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Ansys Workbench
Integration
Introduction
Ansys Workbench is a widely used FEA application that combines the ease of a point-and-click
interface with the power of the Ansys analysis engines. Starting with version 3.1.1, Sherlock can be
used to import circuit card data directly into a Workbench analysis stream and/or generate reliability
results as part of a Workbench solution, as depicted in the following diagram:
Ansys Workbench integration is implemented by the “Sherlock Plugin” API provided as part of the
Sherlock Client and the “Sherlock Extension” Python script that is installed as an Ansys Workbench
Extension. After the Sherlock Extension has been loaded into an Ansys Workbench project it can be
used to provide any or all of the following functionality in Workbench:
Users can also export a 3D geometric model of a circuit card from Sherlock as a STEP file and use the
standard “Import Geometry” feature in Ansys Workbench to use the model as a starting point for
analysis.
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After the geometry model has been imported into Workbench, some standard inputs are required before
the model can be used for analysis. Usually, the following tasks are required:
• Mesh all model parts,
• Assign materials to all model parts,
• Define support boundary conditions, and
• Define external loads.
Workbench will automatically perform the first task (meshing the model) as needed using default
properties prior to performing an analysis, eliminating the need for manual inputs. As will be discussed
in the next section, the Sherlock Extension can also be used to automatically perform any or all of the
last three items, thereby further reducing the need for manual inputs.
However, there is one step that must be performed manually before an analysis can be performed -
assigning a default material to all model parts.
The Sherlock Extension can be used to assign material properties to any or all
model parts, but Workbench checks for material assignments *before* the
extension is invoked to update material assignments, so a default material
needs to be manually assigned to all parts.
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Material Assignments
The “Materials” group in the details panel is used to indicate which model parts, if any, should be
assigned Sherlock material properties. For each of the enabled categories, the Sherlock Extension will
automatically determine which mesh elements are associated with the appropriate parts and will
generate input commands to overwrite the default material assignments for those elements. No
material assignment will be made for any mesh element that cannot be associated with one of the
selected categories. This allows Workbench users to freely modify the model as needed to add
additional parts, while still using the Sherlock Extension to assign materials to the parts that were
originally imported. In such cases, however, Workbench users are responsible for assigning
appropriate material properties to all remaining mesh elements.
Boundary Conditions
The “Conditions” group in the details panel is used to select support and/or load boundary conditions
to be automatically imported from Sherlock. Unlike material assignments, which overwrite any
previously existing assignments, any item selected in the Conditions group will be “added” to any
support and/or load conditions defined using standard Workbench capabilities. This allows users to
incorporate both Sherlock-defined and user-defined boundary conditions for the analysis.
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Display Properties
The “Color Scheme” field is used to indicate the
method used to color PCB components, including the
following choices:
● Score
● Density
● CTE
● Random
The “Score” color scheme uses the FEA strain results to
compute a reliability score for all PCB components, with
0 representing the best score and 10 the worst score.
Reliability Result
After an FEA solution has been completed and all results have been evaluated in Workbench, the
Sherlock Reliability Result can be viewed in the graphical result panel, as shown here:
Mesh elements that are not associated with any PCB component (as defined in Sherlock) will be
translucent when using the “Score” color scheme.
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