ANSYS Workbench Static PDF

Chapter Four
Static Structural Analysis
Linear Static Structural Analysis
Chapter Overview
Training Manual
Geometry and Elements

Contact and Types of Supported Assemblies
Environment, including Loads and Supports
Solving Models
Results and Postprocessing
The capabilities described in this section are generally

applicable to ANSYS DesignSpace Entra licenses and
above.
Some options discussed in this chapter may require more
advanced licenses, but these are noted accordingly.
ANSYS Workbench - Simulation
In this chapter, performing linear static structural analyses

in Design Simulation will be covered:
Modal, harmonic, and nonlinear static structural analyses are

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not discussed here but in their respective chapters.
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Basics of Linear Static Analysis
Training Manual
Displacements, reaction forces, stresses, and strains are

usually items of interest that the user wants to review
The general equation of motion is as follows:
M x Cx K x F t
where [M] is the mass matrix, [C] is the damping matrix, [K]
is the stiffness matrix, {x} is displacements, and {F} is force
Because this is a static analysis, all time-dependent terms
are removed, leaving the following subset:
A linear static structural analysis is performed to obtain the

response of a structure under applied static loads
K x F
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Basics of Linear Static Analysis
Training Manual
K x F
This results in certain assumptions related to the analysis:

[K] is essentially constant
Linear elastic material behavior is assumed
Small deflection theory is used
Some nonlinear boundary conditions may be included
{F} is statically applied

No time-varying forces are considered
No inertial effects (mass, damping) are included
It is important to remember these assumptions related to

linear static analysis. Nonlinear static and dynamic
analyses are covered in later chapters.
For a linear static structural analysis, the displacements {x}

are solved for in the matrix equation below:
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A. Geometry
Training Manual
For surface bodies, thickness must be

supplied in the Details view of the
Geometry branch.
The cross-section and orientation of line bodies is defined

within DesignModeler and is imported into Design
Simulation automatically.
For line bodies, only displacement results are available.
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In structural analyses, all types of bodies supported by

Design Simulation may be used.
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Elements Used
Training Manual
Solid bodies are meshed with 10-node tetrahedral or 20-node

hexahedral elements
SOLID187 and SOLID186
Surface bodies are meshed with 4-node quad shell elements

SHELL181 using real constants
Section definition (and offsets) are not used
Line bodies are meshed with 2-node beam elements

BEAM188 (with 3rd orientation node)
Section definition and offsets are supported
Advanced ANSYS Details
In Design Simulation, the following elements are used:
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Material Properties
Training Manual
Material input is under the Engineering Data branch, and

material assignment is per part under the Geometry branch
Mass density is required if any inertial loads are present
Thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity are
required if any thermal loads are present
Thermal loading not available with an ANSYS Structural license
Stress Limits are needed if a Stress Tool result is present

Fatigue Properties are needed if Fatigue Tool result is present
Requires Fatigue Module add-on license
The required structural material properties are Youngs

Modulus and Poissons Ratio for linear static structural
analyses
Specific loading and result tools will be discussed later

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B. Assemblies Solid Body Contact
Training Manual
Surface-to-surface contact allows non-matching meshes at

boundaries between solid parts
Tolerance controls under Contact branch allows the user to
specify distance of auto contact detection via slider bar
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When importing assemblies of solid parts, contact regions

are automatically created between the solid bodies.
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Assemblies Solid Body Contact
Training Manual
One side of the contact region is comprised of contact

face(s), the other side of the region is made of target face(s).
The integration points of the contact surfaces are restricted
from penetrating through the target surfaces (within a given
tolerance). The opposite is not true, however.
When one side is the contact and the other side is the target, this
is called asymmetric contact. On the other hand, if both sides are
made to be contact & target, this is called symmetric contact since
neither side can penetrate the other.
By default, Design Simulation uses
symmetric contact for solid assemblies.
For ANSYS Professional licenses and
above, the user may change to asymmetric
contact, as desired.
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In Design Simulation, the concept of contact and target

surfaces are used for each contact region.
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Training Manual
Contact Type
Bonded
No Separation
Frictionless
Rough
Iterations
1
1
Multiple
Multiple
Normal Behavior (Separation) Tangential Behavior (Sliding)

Closed
Closed
Closed
Open
Open
Open
Open
Closed
Bonded and No Separation contact are basically

linear behavior and require only 1 iteration
Frictionless and Rough contact are nonlinear
and require multiple iterations. However, note
that small deflection theory is still assumed.
When using these options, an interface treatment
option is available, set either as Actual Geometry
(and Specified Offset) or Adjusted to Touch.
The latter allows the user to have ANSYS close the
gap to just touching position.
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Four contact types are available:
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Formulation can be changed from Pure

Penalty to Augmented Lagrange or MPC.
MPC is applicable to bonded contact only
Augmented Lagrange is used in regular ANSYS
In bonded contact, the pure Penalty method can

be thought of as adding very high stiffness
between interface of parts to prevent relative
movement. This results in negligible relative
movement between parts at contact interface.
MPC formulation writes constraint equations
relating movement of parts at interface, so no
relative movement occurs. This is sometimes
an attractive alternative to penalty method.
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For the advanced user, some of the

contact options can be modified
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As explained in Chapter 3, the pinball
region can be input and visualized
The pinball region defines location of nearfield open contact. Outside of the pinball
region is far-field open contact.
Originally, the pinball region was meant to

more efficiently process contact searching,
but this is also used for other purposes,
such as bonded contact
For bonded or no separation contact, if gap
or penetration is smaller than pinball region,
the gap/penetration is automatically
excluded
Other advanced contact options will be

discussed in later chapters.
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In this case, the gap between

the two parts is bigger than the
pinball region, so no automatic
gap closure will be performed.
Advanced options (continued):
Training Manual
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Training Manual
Contact Type
Bonded
No Separation
Frictionless, Actual Geometry
Frictionless, Adjusted to Touch
Rough, Actual Geometry
Rough, Adjusted to Touch
KEYOPT(2)
1
1
1
1
1
1
KEYOPT(5)
0
0
0
1
0
1
KEYOPT(9)
1
1
2
1
2
1
KEYOPT(12)
5
4
0
0
1
1
By default, pure penalty method is used with relative contact

stiffness of 10 with symmetric contact pairs being generated
For bonded and no separation contact, any geometric
penetration or gap is ignored if within the pinball region.
For frictionless and rough contact, considering actual
geometry makes any initial gap or penetration ramped
whereas adjust to touch closes gap with auto CNOF
Internally, the solid face contact regions are modeled in

ANSYS as CONTA174 and TARGE170 elements
NEQIT is set to 1 for if only bonded or no separation contact

exist; it is set higher otherwise (15-40, depending on model).
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Assemblies Surface Body Contact
Allows for more complex modeling of assemblies, taking

advantage of the benefits of shells, when applicable
More contact options are exposed to the user
Contact postprocessing is also available (discussed later)
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For ANSYS Professional1 licenses and above, mixed

assemblies of shells and solids are supported
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For ANSYS Professional, surface contact supported with ANSYS 8.0 Service Pack 1 and above
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For contact including shell faces or solid
edges, only bonded or no separation
behavior is allowed.
For contact involving shell edges, only
bonded behavior using MPC formulation is
allowed.
For MPC-based bonded contact, user can set
the search direction (the way in which the
multi-point constraints are written) as either
the target normal or pinball region.
If a gap exists (as is often the case with
shell assemblies), the pinball region can be
used for the search direction to detect
contact beyond a gap.
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Edge contact is a subset of general contact
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Training Manual
Contact involving solid edges default to pure penalty method

Contact involving surface edges use MPC formulation.
Instead of target normal, if search direction is pinball
region, KEYOPT(5)=4 set on companion TARGE170 element.
For bonded contact (default), both use KEYOPT(12)=5 and
KEYOPT(9)=1.
For surface faces in contact with other

faces, standard surface-to-surface
contact is used, namely CONTA174
and TARGE170
Example of Design Simulationgenerated edge-to-edge
contact, which results in
CONTA175 on one edge and
TARGE170 on the other.
Internally, any contact including an edge (solid body edge

or surface edge) results in asymmetric contact with
CONTA175 for the edge and TARGE170 for the edge/face
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Assemblies Contact Summary
Training Manual
Contact Geometry
Solid Body Face
Solid Body Edge
Surface Body Face
Surface Body Edge
Solid Body Face

All types
All formulations
Symmetry respected
Solid Body Edge

Bonded, No Separation
All formulations
Asymmetric only
All formulations
Asymmetric only
Surface Body Face

All formulations
Symmetry respected
All formulations
Asymmetric only
All formulations
Symmetry respected
Surface Body Edge

Bonded only
MPC formulation
Asymmetric only
Bonded only
MPC formulation
Asymmetric only
Bonded only
MPC formulation
Asymmetric only
Bonded only
MPC formulation
Asymmetric only
This table is also in the Design Simulation online help.

Referring to this table will aid in determining what options are
available to the user.
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A summary of contact types and options available in

Design Simulation is presented in the table below:
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Assemblies Spot Weld
Training Manual
For ANSYS DesignSpace licenses, shell contact is not

supported, so spotwelds are the only way to define a shell
assembly.
Spotweld definition is done in the CAD software. Currently,
only DesignModeler and Unigraphics define spotwelds in a
manner that Design Simulation supports.
Spotwelds can also be created in
Design Simulation manually, but
only at discrete vertices.
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Spot welds provide a means of connecting shell assemblies

at discrete points
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Assemblies Spot Weld
Training Manual
The BEAM188 elements use

same material properties as
underlying materials but
with an appropriate circular
cross-section with radius=
5*thickness of underlying
shells
Figure on right shows spotwelds between two sets of
shell elements, which are
made translucent for clarity.
Internally, spot welds are defined as a set of BEAM188

elements. The spot weld is defined with one beam element,
and the top and bottom of the spot weld is connected to the
shell or solid elements with a spider web of multiple
beams.
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C. Loads and Supports
Training Manual
Inertial loads
These loads act on the entire system
Density is required for mass calculations
Structural Loads
These are forces or moments acting on parts of the system
Structural Supports
These are constraints that prevent movement on certain regions
Thermal Loads
Structurally speaking, the thermal loads result in a temperature
field, which causes thermal expansion on the model.
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There are four types of structural loads available:
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Acceleration & Gravity
Training Manual
Acceleration acts on entire model in length/time2 units.

Users sometimes have confusion over notation of direction. If
acceleration is applied to system suddenly, the inertia resists
the change in acceleration, so the inertial forces are in the
opposite direction to applied acceleration
Acceleration can be defined by Components or Vector
Standard Earth Gravity can also be applied as a load

Value applied is 9.80665 m/s2 (in SI units)
Standard Earth Gravity direction can only be defined along
one of three World Coordinate System axes.
Since Standard Earth Gravity is defined as an acceleration,
define the direction as opposite to gravitational force, as noted
above.
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An acceleration can be defined on the system
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Rotational Velocity
Training Manual
Entire model spins about an axis at a given rate

Can be defined as a vector, using geometry for axis and
magnitude of rotational velocity
Can be defined by components, supplying origin and
components in World Coordinate System
Note that location of axis is very important since model spins
around that axis.
Default is to input rotational velocity in radians per second.
Can be changed in Tools > Control Panel > Miscellaneous >
Angular Velocity to revolutions per minute (RPM) instead.
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Rotational velocity is another inertial load available
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Inertial Loads in ANSYS
Training Manual
Acceleration and Standard Earth Gravity are represented via

ACEL command
Rotational velocity is defined via CGLOC (defines origin) and
CGOMGA (defines rotational velocity about CGLOC)
Inertial loads are modeled in ANSYS as follows:
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Forces and Pressures

Pressures can only be applied to surfaces and always act
normal to the surface
Positive value acts into surface (i.e., compressive)
negative value acts outward from surface (i.e., suction)
Units of pressure are in force per area
Force loading:
Forces can be applied on vertices, edges, or surfaces.
The force will be distributed on all entities. This
means that if a force is applied to two identical
surfaces, each surface will have half of the force
applied. Units are mass*length/time2
Pressure loading:
Training Manual
A force is defined via vector and magnitude or by

components
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Bolt Load
Training Manual
A bolt load is for cylindrical surfaces only. Radial component

will be distributed on compressive side using projected area.
Example of radial component distribution shown below.
Axial component is distributed evenly on cylinder.
Use only one bolt load per cylindrical surface. If the
cylindrical surface is split in two, however, be sure to select
both halves of cylindrical surface when applying a bolt load.
Load is in units of force
Bolt load can be defined via
vector and magnitude or by
components.
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Bolt Load:
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Moment Load
Training Manual
For solid bodies, a moment can be applied on any

surface
If multiple surfaces are selected, the moment load
gets apportioned about those selected surfaces
A vector and magnitude or components can define the
moment. The moment acts about the vector using the righthand rule
For surface bodies, a moment can also be applied to a vertex
or edge with similar definition via vector or components as
with a surface-based moment
Units of moment are in Force*length.
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Moment Load:
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Remote Load
Training Manual
Allows the user to apply an offset force on a surface

The user supplies the origin of the force (using vertices, a
cylinder, or typing in (x, y, z) coordinates)
The force can then be defined by vector and magnitude or by
components
This results in an equivalent force on the surface plus a
moment caused by the moment arm of the offset force
The force is distributed on the surface
but includes the effect of the moment
arm due to the offset of the force
Units are in force (mass*length/time2)
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Remote Load:
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Structural Loads in ANSYS
Training Manual
Pressures are applied directly on surfaces via SF,,PRES

Forces on vertices and edges are applied as nodal loads via
F,,FX/FY/FZ
Forces on surfaces are applied as pressures on face 5 of
surface effect elements SURF154 with KEYOPT(11)=2
KEYOPT(11)=2 to use full area, including tangential component
Bolt loads are applied as pressures on face 5 of surface effect

elements SURF154 along compressive half of cylinder
KEYOPT(11)=0 uses projected area w/ tangential component
Moments on vertices or edges of shells are applied as nodal

loads via F,,MX/MY/MZ
Structural loads are modeled in ANSYS as follows:
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Structural Loads in ANSYS
Training Manual
Surface constraint is RBE3-type of distributed loading

Pilot node at surface CG defined by TARGE170 with
KEYOPT(2)=1 and KEYOPT(4)=xxx000
Surface is defined by CONTA174 with KEYOPT(2)=2,
KEYOPT(4)=1, KEYOPT(12)=5
Moment applied as nodal load on pilot node
Remote force load is defined by surface constraint

Surface constraint is RBE3-type of distributed force
Pilot node at force origin defined by TARGE170 with
KEYOPT(2)=1 and KEYOPT(4)=000xxx
Surface is defined by CONTA174 with KEYOPT(2)=2,
KEYOPT(4)=1, KEYOPT(12)=5
Moment load on surface is defined by surface constraint
Force applied as nodal load on pilot node

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Supports (General)
Training Manual
Constraints all degrees of freedom on vertex, edge, or surface

For solid bodies, prevents translations in x, y, and z
For surface and line bodies, prevents translations and
rotations in x, y, and z
Given Displacement:
Applies known displacement on vertex, edge, or surface
Allows for imposed translational displacement in x, y, and z
Entering 0 means that the direction is constrained
Leaving the direction blank means that the entity is free to
move in that direction
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Fixed Support:
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Supports (Solid Bodies)
Training Manual
Applies constraint in normal direction on surfaces

For solid bodies, this support can be used to apply a
symmetry plane boundary condition since symmetry plane
is same as normal constraint
Cylindrical Constraint:
Applied on cylindrical surfaces
User can specify whether axial, radial, or tangential
components are constrained
Suitable for small-deflection (linear) analysis only
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Frictionless Support:
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Supports (Solid Bodies)
Training Manual
Applies a compression-only constraint normal to any given

surface. This prevents the surface to move in the positive
normal direction only.
A way to think of this support is to imagine a rigid structure
which has the same shape of the selected surface. Note that
the contacting (compressive) areas are not known beforehand.
Can be used on a cylindrical surface to model a
Pinned Cylinder Support, which was available
in 7.1 but is a special case of the Compression
Only Support. Notice the example on the right,
where the outline of the undeformed cylinder is
shown. The compressive side retains the shape
of the original cylinder, but the tensile side is free to deform.
Compression Only Support:
This requires an iterative (nonlinear) solution.

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Compressive behavior is not known a priori, so an iterative

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Supports (Line/Surface Bodies)
Training Manual
Can be applied on edge or vertex of surface or line bodies

Prevents all translations but all rotations are free
Fixed Rotation:
Can be applied on surface, edge, or vertex of surface or line
bodies
Constrains rotations but translations are free
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Structural Supports in ANSYS
Training Manual
Fixed support constraints result in D,,ALL for given entity

Given displacement is D,,UX/UY/UZ for specified direction
Frictionless surface involves nodal rotation such that UX is in
normal direction, and D,,UX is applied
Cylindrical constraint rotates nodal coordinates in cylindrical

CS and constrains appropriate direction with D,,UX/UY/UZ
Simply supported constraints apply D on UX, UY, and UZ on
shells or beams
Fixed rotation constraints apply D on ROTX, ROTY, and ROTZ

on shells or beams
For compression-only supports, the surface mesh is copied to
form a rigid target surface (TARGE170) on top of the original
surface (CONTA174). Standard contact behavior is used to
model this support, and that is why it is a nonlinear solution.
The following are applied internally in ANSYS:
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Summary of Supports
Training Manual
Contact Regions provides a flexible boundary condition

between two existing parts explicitly modeled
Supports provide a rigid boundary condition between the
modeled part an a rigid, immovable part not explicitly modeled
Type of Support
Fixed Support
Frictionless Support
Compression Only Support
Equivalent Contact Condition at Surfaces of Part

Bonded contact with a rigid, immovable part
No Separation contact with a rigid, immovable part
Frictionless contact with a rigid, immovable part
If Part A, which is of interest, is connected to Part B,

consider whether both parts need to be analyzed (with
contact) or whether supports will suffice in providing the
effect Part B has on Part A.
Supports and Contact Regions may both be thought of as

being boundary conditions.
In other words, is Part B rigid compared to Part A? If so, a

support can be used and only Part A modeled. If not, one may
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need to model both Parts A and B with contact.
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Thermal Loading
Training Manual
Thermal strains are calculated as follows:
e thx e thy e thz a T Tref
where a is the thermal expansion coefficient (CTE), Tref is the

reference temperature at which thermal strains are zero, T is
the applied temperature, and eth is the thermal strain.
Thermal strains do not cause stress by themselves. It is the
constraint, temperature gradient, or CTE mismatch that
produce stress.
CTE is defined in the Engineering branch

and has units of strain per temperature
The reference temperature is defined in the
Environment branch
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Temperature causes thermal expansion in the model
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Thermal Loading
Training Manual
Any temperature loading can be applied (see Chapter 6 on

Thermal Analysis for details)
Design Simulation will always perform a thermal solution first,
then use the calculated temperature field as input when
solving the structural solution.
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Thermal loads can be applied on the model
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Thermal Loading in ANSYS
Training Manual
ANSYS will always solve a thermal solution first

Even if a uniform temperature field is applied, a thermal solution
will be performed. This is why temperature body loads in a
structural analysis is not possible with an ANSYS Structural
license.
Reference temperature is defined with TREF (not MP,REFT)

Coefficient of thermal expansion per material is supplied with
MP,ALPX (not MP,CTEX or MP,THSX)
Temperature loading is input via BF commands after thermal
solution
In ANSYS, for any thermal loads present in the model:
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D. Solution Options
Training Manual
The ANSYS database can be saved if Save

ANSYS db is set
Useful if you want to open a database in ANSYS
Two solvers are available in Design Simulation

The solver is automatically chosen, although some
informative messages may appear after solution
letting the user know what solver was used. Set
default behavior under Tools > Control Panel
> Solution > Solver Type
The Direct solver is useful for models containing

thin surface and line bodies. It is a robust solver
and handles any situation.
The Iterative solver is most efficient when solving
large, bulky solid bodies. It can handle large models
well, although it is less efficient for beam/shells.
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Solution options can be set under the Solution branch
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Solution Options
If Program Controlled is set, Design Simulation
tries to anticipate under-constrained models. If no
Fixed Support is present, it may add weak springs
and provide an informative message letting the user
know that it has done so
This can be set to On or Off. To set the default
behavior, go to Tools > Control Panel > Solution
> Use Weak Springs.
In some cases, the user expects the model to be in
equilibrium and does not want to constrain all
possible rigid-body modes. Weak springs will help
by preventing matrix singularity.
It is good practice to constrain all possible rigid-body
motion, however.
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Weak springs can be added to stabilize model
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Solution Options
The type of analysis is shown, such as Static
Structural for the cases described in this section.
If a nonlinear solution is required, it will be indicated
as such. Recall that for some contact behavior and
compression-only support, the solution becomes
nonlinear. These type of solutions require multiple
iterations and take longer than linear solutions.
The solver working directory is where scratch files
are saved during the solution of the matrix equation.
By default, the TEMP directory of your Windows
system environment variable is used, although this
can be changed in Tools > Control Panel > Solution
> Solver Working Directory. Sufficient free space
must be on that partition.
Informative messages are also present:
Training Manual
Any solver messages which appear after solution

can be checked afterwards under Solver Messages
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Solving the Model
Training Manual
By default, two processors (if present) will be used for parallel

processing. To set the number of processors, use Tools >
Control Panel > Solution > Number of Processors to Use
Recall that under Worksheet tab of the Solution branch,
the details of the solution output can be examined.
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To solve the model, request results first (covered next) and

click on the Solve button on the Standard Toolbar
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Solution Options in ANSYS
Training Manual
The solvers used are either the direct sparse solver

(EQSLV,SPARSE) or the PCG solver (EQSLV,PCG)
A simplified discussion between the two solvers:
If given the linear static case of [K]{x} = {F}, Direct solvers factorize [K] to solve for [K]-1.
Then, {x} = [K]-1{F}.
This factorization is computationally expensive but is done once.
Iterative solvers use a preconditioner [Q] to solve the equation [Q][K]{x} = [Q]{F}. Assume
that [Q] = [K]-1. In this trivial case, [I]{x} = [K]-1{F}. However, the preconditioner is not
usually [K]-1. The closer [Q] is to [K]-1, the better the preconditioning is, and this process
is repeated - hence the name, iterative solver.
For iterative solvers, matrix multiplication (not factorization) is

performed. This is much faster than matrix inversion if done entirely in
RAM, so, as long as the number of iterations is not very high (which
happens for well-conditioned matrices), iterative solvers can be more
efficient than sparse solvers.
The solver selection for direct vs. iterative:
The main difference between the iterative solvers in ANSYS PCG,

JCG, ICCG is the type of pre-conditioner used.
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Training Manual
If used, weak springs are added to the mesh. These are

modeled with COMBIN14 with small stiffness and added to the
extreme dimensions of the part.
Solver working directory:

The ANSYS input file is written as ds.dat in the solver
directory. The output file is solve.out and can be viewed in
the Worksheet tab of the Solution branch.
ANSYS is executed in batch mode (-b) as a separate process.
During solution, the results file .rst is written. The results are
also read in and XML results files are generated in batch
mode. The XML files are then read into Design Simulation.
All associated ANSYS files have default jobname of file and
are deleted after solution, unless changed in Tools > Control
Panel > Solution > Save Ansys Files.
Weak spring option:
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Training Manual
Solution control (SOLCON,OFF) is turned off

Multiframe restart is turned off (RESCON,,NONE)
ANSYS shape checking is turned off (SHPP,OFF)
Number of equilibrium iterations (NEQIT) is set to 1 if contact

is not present or if all contact is bonded or no separation.
Otherwise, it is automatically determined, such as NEQIT,20
(frictionless contact) or NEQIT,40 (rough contact). NSUBST,1,10,1
is also set in these cases.
Only requested results is output with OUTRES, not everything

by default
Results are later written to XML files in /POST1, which are then
read back into Design Simulation. Hence, Design Simulation does
not directly read the results from the .rst file
Various defaults in ANSYS are turned off when solving in

Design Simulation:
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E. Results and Postprocessing
Training Manual
Directional and total deformation

Components, principal, or invariants of stresses and strains
Contact output
Requires ANSYS Professional and above
Reaction forces
In Design Simulation, results are usually requested before

solving, but they can be requested afterwards, too.
If you solve a model then request results afterwards, click on
the Solve button
, and the results will be retrieved. A
new solution is not required if that type of result has been
requested previously (i.e., total deformation was requested
previously but now direction deformation is added).
Various results are available for postprocessing:
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Plotting Results
Training Manual
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All of the contour and vector plots are usually shown on the
deformed geometry. Use the Context Toolbar to change the
scaling or display of results to desired settings.
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Deformation
Training Manual
Total deformation is a scalar quantity:
U total U x2 U y2 U z2
The x, y, and z components of deformation can be
requested under Directional. Because there is
direction associated with the components, if a
Coordinate System branch is present, users can
request deformation in a given coordinate system.
For example, it may be easier to interpret displacement for a
cylindrical geometry in a radial direction by using a cylindrical
coordinate system to display the result.
Vector plots of deformation are available.

Recall that wireframe mode is the easiest
to view vector plots.
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The deformation of the model can be plotted:
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Deformation
Training Manual
Note that deformation results are associated with

translational DOF only. Rotations associated with the DOF of
line and surface bodies are not directly viewable
Because deformation (displacements) are DOF which Design
Simulation solves for, the convergence behavior is wellbehaved when using the Convergence tool
Vector deformation plots cannot useAlert or Convergence
tools because they are vector quantities (x, y, z) rather than a
unique quantity (x or y or z). Use Alert or Convergence tools
on Total or Directional quantities instead.
Total deformation is an invariant, so Coordinate Systems
cannot be used on this result quantity. Also, Vector
deformation is always shown in the world coordinate system.
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Deformation results are available for line, surface, and solid

bodies
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Stresses and Strains
Training Manual
Strains are actually elastic strains

Stresses and (elastic) strains are
tensors and have six components
(x, y, z, xy, yz, xz) while thermal
strains can be considered a vector
with three components (x, y, z)
For stresses and strains, components can be
requested under Normal (x, y, z) and Shear (xy, yz, xz).
For thermal strains, components are under Thermal
Can request in different results coordinate systems
Not available with an ANSYS Structural license
Only available for shell and solid bodies. Line bodies currently do
not report any results except for deformation.
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Stresses and strains can be viewed:
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Stresses and Strains

Because stress is a tensor, it is hard to evaluate
the response of the system by looking solely at
stress components
The Stress Tool allows the user to
have Design Simulation calculate
scalar results related to factors of
safety
In the next slides, stress results will
be discussed, along with different
criteria of evaluating material response,
as available from the Stress Tool.
The Stress Tool branch controls
what theory will be used and what
type of stress limit will be used.
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Safety Factors can be used to evaluate designs:
Training Manual
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Principal Stresses
Training Manual
From basic mechanics review, the stress tensor can

be rotated such that only normal stresses appear.
These are the three principal stresses s1 < s2 < s3.
Principal values of stress and strain results can be requested.
The three principal values also have direction associated with
them, and a Vector Principal output can be selected.
Principal values can be exported to Excel with Euler angles
In the example shown on the right, one

can easily see the three principal
stresses (white=max, blue=min). From
this, one can see that the part is undergoing bending with one side in tension
and the other in compression.
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Principal Stresses and Strains:
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Principal Stresses
Training Manual
Maximum Tensile Stress Theory:

The maximum tensile stress theory can be used for the
Stress Tool. It utilizes the maximum principal stress and is
generally suitable for brittle materials.
The criterion can be thought of as the following:
where st is the ultimate (or yield) tensile strength
Fsafety
st
s1
If plotted in two-dimensional principal stress space, the failure

surface results in a square as shown below. A stress state
lying inside the square is assumed to be fine but any stress
state lying on the edges of the square will fail.
s2
The max tensile stress criterion, as its

name implies, only considers the tensile
behavior. For many brittle materials, the
compressive strength is much greater,
so this assumption may be valid.
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st
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Principal Stresses
Training Manual
The Mohr-Coulomb theory can be used for the Stress Tool.

It utilizes the maximum and minimum principal stresses and is
suitable for brittle materials.
The criterion is as follows:
where st and sc are the ultimate (or yield)
tensile and compressive strengths.
s 1 s 3
Fsafety
s t s c
The failure surface is plotted in two-dimensional principal

stress space below. Unlike the maximum tensile stress
theory, the Mohr-Coulomb theory considers the
s2
effects of the compressive strength.
st
sc
st
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Mohr-Coulomb Theory:
s1
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Equivalent Stress
Training Manual
The von Mises or equivalent stress se is defined as:
se
1
s 1 s 2 2 s 2 s 3 2 s 3 s 1 2
2
This criterion is commonly used for ductile metals.
When uniaxial tensile tests of specimens are performed to

determine the yield strength and stress-strain relationships,
the engineer needs a way to relate the uniaxial data to the
stress state (tensor). Hence, the equivalent stress is a
commonly used scalar invariant for this purpose.
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Equivalent Stress:
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Equivalent Stress
Training Manual
Maximum Equivalent Stress Theory:

The Maximum Equivalent Stress Theory can be used for the
Stress Tool. It compares the equivalent stress with the yield
(or ultimate) strength and is suitable for ductile materials.
where sy is the tensile yield (or ultimate) strength.
sy
Fsafety
se

stress space below.
A stress state can be separated into hydrostatic and
s2
distortional terms. The hydrostatic term
contributes to volume change but the
distortional term is associated with
sy
yielding. Hence, the maximum equivalent
sy
stress criterion is also known as the
distortion energy criterion.
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sy
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sy
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Maximum Shear Stress
Training Manual
The maximum shear stress tmax is defined as
t max
s1 s 3
2
which results in the largest principal shear stress
This value can be compared to the yield strength to predict

yielding for ductile materials
Stress Intensity:
The stress intensity is twice the value of the maximum shear
stress.
The stress intensity provides the value of the largest
difference between principal stresses
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Maximum Shear Stress:
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Maximum Shear Stress
Training Manual
The Maximum Shear Stress Theory or the Tresca criterion can

be used for the Stress Tool. It is suitable for ductile
materials.
where sy is the tensile yield (or ultimate) strength
and f is a factor (default=0.5)
Fsafety
fs y
t max

stress space below with the von Mises criterion superimposed
on in with a thin line. The two criteria are
s2
quite similar, although the Tresca criterion
is slightly more conservative (maximum
sy
difference between the two does not
exceed 15%).
sy
sy
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Maximum Shear Stress Theory:
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sy
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Contact Results
Training Manual
Contact results can be requested for selected

bodies or surfaces which have contact elements.
Contact elements in ANSYS use the concept of
contact and target surfaces. Only contact surfaces
report contact results. MPC-based contact, the target surfaces
of any contact, and edge-based contact do not report results.
Also, line bodies do not report any contact results.
Contact Pressure shows distribution of normal contact pressure
Contact penetration shows the resulting amount of penetration
whereas contact gap shows any gap (within pinball radius).
Sliding distance is the amount one surface has slid with respect to
the other. Frictional stress is tangential contact traction due to
frictional effects.
Contact Results:
Contact status provides information on whether the contact is

established (closed state) or not touching (open state).
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For the open state, near-field means that it is within pinball

February 2, 2004
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Reaction Forces
Training Manual
For each support, look under the Details view

after solution. Reaction forces and moments are
printed. X, y, and z components are with respect
to the world coordinate system. Moments are
reported at the centroid of the support.
The reaction force for weak springs, if used, is

under the Environment branch Details view
after solution. The weak spring reaction forces
should be small to ensure that the effect of weak
springs is negligible.
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Reaction forces and moments are output for each support
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Reaction Forces
Training Manual
If a support shares a vertex, edge, or surface with another

support, contact pair, or load, the reported reaction forces may
be incorrect. This is due to the fact that the underlying mesh
will have multiple supports and/or loads applied to the same
nodes. The solution will still be valid, but the reported values
may not be accurate because of this.
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The Worksheet tab for Environment branch has a

summary of reaction forces and moments
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F. Workshop 4
Goal:
A 5 part assembly representing an impeller type pump is
analyzed with a 100N preload on the belt.
Workshop 4 Linear Structural Analysis
Training Manual
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Chapter Four

Static Structural Analysis

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Geometry and Elements

The capabilities described in this section are generally

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

In this chapter, performing linear static structural analyses

Modal, harmonic, and nonlinear static structural analyses are

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Basics of Linear Static Analysis

Displacements, reaction forces, stresses, and strains are

The general equation of motion is as follows:

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

A linear static structural analysis is performed to obtain the

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Basics of Linear Static Analysis

This results in certain assumptions related to the analysis:

{F} is statically applied

It is important to remember these assumptions related to

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

For a linear static structural analysis, the displacements {x}

Linear Static Structural Analysis

For surface bodies, thickness must be

The cross-section and orientation of line bodies is defined

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

In structural analyses, all types of bodies supported by

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Solid bodies are meshed with 10-node tetrahedral or 20-node

Surface bodies are meshed with 4-node quad shell elements

Line bodies are meshed with 2-node beam elements

Section definition and offsets are supported

Advanced ANSYS Details

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

In Design Simulation, the following elements are used:

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Material input is under the Engineering Data branch, and

Stress Limits are needed if a Stress Tool result is present

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

The required structural material properties are Youngs

Specific loading and result tools will be discussed later

Linear Static Structural Analysis

B. Assemblies Solid Body Contact

Surface-to-surface contact allows non-matching meshes at

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

When importing assemblies of solid parts, contact regions

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Assemblies Solid Body Contact

One side of the contact region is comprised of contact

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

In Design Simulation, the concept of contact and target

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Assemblies Solid Body Contact

Normal Behavior (Separation) Tangential Behavior (Sliding)

Bonded and No Separation contact are basically

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

Four contact types are available:

Linear Static Structural Analysis

Assemblies Solid Body Contact

Formulation can be changed from Pure

In bonded contact, the pure Penalty method can

ANSYS Workbench - Simulation

For the advanced user, some of the

Linear Static Structural Analysis