Design Modeler Tips and Tricks

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Problem statement: Too Many Clicks!

User Problem It can take many clicks of
a mouse to achieve the desired function
The following will show recent usability
enhancements to significantly speed up
operations in Design Modeler

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Middle-Mouse Multi-Options
View Options can be accessed
via toolbar
Rotate
Pan
Zoom

Much quicker is Middle Mouse

Button (MMB) with key changes
Rotate
Shift + MMB : Zoom
Ctrl + MMB : Pan
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Quick Toggle Single/Box Select

Often it is useful to use Box Select to lasso lots of

entities quickly

User may wish to then use Single Select to add or

remove a few entities while holding down Control key

There is a quick toggle option to move between these

modes more quickly without having to navigate the
toolbar
Hold down RMB and click and release LMB while still holding RMB
to switch between modes

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Design Modeler Hot Keys

Escape: equivalent to New Selection (if button is not

grayed out); also accessible via the Selection Toolbar

Ctrl+A: selects three Body Types: Solid, Surface, and Line
Ctrl+B: equivalent to Selection Filter: Bodies (also
accessible via the Selection Toolbar)
Ctrl+C: equivalent to Copy (Sketching mode only; also
accessible via the Modify Toolbox)
Ctrl+E: equivalent to Selection Filter: Edges (also
accessible via the Selection Toolbar)
Ctrl+F: equivalent to Selection Filter: Faces (also
accessible via the Selection Toolbar)
Ctrl+N: equivalent to Start Over option (also accessible
via the File Menu)
Ctrl+O: equivalent to Load DesignModeler Database
option (also accessible via the File Menu)
Ctrl+P: equivalent to Selection Filter: Points (also
accessible via the Selection Toolbar)
Ctrl+S: equivalent to Save Project option (also accessible
via the File Menu)
Ctrl+V: equivalent to Paste (Sketching Mode only; also
accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Ctrl+X: equivalent to Cut (Sketching Mode only; also

accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

Ctrl+Y: equivalent to Redo (Sketching Mode only; also
accessible via the toolbar)
Ctrl+Z: equivalent to Undo (Sketching Mode only; also
accessible via the toolbar)
F1: ANSYS Inc. online help with DesignModeler
highlighted; for more information, see Help Menu
F2: Install help
F3: Apply (during feature creation; for more information,
see Apply/Cancel in Plane)
F4: Cancel (during feature creation; for more information,
see Apply/Cancel in Plane)
F5: equivalent to Generate (also accessible via the 3D
Features toolbar)
F6: equivalent to Shaded Exterior and Edges, Shaded
Exterior, and Wireframe model appearance controls
(toggle between three; also accessible via the View
Menu)
F7: equivalent to Zoom to Fit (also accessible via the
Rotation Modes Toolbar toolbar)
Ctrl++: Expand selection
Ctrl+-: Shrink selection

Note: Hotkeys coming for Ansys Meshing at R15

Problem statement: Hard to See!

Useer Problem Requirements to
visualise more easily areas of the
geometry and understand issues quickly
The following will show recent usability
enhancements to improve visualisation
capability in Design Modeler

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbars: Selection Tools

Entity Selection Mode

Expand
New Selection
Single Select
Box Select
Select Points
Select Edges
Select Faces
Select Bodies
Extend Selection for multiple
entities

Shrink

Hotkeys
Ctrl+: Expand selection
Ctrl-: Shrink selection

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Problem statement: Finding Body Overlaps

User Problem - Early versions of Design
Modeler did not have the capability to
find overlapping bodies
The following will show usability
enhancements to find overlaps

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Enabling Beta Features

To activate Beta Options, go to

Workbench Schematic Page
Go to Tools Options
Select Appearance from tree
Scroll down and enable the check
box of Beta Options

This will activate beta features

available in the Design Modeler
such as Body Clash Detection
and Solid Extension

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Identifying Body Interferences

Switch to Wireframe view for

Interference between
compressor casing &
center housing

better viewing of clash

[Main menu] View Wireframe
Locate various clashes in the
geometry as shown
In this e.g. both cases involve a
compressor casing
Adjusting/moving casing may solve
problem
Interference between
compressor blades and
casing

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbar Customization
Add common operations to your toolbar to speed up feature
creation

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Tools Options Design Modeler Toolbars to add the

most used options to your GUI layout

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Working on Areas of the Geometry

Reduce the display to work effectively on smaller areas using Hide/Expand
options

RMB
RMB

Switch off
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Or use Hotkey Ctrl-+

ToolsOptionsDMGraphics

Default Highlight
Selection = Single Side
only fills surface in
direction of surface
vector when chosen

Switching to Both Sides is

recommended for CFD where
inner surfaces are often
required. This option will show
the selected face as filled
from both directions.
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Geometry Configuration Multi-Body Parts

Handling of Multi-Body Parts
A regular support question is how to
get conformal meshes from DM/AM

In DM, where Shared Topology is set to

Automatic (default)
Faces in contact imprinted & fused to form
a single face shared between the two
bodies
Results in Conformal mesh in Ansys Meshing
Common face acts as Interior zone in
Fluent

DM Part
Details

Common
Shared Face

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Geometry Configuration Multiple Parts

Handling of Multiple Parts

When multiple parts are attached to

a Meshing session a Contact Region

is automatically created between
those parts
2 Faces at Contact Region
Each part meshed independently
Results in a non-conformal interface
between the two parts (mesh nodes
on bodies do not line up and are
not connected)
Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in
CFX can be defined for the faces at
the contact region
Independent
Faces

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Contact Region

Geometry Configuration Multi-body

Parts
Handling of Multi-Body Parts

In DM, where Shared Topology is set

to Imprints
The boundaries of the faces at
contact region are imprinted on
each other resulting in like faces
Contact Region is automatically
created at like faces
Results in Non-conformal interface
Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in
CFX can be defined for the faces at
the contact region
To create identical mesh on the
like faces use Match Control
option (mesh will remain
unconnected)
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Two Like Faces

Simplification Tools for Fluid

Extraction

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools for Fluid Extraction

Do you import solid parts with gaps between them ?
Closing those gaps is a necessity before using fluid extraction tools.

The following slides and demo will show you tools that can be used to
create contacts between parts in order to extract the fluid.

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Thin Surface Body Only
Partial contact only, a small cavity would be created

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Thin Surface Body Only
Surface body created from external faces
(visible by red color edge)

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Thin Surface Body Only
Normal extrusion of the surface body to close gap along
the hole surface

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Face Delete
Partial contact only, small cavities would be created and
sharp angle would result from extraction

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Face Delete
Details removed

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Skin Loft
Surface must be created to close gap between 2 pipes
Shape and topology are different (number of vertex)

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Skin Loft
Vertices are projected to split edges in order to
get identical topology

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools
Skin Loft
A surface is created from the 2 edge loops using Create /
Skin Loft

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools

Fill by Caps
All solid bodies are in contact or intersecting

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools

Fill by Caps
Cap surfaces created using Surfaces From Edges
to limit the fluid domain

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools

Fill by Caps
Fluid Extracted

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology : How to Check Result ?

Do you work from imported or created CAD with multiple
bodies and want to get a conformal mesh (node
matching) ?
Creating a multibody part with automatic option will connect
the bodies using a generalized Boolean during transfer to
ANSYS Meshing.
The Share Topology command enables you to visualize the
result in Design Modeler.
The following slides will show some tools that can help you
verify that the result is as expected

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbars: Display Controls

Edge Display Options

Free Edges - 0 face - Blue

Single Edges - 1 face - Red
Double Edges - 2 faces - Black
Triple Edges - 3 faces - Pink
Multiple Edges (>3) - Yellow
Display Edge Direction
Display Vertices

Note user can use Share Topology option

in DM to check connectivity before
proceeding to Meshing
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example

Case 1 : Perfectly Aligned Cylinders
Before Share Topology

Black edges :
- Edges connected to 2 surfaces only
- 2 internal surfaces
- Contact in ANSYS Meshing
- Non-conformal mesh
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

After Share Topology

Purple edges :
- Edges connected to 3 surfaces
- Single shared surface
- No contact detected in AM
- Conformal mesh

Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders
After Share Topology
Hard to visualize on
industrial model

Black and Purple edges :

- Sliver surfaces were created

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders
Sliver surfaces generated by Share Topology can be found
using Small Entity Search Analysis Tools

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders
To help visualization of problems it is possible to change visibility of
edges depending on connection
-

Hide

Thicken

Triple edge hidden,

double edge now visible
=> problem
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders
Sometime edges are so close they cant be seen properly,
selection by box enables you to check their number
(check at the bottom of the window)

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example

Case 3 : Intersecting Cylinders
After Share Topology
Check the number of bodies, and
click on Share Topology in the Tree
Outline to highlight them

Multiple Purple edges

- Intersecting body created

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topo - Example

Double and triple connected

edges at same position; hard to
flag visually

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Small Entity Search used post

Share Topology automatically
flags this spike

Face faceting
Since 14.5 default option for CAD import is Workbench so the geometry is
not converted to Parasolid
There is an impact on face faceting quality, even with Facet Quality = 10 the
rendering is poor
Workaround : convert curved parts to parasolid

FQ = 10 - Parasolid
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

FQ = 10 - Workkbench

Generate needed at opening ?

If you need to generate
a model when you
open it in DM, check
that the option
below is on Partial
and not None

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Tool / Options
In Win7 Options are saved here :
C:\Users\fmeslay\AppData\Roaming\Ansys\v150\en-us
globalPreferences.xml : Workbench
agPreferences.xml : Design Modeler
dsPreferences.xml : Meshing / Mechanical

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Pattern handling

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

How to parameterize creation via patterns?

Do you need to easily create a large number of similar entities on your
model, and modify them consistently?
Reproducing entities can typically be achieved by creating patterns of
geometric objects. This is consistent with later body operations (e.g.
Boolean operations), and can be parameterized.
The hole creation is then followed by a patch generation, provided by a
semi-automatic repair tool on boundary faces.
The following slides and demo will show you the capabilities of the pattern
tool, and how the multi-entity creation and modification can be
managed at a parametric level, whatever the shape of the geometry.
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Multi-Holes Creation
The pattern tools works for three kinds
of repetition :
- linear (one direction).
- circular (around an axis).
- rectangular (two directions).

linear pattern

circular pattern

Several patterns can be performed on

the same geometry.

Pattern can be defined from cut out

geometry.
Once defined, the number of repetition
can be set as a Workbench parameter.
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

second pattern added

Multi-Holes Closing
Repair tool is designed to find and repair 3D and 2D holes
3D : fill hole
2D : edge delete / surface patch / edge connect
If one wants to create surface patches quickly for the
geometry shown (and not close the holes), it can be done by
simply creating surface bodies from surfaces and apply repair
tool to those surface bodies only.

Concept / Surface from face

(thickness 0)
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Tools / Repair / Repair Hole

(RMB Select in All Below to
apply method to all holes)

Surface patch created

Multi-Holes Closing
By default only 50 problems are listed in repair tool.
Limit can be changed in Tool / Option / Design Modeler
/Miscellaneous.

After patch creation the 2 extra surfaces can be deleted

with Create / Thin Surface / Surface to Remove
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Pattern for 2D
Surface is created from Sketch
Then Pattern is applied to the surface body

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013