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Workshop 01.1: Mechanical Basics

Introduction to ANSYS Mechanical

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 Notes on Workshop 01.1

Please note:
The step-by-step instructions for this workshop do not begin until Slide 6.
This first workshop is extensively documented. As this course progresses,
students will become more familiar with basic ANSYS Workbench Mechanical
functionality (menu options, toolbar buttons, etc.) and thus subsequent
workshops will contain fewer details.
Throughout the workshops in this course, menu paths are documented as [first
pick] > [second pick] > [third pick] > [etc.]
Each workshop begins with a goals section and an assumptions section.

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 Goals

Using the Stress Wizard, set up and solve a

structural model for stress, deflection, and safety
factor.
Problem statement:
The model geometry consists of a STEP file
representing a control box cover. The design
requirements for the cover include that it must
withstand an external pressure of 1.1 MPa.
The cover is to be made from aluminum alloy.
Our goal is to verify that the maximum stress in the
cover will not exceed the material yield strength under
the design pressure load.

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 Assumptions
We will represent the constraints on the
counterbores, inner bottom ledge, and
inner bottom sides using frictionless
supports.
Frictionless supports place constraints
normal at all points (nodes) to the selected
surfaces. Displacements are allowed in all
directions tangential to the selected
surfaces, leading to the designation
frictionless. Since we would expect
frictional forces to act in these areas on the
real cover, this is a conservative approach.

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 Loads

The single applied load consists

of a 1.1 MPa pressure applied to
the 17 exterior surfaces of the
cover (shown here in red).

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 Project Schematic

1
1. From the Toolbox, create
a Static Structural
analysis system by
double-clicking Static
Structural.
2. RMB in the Geometry cell
and choose Import
Geometry > Browse... 2
Browse to file
Cap_fillets.stp and click
Open.

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 Preprocessing
3. Double click the Model cell to open the ANSYS Mechanical
application.
When Mechanical opens, the model will display in the graphics 3
window and the Mechanical Application Wizard for Stress
Analysis displays on the right.

If the Mechanical Application

Wizard is not displayed when
Mechanical opens, use this
icon to open it.

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 Preprocessing

4. Check/set the units system: From the main menu, Units >
Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA).

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 Preprocessing
5. Select a suitable material for the part:
a. From the Mechanical Application Wizard, choose Verify Material.
b. Notice the callout box indicates that Engineering Data is accessible
from Workbench 2 (i.e., the Project Schematic).
5a

5b

c. Return to the Project Schematic (in the Workbench window) and

double click the Engineering Data cell to access material
properties definition.
5c

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 Preprocessing 6
6. Activate the Engineering Data Sources
toggle, highlight General Materials data
source, and click the + symbol next to
Aluminum Alloy.

7. Return to the Project Schematic.

Notice the Model cell indicates that a refresh is 7
necessary.

8. Refresh the Model cell

(RMB > Refresh), then return
to the Mechanical window.
8

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 Preprocessing

9. Select Part 1, click the Material

Assignment Detail data field, and
select Aluminum Alloy from the fly- 9
out menu.

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 Preprocessing
10. Insert Loads:
a. Select Insert Structural Loads from the Wizard.
b. Follow the callout box to insert a Pressure load.
c. The tree will now include a Pressure load in the Static
Structural environment branch.
10a

10b

10c

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 Preprocessing
11. Apply the load to geometry:
a. Highlight one of the outer faces of the part.
b. Use the Extend to Limits icon to select the remaining 16 faces (17 faces selected total).
c. Click Apply to accept the faces.
d. Enter a Magnitude of 1.1 MPa.

11b

11c 11a
11d
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 Preprocessing
12. Apply supports to constrain the part:
a. Select Insert Supports from the Wizard.
b. Follow the callout box to insert a Frictionless Support.
c. Select the 4 counterbore surfaces and click Apply.

12a

12c
12b

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 Preprocessing

13. Repeat Steps 12a and 12b, then select the inner
surfaces of the bottom recess (use extend to limits 13
after selecting one of the inner surfaces8 faces
selected total) to insert another Frictionless
Support.

14. Repeat Steps 12a and 12b, then select the lip
surface at the bottom of the recess to insert
another Frictionless Support. 14

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 Preprocessing
15. Starting from the Wizard,
a. Insert Structural Results (the callout will point to the Solution toolbar)
b. Deformation > Total
c. Stress > Equivalent (von-Mises) 15b
d. Tools > Stress Tool
15a
15c

15d

Note: The Stress Tool Details allow for 4 different theories (explained later).
For this workshop, we will accept the default Max Equivalent Stress theory.

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 Solution
16. Solve the model:
a. Select Solve from the Wizard.
b. Follow the callout box and click the Solve toolbar button.

16b

16a

Note: Clicking on Solve in the Wizard does not automatically

start solving the model; instead, it points out the Solve toolbar
button to the user. As an alternative, you could right-click on
any branch in the Tree Outline and choose Solve.

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 Results
17. View the results:
a. Click View Results from the Wizard.
b. Follow the callout box to the results available under the
Solution branch.

17a
17b

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 Results
Plotting a models deformation often provides a reality check in structural
analysis. Verifying the general character of deflection can help to detect obvious
mistakes in the model setup. Animations are often useful as well.

Element visibility can be toggled on and off using the Show

Elements option under the Edges toolbar button.

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 Results
After reviewing stress results, expand the Stress Tool and plot Safety Factor.
Notice that the default theory of failure predicts a minimum safety factor slightly
greater than 1.0.

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 Report
18. In preparation for creating an HTML report,
add some Figures to the tree:
a. Select an item from the tree for which youd like
to include a graphic in your report.
b. From the General Toolbar, use the New Figure or 18c
Image toolbar button to insert a Figure object
into the tree.
c. Repeat Steps 18a and 18b for as many additional
items as youd like.

18a
18b

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 Report
19. Create an HTML report:
a. Select View Report from the Wizard.
b. After a few seconds, the report will appear in a new Report Preview
tab. Scroll to view the entire report.

19b
19a

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 Report

Notes on Figures:
As you can see, Figures are not limited to results items. Adding a plot of
the Environment branch, for example, will include an image of model
boundary conditions in the Report.
Each Figure saves a complete set of viewing options independent the
others. The orientation, zoom level, and other settings are retained
separately from those of the active model or the other figures.
Individual branches in the Tree Outline can have multiple figures
associated with them.

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 Go Further!
If the yield strength of the material is
250 MPa, do you think that we can
approve the beginning of production of
this part if we cannot accept plastic
deformation of the material? How could
the design of the part be changed to
increase the minimum safety factor?

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 Go Further!

Refine the mesh by defining a global

element size of 1.0 mm and resolve.
How have the stress results changed?
How would you expect the stress
results to change if the mesh were
refined further?

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 END
Workshop 01.1: Mechanical Basics

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