no. of substeps to 100, Min no. of substeps to 20.
C) Set the Frequency to Write every substep
Apply Constraints
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On Lines
Fix the left side of the area (ie all DOF constrained)
Apply Loads
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Pressure > On Lines
Apply a pressure of -100 N/mm^2
The applied loads and constraints should now appear as shown in the figure below.
Solve the System

SOLVE
Postprocessing: Viewing the Results
1. Read in the Last Data Set

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General Postproc > Read Results > Last Set
2. Plot Equivalent Stress
General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Element Solu
In the window that pops up, select Stress > von Mises SEQV
The following stress distribution should appear.
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Plot p-Levels
General Postproc > Plot Results > p-Method > p-Levels
The following distribution should appear.
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Note how the order of the polynomial increased in the area with the greatest range in
stress. This allowed the elements to more accurately model the stress distribution through
that area. For more complex geometries, these orders may go as high as 8. As a
comparison, a plot of the stress distribution for a normal h-element (PLANE2) model
using the same mesh, and one with a mesh 5 times finer are shown below.
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As one can see from the two plots, the mesh density had to be increased by 5 times to get
the accuracy that the p-elements delivered. This is the benefit of using p-elements. You
can use a mesh that is relatively coarse, thus computational time will be low, and still get
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reasonable results. However, care should be taken using p-elements as they can
sometimes give poor results or take a long time to converge.
Contact Elements
Introduction
This tutorial was completed using ANSYS 7.0 The purpose of the tutorial is to describe how to
utilize contact elements to simulate how two beams react when they come into contact with each
other.
The beams, as shown below, are 100mm long, 10mm x 10mm in cross-section, have a Young's
modulus of 200 GPa, and are rigidly constrained at the outer ends. A 10KN load is applied to the
center of the upper, causing it to bend and contact the lower.
1. Give example a Title
Utility Menu > File > Change Title ...

/title, Contact Elements
2. Open preprocessor menu
ANSYS Main Menu > Preprocessor

/PREP7
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3. Define Areas
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Area > Rectangle > By 2 Corners
BLC4,WP X, WP Y, Width, Height
We are going to define 2 rectangles as described in the following table:
Rectangle Variables (WP X,WP Y,Width,Height)

1 (0, 15, 100, 10)
2 (50, 0, 100, 10)
o Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete...
For this problem we will use the PLANE42 (Solid, Quad 4node 42) element. This
element has 2 degrees of freedom at each node (translation along the X and Y).
o While the Element Types window is still open, click Options.... Change Element
behavior K3 to Plane strs w/thk as shown below. This allows a thickness to be
input for the elements.
5. Define Real Constants
In the 'Real Constants for PLANE42' window, enter the following geometric properties:
i. Thickness THK: 10
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This defines a beam with a thickness of 10 mm.
Define Element Material Properties

Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Models > Structural > Linear > Elastic >
Isotropic
In the window that appears, enter the following geometric properties for steel:
i. Young's modulus EX: 200000

ii. Poisson's Ratio PRXY: 0.3
Define Mesh Size

Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Areas > All Lines...
For this example we will use an element edge length of 2mm.
Mesh the frame

Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Areas > Free > click 'Pick All'
Define the Type of Contact Element
Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete...
For this problem we will use the CONTAC48 (Contact, pt-to-surf 48) element.
CONTAC48 may be used to represent contact and sliding between two surfaces (or
between a node and a surface) in 2-D. The element has two degrees of freedom at each
node: translations in the nodal x and y directions. Contact occurs when the contact node
penetrates the target line.
While the Element Types window is still open, click Options.... Change Contact
time/load prediction K7 to Reasonabl T/L inc. This is an important step. It initiates a
process during the solution calculations where the time step or load step, depending on
what the user has specified in the solution controls, incremements slowly when contact is
immenent. This way, one surface won't penetrate too far into the other and cause the
solution to fail.
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It is important to note, CONTAC48 elements are created in the space between two surfaces
prescribed by the user. This will be covered below. As the surfaces approach each other, the
contact element is slowly "crushed" until it's upper node(s) lie along the same line as the lower
node(s). Thus, ANSYS can calculate when the two prescribed surfaces have made contact. Other
contact elements, such as CONTA175, require a target element, such as TARGE169, to function.
When using contact elements in your own analyses, be sure to understand how the elements
work. The ANSYS help file has plenty of useful information regarding contact elements and is
worth reading.
Define Real Constants for the Contact Elements

In the 'Real Constants for CONTAC48' window, enter the following properties:
i. Normal contact stiffness KN: 200000

CONTAC48 elements basically use a penalty approach to model contact. When
one surface comes into "contact" with the other, ANSYS numerically puts a
spring of stiffness KN between the two. ANSYS recommends a value between
0.01 and 100 times Young's modulus for the material. Since this "spring" is so
stiff, the behaviour of the model is like the two surfaces have made contact. This
KN value can greatly affect your solution, so be sure to read the help file on
contact so you can recognize when your solution is not converging and why. A
good rule of thumb is to start with a low value of KN and see how the solution
converges (start watching the ANSYS Output Window). If there is too much
penetration, you should increase KN. If it takes a lot of iterations to converge for a
single substep, you should decrease KN.
ii. Target length tolerance TOLS: 10
Real constant TOLS is used to add a small tolerance that will internally increase
the length of the target. This is useful for problems when node to node contact is
likely to occur, rather than node to element edge. In this situation, the contact
node may repeatedly "slip" off one of the target nodes, resulting in convergence
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difficulties. A small value of TOLS, given in %, is usually enough to prevent such

difficulties.
The other real constants can be used to model sliding friction, tolerances, etc. Information
about these other constants can be found in the help file.
Define Nodes for Creating Contact Elements

Unlike the normal meshing sequence used for most elements, contact elements must be
defined in a slightly different manner. Sets of nodes that are likely to come into contact
must be defined and used to generate the necessary elements. ANSYS has many
recommendations about which nodes to select and whether they should act as target
nodes or source nodes. In this simple case, source nodes are those that will move into
contact with the other surface, where as target nodes are those that are contacted. These
terms are important when using the automatic contact element mesher to ensure the
elements will correctly model contact between the surfaces. A strong understanding of
how the elements work is important when using contact elements for your own analysis.
First, the source nodes will be selected.
Utility Menu > Select > Entities...

Select Areas and By Num/Pick from the pull down menus, select From Full
from the radio buttons and click OK. Select the top beam and click OK. This will
ensure any nodes that are selected in the next few steps will be from the upper
beam. In this case, it is not too hard to ensure you select the correct nodes.
However, when the geometry is complex, you may inadvertantly select a node
from the wrong surface and it could cause problems during element generation.
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Select Nodes and By Location from the pull down menus, Y coordinates and
Reselect from the radio buttons and enter a value of 15 and click OK. This will
select all nodes along the bottom of the upper beam.

Select Nodes and By Location from the pull down menus, X coordinates and
Reselect from the radio buttons and enter values of 50,100. This will select the
nodes above the lower beam.
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Now if you list the selected nodes, Utility Menu > List > Nodes... you should
only have the following nodes remaining.
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It is important to try and limit the number of nodes you use to create contact
elements. If you have a lot of contact elements, it takes a great deal of
computational time to reach a solution. In this case, the only nodes that could
make contact with the lower beam are those directly above it, thus those are the
only nodes we will use to create the contact elements.
Utility Menu > Select > Comp/Assembly > Create Component

Enter the component name Source as shown below, and click OK. Now we can
use this component, Source, as a list of nodes to be used in other functions. This
can be very useful in other applications as well.
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Now select the target nodes.

Using the same procedure as above, select the nodes on the lower beam directly under the
upper beam. Be sure to reselect all nodes before starting to select others. This is done by
opening the entity select menu, Utility Menu > Select > Entities..., clicking the Also
Select radio button, and click the Sele All button.
These values will be the ones you'll use.
Click the lower area for the area select.

The Y coordinate is 10
The X coordinates vary from 50 to 100.
When creating the component this time, enter the name Target.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to reselect all the nodes before continuing. This is done by
opening the entity select menu, Utility Menu > Select > Entities..., clicking the Also
Select radio button, and click the Sele All button.
Generate Contact Elements

Main Menu > Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Elements > Elem Attributes
Fill the window in as shown below. This ensures ANSYS knows that you are dealing with
the contact elements and the associated real constants.
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Main Menu > Preprocessor > Modeling> Create > Elements > Surf / Contact > Node to
Surf
The following window will pop up. Select the node set SOURCE from the first drop
down menu (Ccomp) and TARGET from the second drop down menu (Tcomp). The rest
of the selections remain unchanged.
At this point, your model should look like the following.
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Unfortunately, the contact elements don't get plotted on the screen so it is sometimes difficult to
tell they are there. If you wish, you can plot the elements (Utility Menu > Plot > Elements) and
turn on element numbering (Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Numbering > Elem/Attrib numbering >
Element Type Numbers). If you zoom in on the contact areas, you can see little purple stars
(Contact Nodes) and thin purple lines (Target Elements) numbered "2" which correspond to the
contact elements, shown below.
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The preprocessor stage is now complete.
Solution > Analysis Type > New Analysis > Static

ANTYPE,0
Set Solution Controls
Select Solution > Analysis Type > Sol'n Control...
The following image will appear:
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Ensure the following selections are made under the 'Basic' tab (as shown above)
A. Ensure Automatic time stepping is on. Automatic time stepping allows ANSYS to
determine appropriate sizes to break the load steps into. Decreasing the step size
usually ensures better accuracy, however, this takes time. The Automatic Time
Step feature will determine an appropriate balance. This feature also activates the
ANSYS bisection feature which will allow recovery if convergence fails.
B. Enter 100 as the number of substeps. This will set the initial substep to 1/100 th of
the total load.
C. Enter a maximum number of substeps of 1000. This stops the program if the
solution does not converge after 1000 steps.
D. Enter a minimum number of substeps of 20.
E. Ensure all solution items are writen to a results file.
Ensure the following selection is made under the 'Nonlinear' tab (as shown below)
F. Ensure Maximum Number of Iterations is set to 100
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NOTE
There are several options which have not been changed from their default values. For
more information about these commands, type help followed by the command into the
command line.
These solution control values are extremely important in determining if your analysis will
succeed or fail. If you have too few substeps, the contact nodes may be driven through the target
elements before ANSYS "realizes" it has happened. In this case the solution will resemble that of
an analysis that didn't have contact elements defined at all. Therefore it is important to choose a
relatively large number of substeps initially to ensure the model is defined properly. Once
everything is working, you can reduce the number of substeps to optimize the computational
time. Also, if the maximum number of substeps or iterations is left too low, ANSYS may stop the
analysis before it has a chance to converge to a solution. Again, leave these relatively high at
first.
Apply Constraints
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On Lines
Fix the left end of the upper beam and the right end of the lower beam (ie all DOF
constrained)
Apply Loads
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/Moment > On Nodes
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Apply a load of -10000 in the FY direction to the center of the top surface of the upper
beam. Note, this is a point load on a 2D surface. This type of loading should be avoided
since it will cause a singularity. However, the displacement or stress near the load is not
of interest in this analyis, thus we will use a point load for simplicity.
The applied loads and constraints should now appear as shown in the figure below.
Solve the System

SOLVE
Postprocessing: Viewing the Results
1. Open postprocessor menu
ANSYS Main Menu > General Postproc

/POST1
2. Adjust Graphical Scaling
Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Style > Displacement Scaling
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Click the 1.0 (true scale) radio button, then click ok. This is of huge importance! I lost
many hours trying to figure out why the contact elements weren't working, when in fact it
was just due to the displacement scaling to which ANSYS defaulted. If you leave the
scaling as default, many times it will look like your contact nodes have gone through the
target elements.
Show the Stress Distribution in the Beams

General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Nodal Solu > Stress > von Mises
Adjust Contour Scale
Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Style > Contours > Non-Uniform Contours
Fill in the window as follows:
This should produce the following stress distribution plot:
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As seen in the figure, the load on the upper beam caused it to deflect and come in contact
with the lower beam, producing a stress distribution in both
1. ANALYSIS OF CANTILEVER BEAM
Figure 01 shows an overview of the beam problem for load case 1 (point load) and figure 02
shows a representative finite element model for this load case.
Figure 01: Overview of Simple Beam Problem with Vertical Point Load (Case 1)
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Figure 02: Representative Finite Element Model of the Simple Beam Problem (Case 1)
beam is simply supported.
The free end of the beam supports a shear load of 40 kN and a bending moment of 20 kNm. The
beam is made from steel with E = 200 GPa and I = 4 x 10-6 m4 .
We can use the information in the tables above to define our nodes, elements and boundary
conditions.
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13.
on OK.
degrees of freedom
Figure 03: Calculating the beam height from the given second moment of area
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6. The beam tool should appear as shown below. Enter a value of 0.0832358 for B and for
H.
7.
8. Click on OK to close the Beam Tool.
Isotropic
right corner.
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CS
on Apply
clicking OK
10. Now enter the x and y coordinates for node 2 (i.e. 1,0) and click Apply
11. Finally, enter the x and y coordinate for node 3 (i.e. 2,0) and click OK.
Modeling > Create > Elements > Auto Numbered >
Thru Nodes In the main window click on node 1 and then node 2. Then click Apply in
the dialog box.
You should see a line element appear joining nodes 1 and 2. (Note: node 1 is probably
hidden behind the x-y symbol ar the origin -
this is know as "the triad" - if you can't see node 1 then just click on the triad and it
should automatically be selected.)
nodes 2 and 3.
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2. In this case we are using a 3D beam to model a 1D beam problem so we must prevent the
nodes from moving in the X and Z direction
(i.e. only allow movement in the Y direction for bending). Since beam elements also have
rotational degrees of freedom at each
node we must also constrain rotations about the X and Y axis (i.e. only allow rotations
about the Z axis - for bending moments in the X-Y plane).
In order to do this we constrain all nodes in the finite element model in the UX, UZ,
ROTX and ROTY directions.
3. Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On
Nodes
4. Select Pick All in the dialog box that appears.
5. Select UX, UZ, ROTX and ROTY in the next dialog box that appears and enter a value
of 0 for displacement value - your screen
should look like this:
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6. Click Ok to close the dialog box. You should notice constraints appearing at each of the
nodes.
The blue triangles represent a node constrained from displacing in a particular direction
and the orange double arrows show
that the node is prevented from rotating about that axis.
7. Now we can apply the problem boundary conditions.

8. Using the table above: we must constrain node 1 in all degrees of freedom:
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9. Again, select: Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural >
Displacement > On Nodes
10. Click on Node 1 then click Ok.
11. Select All DOF and enter a value of 0 for displacement value
12. Click Ok to close the dialog box. Your should have noticed extra constraints appearing at
node 1.
Step 7: Define Point Loads
1. Select Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/ Moment
> On Nodes
2. Pick node 2 and click on Ok
3. In the dialog box that appears make sure that the direction of force is set to FY and that
the Force/ Moment value is -40000.
The minus ensures that the load acts downwards.
4. You should notice a red arrow appearing at node 2 pointing downwards.
dismiss the dialog.
2. You screen should look something like this:
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3. Now we must examine the displacement of each node: General Postproc > List Results
> Nodal Solution > DOF Solution >
Displacement Vector Sum
4. You should get a printout of the displacement of the beam at each node:
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5. Notice that Node 2 has moved downwards by 0.0133 m and Node 3 has moved 0.03839
m.
6. Now, we must check the slope of the beam: General Postproc > List Results > Nodal
Solution > DOF Solution > Rotation Vector Sum
7. You should get a printout of the slope of the beam (i.e. rotation) at each node:
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8. Notice that the slope at nodes 2 and 3 is 0.025 radians.
Summary
This exercise has given you the following skills:
1. The ability to model beam problems in ANSYS.

2. The ability to generate finite element models using the direct method (i.e. defining nodes
and then defining elements linking those nodes, as opposed to taking a solid model and
dividing it up into elements which we will do in subsequent tutorials).
3. The ability to define element types, real constants and material parameters for a finite
element model.
4. The ability to apply boundary conditions and loads to specific nodes in a finite element
model.
5. The ability to apply distributed loads to beam elements and to specify which face of the
beam they act upon.
6. The ability to run a simple linear static analysis.
7. The ability to list displacement and rotation results for each node in the finite element
model.
8. Experience in comparing the results obtained from your finite element model with other
results and validating your results against the other results.
4. 2-D DISTRIBUTION OF STRESS IN A FLAT PLATE WITH A HOLE
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Overview
2-D distribution of stress in a flat plate with a hole loaded in simple tension using ANSYS. The
"plate with a hole" problem is one of the fundamental learning steps in any study of finite
element analysis as it illustrates a number of key points fundamental to correct application of the
finite element method to stress analysis. If you pick up pretty much any book on FEA you will
find that it covers the "plate with a hole" problem once 2D plane elements have been introduced.
Figure 01: Overview of the "Plate with a Hole Problem"
Figure 01 shows an overview of the problem we are going to model in this tutorial. We have a
square plate 0.1m wide and 0.1m high. It has a thickness of 0.001m and is subjected to a tensile
load of 1000 N. It has a circular hole located in the centre of the plate with a diameter of 0.01m.
We are going to make two different models of this problem, as shown in figure 02. First we will
model the entire problem unsing plane stress elements then we will exploit symmetry and create
another model that only requires 1/4 of the plate to be modelled but will still give the same
solution!
Figure 02: The two modelling approaches we are going to use to model the "plate with a hole"
problem. The Full Model (left) and the 1/4 Model (Right).
In both cases we are seeking to find the maximum horizontal stress in the plate which we will
validate against analytical theory with the help of a stress concentration factor.
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Analytical Theory
Simple stress theory tells us that stress is load divided by area, so for the above plate (ignoring
the hole) the nominal stress would be:
Now, we can find a "stress concentration factor" for a plate with a hole in tension. There are
tables available which list these for various ratios of r/D where r is the radius of the hole and D is
the height of the plate. In our case r/D = 0.005/0.1 = 0.05. Now, checking the graph of stress
concentration factor vs r/D ratio:
we can easily see that, in our case, the stress concentration factor, K is going to be more or less
equal to 3. So, K = 3.
The means that the maximum stress in the plate, due to the presence of the hole is going to be
three times the nominal stress in the plate, or in other words:
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So, the maxmimum stress in the horizontal direction that we expect see in our finite element
resultsisaround30MPa.Let'sgoaheadandstartthefiniteelementanalysis.
2. Click on Add in the dialog box that appears:
3. Select Solid in the left hand menu and Quad 8 node 183 in the right hand menu and then
click OK
4. This defines element type 1 as a 2D quadratic 8-node quadrilateral element (i.e. a
rectangle with curved edges)
5. Now we must define how this element behaves. Click on Options in the Element
Types dialog box:
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6. In the element type options dialog box that appears, make sure that the Element
behavior is set to "Plane Stress with thickness" as shown in the figure below:
Step 3: Define The Plate Thickness (Real Constant)
1. In the Main Menu select Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
3. Click on OK to define a real constant for element type 1 PLANE 183.
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4.
5. Enter the value for the plate thickness: 0.001 m and then click OK
6. Click on Close to close the real constants dialog box.
Isotropic
109 Pa, Poissons ratio = 0.3):
right corner.
Step 5: Create the Plate Geometry
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Modelling > Create > Areas > Rectangle
> By 2 Corners
2. The WP X and WP Y boxes are used to define the coordinates for the lower left
coordinates of the rectangle and the width and height are entered in the other boxes. Set
the lower left corner at the coordinates (0,0) and make the width and height equal to 0.1
m, as show below:
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3. You should see a blue square appear on your screen.

4. We will now create the hole: Preprocessor > Modelling > Create > Areas > Circle >
Solid Circle
5. We must place the centre of the circle at the centre of the square so enter 0.05 for WP X
and WP Y. The radius of the circle is 0.005 m :
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6. You should notice the outline of a circle appearing in the centre of the plate.
7. Now, we are going to subtract the circle area from the rectangular area to give the correct
plate with a hole geometry: Preprocessor > Modelling > Operate > Booleans >
Subtract > Areas
8. The Subtract Areas pick box will appear. If you look at the bottom of the main menu you
will see a prompt asking you to "Pick or enter base areas from which to subtract". This
means we need to pick the square first. Click on the square with your mouse.
9. You will probably find a dialog box like this appearing:
10. This means that ANSYS is not entirely sure which area you meant to pick (either the
circle or the rectangle). Take a look at the screen and if the entire rectangle has changed
colour (to indicate that it is picked) then you can just click on OK in this dialog box. If
things don't look ok then click on Next or Prev to toggle between selecting the two areas.
11. Now click on OK in the Subtract Areas pick box.
12. A new Subtract Areas pick box will immediatly appear and the message at the bottom of
the main window will change to "Pick or enter areas to be subtracted". This means we
need to pick the circle. Click on the circle with your mouse. Use the "multiple entities"
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13. dialog box if required to ensure it is only the circle that is selected and then click
on OK to close the Subtract Areas dialog box.
14. Your geometry should now look like this:
Step 6: Mesh the Geometry
6. We are now going to use the Mesh Tool to set the size of the elements to all be a constant
size before we begin the meshing process. In the Mesh Tool click onAreas > Set as
shown in the figure below:
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7.
Use your mouse to click on the plate geometry. Once you have clicked on it, the Element
Size at Picked Areas dialog box will appear. Enter 0.001 m for the Element Edge
Length to define the size of each element, as shown below:

9. Now we must divide the plate up into elements. In the Mesh Tool window click on Mesh.
10. You should see the plate divided up into quadrilateral finite elements:
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1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads > Apply >
Structural > Displacement > On Lines
2. Pick the vertical line on the left hand side of the plate and the click OK in the picker
dialog box.
3. In the dialog box that appears make sure that only UX is selected as we only want to
constrain this line in the X (i.e. horizontal) direction.
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4. You should notice some blue triangles appearing on the line indicating that it has been constrained.
If we only applied this displacement then there would be nothing to stop the entire model from moving in the
vertical direction even though we will not be applying any loads in the vertical direction. This could occur due
to imbablances in the mesh as internal forces work their way through the mesh etc. In order to prevent this from
happening we need to constrain at least one more node in the vertical direction also. We are going to constrain
a node at the centre of the left hand vertical line in the Y direction:
6. Click on the node at the centreline of the plate on the left hand edge and then click on OK
7. In the dialog box that appears make sure the DOFs to be constrained is set to UY only and then
click on OK.
8. You will probably get a warning saying that "Both solid model and finite element boundary
conditions have been applied to this model. As solid loads are transferred to the nodes or elements,
they can overwrite directly applied loads". This is OK just click on Close to dismiss this dialog.
Step 8: Couple the Nodes on the Right Hand Edge and Apply the Force
1. In the Main Menu click on Preprocessor > Coupling/ Ceqn > Couple DOF
2. Make sure that the box option is selected in the Define Coupled DOFs pick box, as shown below:
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SRI VENKATESWARA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Experiment No. Date:

SRI VENKATESWARA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECH

DEPATMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPATMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Experiment No. Date:

1. Analysis of cantilever beam using ANSYS Workbench

Step 1: Launch ANSYS Work bench

Experiment No. Date:

Figure 03: Calculating the beam second moment of Inertia

Start ANSYS Workbench & Load Files

Start > All Programs > ANSYS 12.1 > Workbench

File > Open

Management of Screen Real Estate

Experiment No. Date:

Modal (ANSYS) Project Selection

Experiment No. Date:

Then, (expand) Linear Elastic, as shown below.

Next, (expand) Physical Properties, as shown below

Experiment No. Date:

Step 2 Geometry: Attach Geometry from Cantilever to Cantilever Modal

Experiment No. Date:

Generate Default Mesh

Experiment No. Date:

Experiment No. Date:

Experiment No. Date:

Experiment No. Date:

Specify Results (Deformation)

Experiment No. Date:

Calculate Deformation and stresses, factor of safety

Maximum principle stress: 1.0367e7 Pa

Experiment No. Date:

2.Two dimensional truss using ANSYS

Figure 01 : Overview of Truss Framework Problem and Representative FE Model

Experiment No. Date:

Figure 02: Expected Results from the Finite Element Analysis

Step 1: Launch ANSYS

Step 2: Define Element Type

Experiment No. Date:

Step 3: Define Element Cross Sectional Area (Real Constant)

Experiment No. Date:

5. Click on Close to close the real constants dialog box.

Step 4: Define the Material Behaviour

Step 5: Define Nodes and Elements

Experiment No. Date:

Experiment No. Date:

Step 6: Define Boundary Conditions

Step 7: Define Loads

Experiment No. Date:

4. Click on Ok to close the dialog box.

Step 8: Solve the Problem

Step 9: Examine the Results

Experiment No. Date:

Experiment No. Date:

8. It is very important to add the "1" after "LS, " !

Experiment No. Date:

Step 10: Validate the Results

Result Quantity Ansys Result Result in book % Accuracy

X Displacement of Node 2 -0.25397e-5 m -0.2539e-5 m 100%

This tutorial has given you the following skills:

1. The ability to model 2-D truss problems in ANSYS.

Experiment No. Date: