wb-mech 120 ch02 basics

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Mechanical Basics

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Basics

Chapter Overview

In this chapter, the basics of using Mechanicalto perform analyses

will be covered, which include:

A. The Mechanical GUI and Operation

B. Introduction to the Mechanical Application Wizard

C. Basic Analysis Procedure

D. The Engineering Data application

E. Workshop 2-1

The capabilities described in this section are generally applicable to

theANSYS DesignSpace Entra licenses and above, unless noted.

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Basics

A. Launching Mechanical

Recall that there are two ways of running Mechanical:

Configured from within ANSYS Workbench

or from a su orted CAD s stem

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Mechanical Interface

The components of the user interface are shown below:

ToolbarsMenus

Graphics Window

Tree OutlineMechanical

Application Wizard

Details View Message Window

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Status Bar


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. . . GUI Menus

The menus provide much of the functionality present in Mechanical.

The more commonly used menu items are covered below:

The title bar lists analysis type, product and active ANSYS license.

File > Clean to delete mesh and/or results from database.

Units to change units on-the-fly.

Tools > Options to customize settings and options.

Help > Mechanical Help to access documentation.

Analysis Type Product License

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GUI Toolbars

There are a number of toolbars to provide users quick access to

functionality also found in the menus.

window.

The Context toolbar, as will be illustrated later, updates depending on

what branch is active in the Outline tree.

Tooltips appear if the cursor is placed over the toolbar button.

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GUI Toolbars

The Standard toolbar is shown below:

Bring up Mechanical Wizard Annotations Comments

Solve Model

Capture Snapshot

Slice Planes

The Graphics toolbar is used for selection and graphicsmanipulation:

Graphics ManipulationSelection ToolsSelect mode Viewports

The left mouse button can be either in selection mode or graphicsmanipulation mode. The above toolbar buttons are grouped as selectentities and graphics manipulation control.

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selection. This is controlled by the Select Mode icon.


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GUI Outline Tree

The Outline Tree provides an easy way of organizing the model,

materials, mesh, loads, and results for the analysis

The Model branch contains the input

data required for the analysis

The Static Structural branch contains

the loads and supports relevant to the

analysis discipline

The Solution branch contains result

objects and solution information

Other branches (not covered here)

are also available.

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GUI Outline Tree

The Outline Tree shows icons for each branch, along with a status

symbol. Examples of the status symbols are below:

Checkmark indicates branch is fully defined/OK

Question mark indicates item has incomplete data (need input)

Lightning bolt indicates solving is required

Exclamation mark means problem exists

X means that item is suppressed (will not be solved)

Transparent checkmark means body or part is hidden

Green lightning bolt indicates item is currently being evaluated

Minus sign means that mapped face meshing failed

Check mark with a slash indicates a meshed part/body

Red lightning bolt indicates a failed solution

Becoming familiar with the basic status symbols allows users to debug

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Mechanical problems quickly.


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GUI Details View

The Details View contains data input and output fields. The contents

will change depending on branch selected.

White field: input data

Data in white text field is editable

Gray (or Red) field: information

Data in gray fields cannot be modified.

Yellow field: incomplete input data

Data in yellow fields indicates missing information.

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GUI Graphics Window

The Graphics Window shows the geometry and results. It can also provide

worksheet (tabular) listings, the HTML report, and a Print Preview option.

Geometry Tab Print Preview Tab

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Worksheet Tab Report Preview Tab


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GUI Mechanical Application Wizard

The Mechanical Wizard is an optional component, a

useful aid to remind users steps required to

complete an analysis

steps and the status of them Green checkmark indicates the item is complete

Green i shows an informational item

A greyed symbol shows that the step cannot be

performed yet

A red question mark means that there is an

An x means that the item is not performed yet

A lightning bolt means that the item is ready to be

solved or updated

The Mechanical Wizard can be toggled on/off byselecting the button on the Standard Toolbar

The options on the Mechanical Wizard menu will

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B. Mechanical Application Wizard

By selecting an item on the Required Steps checklist, a callout appears,

illustrating how that function is performed.

In the example below, Verify Materials was selected, and the callout shows the

.

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Mechanical Application Wizard

The Mechanical Wizard is handy for

users who do not use Mechanical

every day

Besides basic functionality, callouts

for more advanced items are alsoavailable as shown on right

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C. Basic Procedure

The purpose of analysis is usually to determine the response of a

system based on some type ofexcitation or loading.

It is crucial to remember that a mathematical modelis used:

CAD geometryis an idealization of thephysical model

The mesh is a mathematical representation of the CAD model

The accuracy of answers is determined by various factors:

How well the physical model is represented depends on the assumptions

Numerical accuracy is determined by the mesh density

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CAD Model Finite Element Mesh


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Basic Procedure

Every analysis involves four main steps:

Preliminary Decisions

What type of analysis: Static, modal, etc.? Preliminary

What to model: Part or Assembly?

Which elements: Surface or Solid Bodies?

Preprocessing

ec s ons

ttac t e mo e geometry

Define and assign material properties to parts

Mesh the geometry

Preprocessing

Request results

Solve the Model

Post rocessin

Solution

Review results

Check the validity of the solution

Postprocessing

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Basic Procedure

The Wizards in Mechanical aid the user in following the basic

analysis template discussed previously:

Attach/import geometry

Assign material properties

(Mesh geometry)

A default mesh will be supplied by Mechanical if this step is not performed

manua y y t e user

Apply loads and supports

Request results

o ve mo e

Review results/postprocessing

evera examp es o us ng e ec an ca zar o ow . . . .

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Wizard Example: Assign/Verify Material Properties

Verify Materials is selected, and the callout shows how to verify/changematerial properties in the pull-down menu (engineering data is describedlater in this chapter).

After Verify Materials isselected, all of the parts

from the Geometry

,

and the Details view shows

how to change the

material.

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Wizard Example: Assign Material Properties

The call out message indicates the user should return to theWorkbench interface to access Engineering Data

The default material property is Structural Steel but can be changed

As a material is added to the project it will appear in the material

assignment detail field

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.Users should use their own material property values in production use.


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Wizard Example: insert Loads & Supports

After verifying and assigning materials, Insert Structural Loads is selected

from the Stress Wizard

Loads are applied from the pull-down icons in the Context toolbar.

After Insert Loads is

selected, notice that the

Environment branch is

highlighted.

By highlighting the ,

Context toolbar and Details

view change.

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Applying Loads & Supports

Loads and supports are applied on geometric entities in two different ways:

Pre-select geometry entity in Graphics Window, then select load or support fromContext Toolbar

Or, select load or support from Context Toolbar then select geometry entities inGraphics Window, then click on Apply in Details View.

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After assigning the load the user can enter additional data in the Details view,if necessary.

Notice that in the Outline Tree the associated loads branch symbol status will alsochange to completed (checkmark).

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For some structural loads direction is

needed:

If Components is chosen, enter X, Y, or Z

omponen s o oa ng

If Vector is chosen, select geometry andenter magnitude of loading

Defaults can be set in Tools > O tions

> Mechanical: Miscellaneous

> Load Orientation Type

The Global Coordinate System or user

referenced

User-Defined Coordinate Systems will be

discussed later

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Existing geometry can be referenced to

control direction:

In the Details view, select Define By:

ec or

Three types of existing geometry can be used Normal to planar face or along axis of cylindrical

face

Along straight edge or normal to cylindrical edge

Two vertices defining vector

Click on Direction and select geometry used

for vector orientation. Use the arrows in the

Graphics window to toggle the direction.

Click on Apply when finished.

Enter magnitude for loading in Magnitude.

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Toggle arrow buttons to

reverse load direction


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Mouse Controls

The left mouse button is used to select geometric entities OR to

manipulate the graphics display

User can select items (vertex, edge, surface, body) or manipulate the view(rotate, pan, zoom in/out, box zoom)

e ec mo e can e s ng e-se ec or ox-se ec

In single-select mode, click-drag with left mouse

button to paint select multiple items

Use Ctrl-Left mouse button in sin le-select mode to select or unselect multi le

entities

In box-select mode, click-drag from left to right selects entities fully enclosed in

bounding box

In box-select mode, click-dra from ri ht to left selects an entit artiall enclosed in

bounding box

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Mouse Controls (shortcuts)

In select mode the middle mouse provides several short cuts for graphicsmanipulation Click + drag middle mouse button = dynamic rotate

CTRL+ Middle mouse button = dynamic pan

Shift + Middle mouse button = dynamic zoom

If present, the wheel can be used to zoom in/out RMB + drag = box zoom

Click right mouse button once and select Fit to fit model in view or access

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Selection Planes

Selection planes allow for users to easily select surfaces which are hiddenfrom view by other surfaces.

User selects a plane; if more planes lie directly underneath the cursor, selectionplanes appear. Selection planes are color-coded with the same color as its parentpart and are ordered by depth from the cursor.

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D. Engineering Data

The Engineering Data application provides overall control for material

properties.

Engineering data is a part of every project.

Engineering data can be opened stand alone (as a precursor to starting

a project for example).

To edit the En ineerinTo o en the En ineerin Data

Data in an existingproject RMB > Edit or

double click

standalone, add from thecomponent systems in the toolbox

(drag/drop or double click), then

RMB > Edit or double click.

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. . . Engineering Data

The Engineering Data application is displayed below. Individual

controls and components are described next.

Toolbox

Properties for material

selected below

Outline Filter

Outline of Filtered Materials

PropertyChart

Properties ofmaterial selected

above

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The window interaction provides cascading data presentation. To view or modify materials one generally follows a work flow shown here:

Display Property intabular and graphical

format

Choose Data Source

(Library)

Choose Material

Choose Property

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The Engineering Data field represents the

list of materials which have been imported

Check box allows

library to be unlocked

Outline Filter

for use in the current project .

A list of available material

libraries is displayed. These maye supp e or user

defined.

Favorites are materials which will be

available in ever ro ect without the need

Browse for existing

libraries or choose

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to import from a library.new rary oca on.


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The toolbox provides numerous material property definitions that can beadded to existing or new materials.

To modify materials in existing libraries the library must be unlocked,note this ermanentl modifies the material stored in that librar .

Materials in the current projects engineering data can be modified without

affecting the material library.

The Toolbox Customization settingsallows filtering of the properties

displayed in the toolbox.

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To add a material from an existing library to

the current project click the plus sign (+)

next to that material.

Any material defined in the current projectwill be marked as show at right.

Once added each material becomes

available for use in the current project (it

becomes art of the current En ineerinData).

Note, to add amaterial to the

Favorites list,

RMB the material

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and add.

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To create a new material first

select the library where you

want the definition to be stored

current project).

if desired, for the new material.

From the Toolbox double clickor drag and drop the desired

properties.

Finally enter values for theproperties.

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Units menu in Engineering Data:

You may choose to display Values as Defined

or Values in Project Units.

As Defined units are controlled individually.

Project Units are taken

from the current Units menu

selection.

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E. Workshop 2-1 Mechanical Basics

Workshop 2.1 Mechanical Basics

Goal:

Using the Stress Wizard, set up and solve a structural model for

stress, deflection and safety factor.

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wb-mech 120 ch02 basics

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