You are on page 1of 5

Instructions for the Stress Analysis of a

Cantilever Beam using ANSYS

Emily Smith
March 24, 2016

ENGL 3153: Technical Writing


Spring 2016

Instructor Alex Parry

I.

Introduction

These instructions can be used to learn how to perform a stress analysis on a beam using ANSYS.
ANSYS is a powerful engineering tool that uses the Finite Element Method (FEM) to compute
solutions of complex systems. FEM is a numerical technique that applies a mesh to a part in order
to break down the complex geometry into simplified elements that are easy to individually analyze.
The software then puts all these elements back together to give an approximated solution for the
larger part based on the defined boundary conditions. The software uses a numerical technique to
solve for changes from node to node and can therefore determine solutions for the larger system.
Because of this ANSYS is used to model and predict the life-cycle and fatigue of products before
they are created. For these instructions it will be used to predict the stress and deflection in a staticstructural geometry. This means that the part is to be used as a structural component and will
experience forces and moments but no displacement.
The audience is assumed to be a new user of the software and what they will struggle with while
using the instructions is unclear. Therefore, conducting usability tests on the instructions is vital
for the creation of a helpful document. ANSYS is a very complex and powerful software, and as
such, there are many menus and many options. These instructions will act as a roadmap for basic
use of the Static-Structural software. It will outline the important menus and the basic steps that
must be performed in order to obtain a solution. This is the most basic of examples, however, it
outlines which menus are regularly used and which ones are rarely used but available for specific
cases.
One of the reasons ANSYS so complicated is having to use the Workbench. This is the program
that links all of the information created in the subprograms of ANSYS to each other. ANSYS is a
collection of individual programs that are used in tandem to perform analysis of a system. For
example, when performing a Static-Structural analysis the geometry is modeled using
DesignModeler and the actually FEM computation is performed by Mechanical, a different
subprogram. These are all accessed through the Workbench, but this is expected to be a problem
for first time users of the software. The interface of ANSYS is also expected to present a problem
because of the use of different subprograms. The Workbench interface as well as the Mechanical
interface have to be understood in order to use ANSYS successfully, therefore finding tools,
menus, and details is expected to present a problem for users in the usability tests. The magnitude
of these expected complications makes the performance of usability tests a vital component for the
production of instructions.
II.

Methods

The scenario given to the participants of the usability tests is as follows.


You need to conduct a stress analysis on a beam during the design
process. You have a cantilever beam with a hole in the middle with one
fixed end and one free end that experiences a line load of 1000 N along
1

the free edge of the beam. Determine the maximum and minimum
equivalent stress and displacement for the beam.
The instructions provide an example of a solid cantilever beam that experiences a pressure loading
on the entire top surface. In order to complete this scenario the user is required to use the
information in the instructions and apply it to a different situation. This means that the boundary
and loading conditions, although similar, have to be applied differently in order to complete the
task. However, because of the example and the information provided in the instructions, the user
should be able to determine how to complete the task without a direct tutorial.
In order to test this hypothesis, a usability test was performed. Three people matching the
requirements of the intended audience were recorded as they attempt to complete the scenario
using the information in the instructions. Their thought processes were saved using audio recording
and their interaction with the software was saved with the screen recording program BB Flashback.
Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client was also required to complete this test because of the
location of ANSYS. A remote desktop must be used to access this software because of the limited
licensing. The test was conducted remotely on a school computer where ANSYS is installed. No
other equipment is required to perform this test.
In order to gather the most meaningful information from each tester, a list of post-test questions
was developed so that any problems encountered in the usability test could be explored in detail.
The post test questions used in this test are as follows.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

What was the most confusing part of the document?


What was the most difficult task to complete?
Do you have any suggestions for changes to the document?
Did you find the example/graphics helpful?
Would you use these instructions again to help you with a similar
problem in the future?
6) What did you learn by completing this task?
Using these questions along with observations and recordings from the tests, a better document
was created. Any serious problems were eliminated and any minor problems were alleviated if
they were deemed important enough to change.
III.

Results and Discussion

The first difficulty was finding the Details of window. This was unexpected because it is not a
hidden menu box, and is always located in the bottom left hand corner of the program window.
Once in the box, how to activate the desired bar was also an unforeseen problem. The importance
of a yellow bar in this window was also not explained in the initial instructions. When a bar is
yellow it means action is required, therefore without this information the users were unable to
troubleshoot for themselves.

The second difficulty was seen during the application of loads, it was discovered that in order to
complete the task the user has to use component loading instead of the default Vector option. This
is not described in the instructions and even though the users were able to figure out how to
complete the task, adding this information to the document will help the users.
A major troubleshooting note needs to be added to the solution selection step. There is both a
Stress Tool and a Stress option in the available solutions. The Stress Tool does not result in the
correct information being displayed so correct selection is vital for completion of the task. This is
one of the most severe problems highlighted in the usability tests.
Another small issue uncovered in the usability tests was the need to use the coordinate system
navigation tool. While this did not lead to catastrophic failure by the user, he was only able to
complete the task because of previous knowledge of 3D modeling software. Since the target
audience is expected to have these skills this issue is not as severe as it might have been otherwise.
Overall, each participant was able to successfully complete the task, however by watching their
progress and listening to how they thought through the problem, the document was made more
user friendly and the next users of the document will not have as much trouble as these initial
users.
IV.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the results of the usability tests the document was altered in order to limit the issues user
encounter while trying to complete the scenario. As the document is updated, details of how to
find the Details of window was included. In general, a more detailed explanation of the program
interface was included because of the amount of mouse waving present in the screen captures. The
time spent between clicks indicated that the users were confused about how to navigate the
interface, therefore including more graphics and more detail about the interface will help limit the
amount of time wasted by looking for tools, menus, and windows. Details about how to activate
the bars within the Details of window was also included. Because of the two dimensional graphics
of the software, where to click and what section is actually a button is hard for first time users to
understand. This was an unforeseen issue illustrating the value of running usability tests. Also
within the Details of window, yellow bars indicated a required action by the user, however,
because this is not explained the users were unable to troubleshoot anything for themselves
because they were unaware of the importance of yellow bars. In order to improve clarity, as well
as user independence, a note about the meaning of the yellow bars was included in the instructions.
Another significant change to the document was the addition of a troubleshooting note about the
Stress Tool versus Stress confusion. The Stress Tool, although listed before Stress in the
Solutions drop down menu is not the correct tool to use in this analysis. In order to complete the
task Stress must be the solution selected to run. Because of the critical importance of this issue,
the task could not be completed if this mistake was made. In order to fix this issue a more in depth
description of the drop down menu was added as well as a troubleshooting note. When the solution
3

does not run successfully the user can troubleshoot this problem easily because of the inclusion of
this note in the document.
The usability tests highlighted any problems users might have when trying to apply these
instructions to a similar scenario. With the knowledge gained from these tests, the document was
updated to include more information where needed in order to reduce user confusion while using
the document. Without the usability tests, major pitfalls, such as the lack of explanation about how
to use the Detail of window, would have gone unrecognized and the instructions would not be as
helpful as they now are. By conduction these three short tests the document was exponentially
improved because of the knowledge gained by watching new users interact with the software as
well as the document itself. Usability tests are a very useful tool that add significant value to a
document, therefore the conduction of usability tests before the finalization of a set of instructions
is recommended.

You might also like