Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Problem:
An offset tensile link is shaped to clear an obstruction with a geometry as shown in the figure. The cross section at the critical location is elliptical, with a major axis of 4 in and a minor axis of 2 in. For a load of 20 kip, estimate the stresses at the inner and outer surfaces of the critical section

Joseph Shigley and Charles Mischke. Mechanical Engineering Design 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, May 2002.

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Overview

Anticipated time to complete this tutorial: 30 minutes

Tutorial Overview
This tutorial is divided into five parts: 1) Tutorial Basics 2) Preprocessing 3) Solution 4) Post Processing 5) Hand Calculations

Audience
This tutorial assumes familiarity of ANSYS 8.0; therefore, it does not go into step by step detail.

Prerequisites
1) ANSYS 8.0 in house Structural Tutorial 2) Completion of all Basic Machine Design Tutorials 3) Completion of three or more Guided Machine Design Tutorials 4) Completion of Guided Utility Hook Tutorial

Objectives
1) Create an elliptical area 2) Create volumes by sweeping areas 3) Use symmetry boundary constraints to simplify the problem 4) Find the inner and outer stresses of a curved beam

Outcomes
1) Explore possibilities with the graphical user interface (GUI) 2) Learn how to create and mesh simple geometries 3) Increase efficiency in problem set up and solving speed

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Tutorial Basics
In this tutorial: Instructions appear on the left. Visual aids corresponding to the text appear on the right. All commands on the toolbars are labeled. However, only operations applicable to the tutorial are explained. The instructions should be used as follows: Bold > Text in bold are buttons, options, or selections that the user needs to click on > Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/DeleteFile would mean to follow the options as shown to the right to get you to the Element Types window Text in italics are hints and notes Click on the left mouse button Click on the middle mouse button Click on the right mouse button

Example:

Italics

MB1 MB2 MB3

Some basic ANSYS functions are: To rotate the models use Ctrl and MB3. To zoom use Ctrl and MB2 and move the mouse up and down. To translate the models use Ctrl and MB1.

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Preprocessing
1) Setup the necessary preprocessor parameters. Add an element. Add a material model. Note: Use Solid 185 and assume steel 2) Create a sufficient number of keypoints that represents the geometry of an ellipse. To create the spline: > Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Lines > Splines > Spline thru KPs Select half of the keypoints at first, then select the other half. Create the elliptical area by arbitrary lines. Add 3 more keypoints to complete half the geometry of the problem. Connect keypoints as shown to the right. Note: Use Arcs by end KPs & Rad and straight line Add a Line fillet where the two lines connect. Note: Use a radius of 10. Use the extrude areas along lines command to create the volume of the link. Before meshing the model, add a hard point in the center of the left edge cross section where the force will be applied

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Solution
3) Mesh the model. If possible, use the volume sweep command. Note: Select Smart size and reduce the fine mesh to 3. Doing this should allow you not to have the error shown below. 4) Apply a symmetric boundary condition. > Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > Symmetry B.C. > On Areas Select the area shown to the right in purple. 5) Apply the 20000 lb load. 6) Solve the model.

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Post Processing
7) Use the post processing tools to get the inner and outer stress values. > General Postproc > Results Viewer

Then select the Von Mises stress. To better read the results, > General Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution > Stress > Principal

For this model, node 1 & 2 represent the outer and inner nodes of the critical section. The inner stress is about 35.125 kpsi and the outer was about 21.322 kpsi. The answers are relatively close to the analytical solution (about 3 % error). Try resolving the problem using different meshes and mesh densities to see if you can get solutions that are closer to the analytical ones. 6

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Hand Calculations
The numerical integration was carried out using Simpsons rule. r 10.0 10.4 10.8 11.2 11.6 12.0 12.4 12.8 13.2 13.6 14.0 A= b 1.000000 1.200000 1.600000 1.833030 1.959592 2.000000 1.959592 1.833030 1.600000 1.200000 0.000000 br 0.000000 12.480000 17.280000 20.529935 22.731267 24.000000 24.298941 23.462784 21.120000 16.320000 0.000000 b/r 0.000000 0.115385 0.148148 0.163663 0.168930 0.166667 0.158032 0.143205 0.121212 0.088235 0.000000

1 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 1

.4 (46.502608 ) = 6.200348in 2 3 .4(558.031292 ) R= = 11.999999 in. 3(6.200348 ) 6.200348 = 11.919883in. rn = .4(3.901264 ) 3 The eccentricity e is then e = R rn = 11.999999 11.919883 = 0.080116 in . For comparison, using 21 ordinates; A = 6.254061in 2 R = 12in rn = 11.917330 e = .082672in Continuing with the 11 -ordinate analysis, ci = 11.919883 10 = 1.919883in co = 14 11.919883 = 2.080117 in M = F (2 + 2) = 20000 (4) = 80000inlb 20000 80000 (1.919883) + = 34145 psi 6.200348 6.200348(.080118 )10 20000 80000 ( 2.080117 ) o = = 34145 psi 6.200348 6.200348(.080116 )14

i =

Stresses in an Elliptical Beam

Hand Calculations
Note that A, R, r n were evaluated by numerical integration even though it is possible to I write A= ab and R=12 by inspection. This is because R= 2 where integral errors are I1 I correlated. Similarly r n = 1 . This appr oach leads to more accurate R and r n and also I3 improves the estimate of e, something to keep in mind when writing computer programs.