Lecture 2

Elements
14.5 Release

ANSYS LS-DYNA
in Mechanical APDL
© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. February 5, 2013 1 Release 14.5
 Objectives
This lecture covers understanding and defining ANSYS LS-DYNA elements.

Topics:
A. Overview of Explicit Dynamic Elements
B. Reduced Integration Formulation
C. Hourglassing
D. Defining ANSYS LS-DYNA Elements
E. LINK160 -- 3-D Spar (Truss)
F. BEAM161 -- 3-D Beam
G. PLANE162 -- 2-D Solid
H. SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell

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 … Objectives

Topics (continued):
I. SOLID164 -- 3-D 8-Node Brick
J. COMBI165 -- 3-D Spring or Damper
K. MASS166 -- 3-D Mass
L. LINK167 -- 3-D Cable
M. SOLID168 – 3-D 10-Node Tetrahedral
N. General Element Guidelines
O. Elements Workshop

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 A. Overview of Explicit Dynamic Elements
• The ANSYS LS-DYNA program has 9 different explicit element types that can be
defined:
– LINK160: 3-D explicit pin-jointed truss (similar to LINK8)
– BEAM161: 3-D explicit beam (similar to BEAM4)
– PLANE162: 2-D explicit planar solid (similar to PLANE42)
– SHELL163: 3-D explicit thin shell (similar to SHELL181)
– SOLID164: 3-D explicit brick (similar to SOLID185)
– COMBI165: 3-D explicit spring or damper (similar to COMBIN14)
– MASS166: 3-D explicit structural mass (similar to MASS21)
– LINK167: 3-D explicit cable (similar to LINK10)
– SOLID168: 3-D explicit tetrahedral (similar to SOLID187)
• All explicit dynamic element types are 3-D except for the 2-D axisymmetric/plane
stress/plane strain PLANE162 element.
• PLANE162 and SOLID164 support the ALE method, which is discussed in a later
lecture.

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 … Overview of Explicit Dynamic Elements
• Each element type is valid for most of the material models and nonlinear
options supported in ANSYS LS-DYNA.
• Some explicit element types have several different formulations. SHELL163
has the most with twelve. The default formulation is usually single point
integration.
• Explicit dynamic elements have a linear displacement function, except for
SOLID168, which has a quadratic displacement function, due to its mid-nodes.
• Extra shape functions and P-elements are not available in ANSYS LS-DYNA.

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 B. Reduced Integration Formulation
• A reduced integration element is an element which has a minimum number of
integration points. A reduced integration brick element has one integration point
at its centroid. A reduced integration shell has one in-plane integration point, but
still has multiple integration points through the thickness of the shell.
• Fully integrated elements are typical in implicit ANSYS. In ANSYS LS-DYNA, fully
integrated brick elements have eight integration points and fully integrated shells
have four in-plane integration points (with multiple points through the thickness).
• Reduced integration saves CPU time by minimizing element processing.
Therefore, it is the default formulation most often used in ANSYS LS-DYNA.

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 … Reduced Integration Formulation
• In addition to saving CPU time, single point integration elements are also
extremely robust in large deformation. ANSYS LS-DYNA elements can
undergo much greater deformations than standard ANSYS implicit elements.
• Two basic disadvantages of reduced integration elements are:
– Deformations with zero energy modes are possible (Hourglassing).
– The accuracy of stress results is directly related to the number of the
integration points.

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 C. Hourglassing
• Hourglassing is a zero-energy mode of deformation that oscillates at a
frequency much higher than the structure’s global response. Hourglassing
modes result in stable mathematical states that are not physically possible.
They typically have no stiffness and give a zigzag deformation appearance to a
mesh.

– Single-point (reduced) integration elements with linear displacement

functions are prone to zero energy modes (hourglassing).
– The occurrence of hourglass deformations in an analysis can invalidate results
and should always be minimized or eliminated.
– If the overall hourglass energy is more than 10% of the internal energy of a
model, the results are suspect. Determining the level of hourglass energy will
be discussed later (LS-DYNA ASCII output files GLSTAT and MATSUM are
covered in the postprocessing lecture). In some cases, even an hourglass
ratio of 5% can be considered excessive.

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 … Hourglassing
• Zero energy deformations for the one-point integrated solid element:

• This mesh distortion produces no strain or volume change in the

mesh. Hourglass control brings additional stiffness or viscous
damping to minimize these non-physical, zero energy modes.

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 … Hourglassing
• Minimizing hourglassing in ANSYS LS-DYNA:
– Avoid single point loads, which are known to excite hourglass modes. Since one
excited element transfers the mode to its neighbors, point loads should not be
applied. Try to apply loads over several elements as pressures, if possible.
– Refining the mesh often reduces hourglass energy, but a larger model
corresponds to increased solution time and larger results files.
– Use fully integrated elements, which do not experience hourglassing modes.
However, penalties in solution speed, robustness, and even accuracy may
result, depending on the application. Alternatively, a few fully integrated
“seed” elements may be dispersed through the mesh to minimize hourglassing.
– Full integration is not available for PLANE162 elements and beams are not
effected by hourglassing. The higher order SOLID168 tet is not subject to
hourglass modes, but it is not as robust as the lower order tet (collapsed
SOLID164 brick).

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 … Hourglassing
• Minimizing hourglassing in ANSYS LS-DYNA (continued)
– Globally adjust the model’s bulk viscosity to reduce hourglass deformations.
It is possible to increase the bulk viscosity of a model using the linear and
quadratic coefficients of the EDBVIS command:
• Solution > Analysis Options > Bulk Viscosity …
• Viscous hourglass control is
recommended for problems
deforming with very high
velocities (e.g., shock waves).
• Applicable elements include
PLANE162 and SOLID164.

• It is not recommended to dramatically change the default values (1.5 and

.06) of the EDBVIS command because of the adverse effects that they will
have on the global modes of the structure.

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 … Hourglassing
• Minimizing hourglassing in ANSYS LS-DYNA (continued)
– Globally add elastic stiffness to reduce hourglass energy. This can be
done for the entire model by increasing the hourglassing coefficient
(HGCO) of the EDHGLS command:
• Solution > Analysis Options > Hourglass Ctrls > Global …

• Stiffness hourglass control is

recommended for problems
deforming with lower velocities
(e.g., metal forming and crash).
• Applicable elements include
PLANE162, SHELL163, and
SOLID164.

• Care should be used when increasing the hourglassing coefficient.

Values above 0.15 have been found to over-stiffen the model’s
response during large deformations and cause instabilities.

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 … Hourglassing
• Minimizing hourglassing in ANSYS LS-DYNA (continued)
– Locally reduce hourglassing in high risk areas of a model without dramatically changing
the model’s global stiffness. The EDMP, HGLS command is used to apply hourglass
control only to a specific material. Define the hourglass control type (viscous or
stiffness), hourglass coefficient, bulk viscosity coefficient, and shell bending and shell
warping coefficients:
• Solution > Analysis Options > Hourglass Ctrls > Local …

• LS-DYNA locally applies

hourglass control on a
Part ID basis (not on a
material basis), so any
Part with the specified
material will have this
hourglass control.
• VAL1=5 is often used to
reduce hourglassing.

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 D. Defining ANSYS LS-DYNA Elements
• Define explicit dynamic elements using standard ANSYS methods:
– Select LS-DYNA Explicit for ANSYS GUI filtering
• ANSYS Main Menu > Preferences …

Selecting LS-DYNA Explicit will limit the elements

available in the current analysis to the explicit
family.

It is very important to remember that explicit and

implicit elements can not be used in the same
analysis.

If implicit elements are defined in the same

model, the analysis will automatically be
terminated upon execution of the SOLVE
command.

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 … Defining ANSYS LS-DYNA Elements
• Add element type:
– Preprocessor > Element type > Add/Edit/Dele....
Setting the preferences limits
the type selection to only the
explicit elements (160 – 168)

– Keyopts and real constants are defined using standard ANSYS format

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 E. LINK160 -- 3-D Spar (Truss)

• This 3-D pin-jointed spar element is

used to carry an axial load.
– Three nodes are used to define
the element.
– The 3rd node is for the initial spar
orientation.

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 F. BEAM161 -- 3-D Beam
• This 3-D beam is suited for rigid body rotations
because it does not generate strains.
– Three nodes are used to define the element.
– The 3rd node is for the initial orientation of the
beam.
– Several standard beam cross sections can be
defined.

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 G. PLANE162 -- 2-D Solid
SHELL162: 2-D PLANAR SOLID
• PLANE162 – 2-D, 4-Node Solid
– 3-node triangle available (not recommended) J K

– Lagrangian and ALE formulations supported

– UX, UY, VX, VY, AX, AY degrees of freedom I
L

– Y axis = symmetry axis for axisymmetric models

– Mixing of 2D and 3D element types NOT permitted y

– Fully integrated option not available

• PLANE162 KEYOPT settings: x

– Keyopt(2) - Area weighted or volume weighted (AXISYM)

– Keyopt(3) - Plane stress, axisymmetric, or plane strain
• Only one 2-D type can be used in any given analysis (i.e., you cannot have both
axisymmetric and plane stress elements in the same model)
– Keyopt(5) – Element continuum treatment
• Lagrangian (default)
• ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian) – (discussed later)

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 … PLANE162 -- 2-D Solid
• PLANE162 modeled in X-Y plane (+X for axisymmetric case)
• No real constants associated with PLANE162
• Many material models (e.g., plasticity, composite, Mooney-Rivlin) are supported
• RSYS supported for displacements and stresses (not strains)
• Lagrangian formulation is based on large strain deformation theory in which
bodies of interest are discretized and the geometry is continuously updated over
time as the mesh physically deforms. This formulation is also used in implicit
ANSYS.

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 H. SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
SHELL163 has 12 different element formulations. Key ones include:
• Belytschko-Tsay (BT, KEYOPT(1)=0 or 2, default):
– Simple shell element
– Very fast (relative cost = 1.0)
– Wrong results for warping
• Belytschko-Wong-Chiang (BWC, KEYOPT(1)=10):
– Relative cost = 1.28 * BT
– Correct results for warping
– Recommended
• Belytschko-Leviathan (BL , KEYOPT(1)=8):
– Relative cost = 1.25 * BT
– First element with physical hourglass control
– (no parameters for EDMP,HGLS,Mat,Val1)
• S/R co-rotational Hughes-Liu (S/R CHL, KEYOPT(1)=7):
– Shell without hourglassing
– Relative cost = 8.84 * BT

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 … SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
• The element formulations BT, BWC, BL use only one integration point in-plane,
but the S/R CHL uses 4-point integration (in-plane).
• All shell elements can have an arbitrary number of integration points (NIP)
through the thickness.
– NIP = 2 is necessary for elastic behavior (default)
– 3 < NIP < 5 is needed for plastic behavior (NIP=5 recommended)
– Real constants are used to define the number of integration points
• R, NSET, SHRF,NIP,T1
– NSET = real constant set reference number
– SHRF = shear factor (5/6 is recommended for thin shells)
– NIP = number of integration points
– T1 = element thickness

– Currently, SHELL163 does NOT support the new shell section commands
(SECTYPE, SECDATA, SECOFFSET, etc.)

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 … SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
• Specify the number of integration points through the thickness for
output with the EDINT command
– Solution > Output Controls > Integ Pt Storage …
– EDINT, SHELLIP, BEAMIP
• SHELLIP is the number of shell integration points for output
• SHELLIP > 3
• Each integration point is associated with a LAYER
• Default is 3 (top, middle, and bottom layers)
• BEAMIP is the number of beam integration points for output

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 … SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
• Four Hughes-Liu shell element formulations are available:

normal CS co-rotational CS

CPU factor 2.45*BT CPU factor 1.49*BT

normal KEYOPT(1)=1 KEYOPT(1)=11
“full reduced” 1 integration point 1 integration point

CPU factor 20.01*BT CPU factor 8.84*BT

selectively reduced KEYOPT(1)=6 KEYOPT(1)=7
“fully integrated” 4 integration points 4 integration points

This formulation is comparable to the

formulation of SHELL143

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 … SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
• Two triangular shell element formulations are available:
– C0 triangular shell (KEYOPT(1)=4)
• Based on Mindlin-Reissner plate theory
• Formulation is rather stiff, not recommended for entire mesh
– BCIZ triangular shell (KEYOPT(1)=3)
• Based on Kirchhoff plate theory
• Slow
– In mixed meshes, C0 triangular shells are always better than degenerated 4-
noded element formulations. Always include the following command if area
meshes are mixed (free meshing):
• EDSHELL, , , , , ,ITRST
– ITRST = 1 : degenerated quadrilateral shells are treated as triangular shells (default)
– ITRST = 2 : degenerated quadrilateral shells remain unchanged
• Preprocessor > Shell Elem Ctrls > Triangular Shell Sorting > Full Sorting >
OK

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 … SHELL163 -- 3-D Thin Shell
• Two membrane element formulations are available:
– Belytschko-Tsay-Membrane (KEYOPT(1)=5):
• Simple membrane element with one-point integration
– Fully integrated Belytschko-Tsay-Membrane (KEYOPT(1)=9):
• Membrane element with four-point integration
• Fully-integrated Belytschko-Tsay shell available (KEYOPT(1)=12):
– Does NOT need hourglass control
– Shear locking remedied by assumed small strain for the transverse shear
– Four-point integration (2 X 2 quadrature) in-plane, but still fast
– 2.5 times slower than reduced-integration Belytschko-Tsay shell
– Recommended if hourglass modes cannot be easily controlled
– Layer stress results averaged at element center of each layer

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 I. SOLID164 -- 3-D 8-Node Brick

• A degenerated tetrahedral mesh is strongly NOT recommended

– An all-tet mesh may not even run for certain applications

• Use mapped meshing for explicit dynamic elements

– A dragged or extruded mesh with singular prisms is acceptable
– Try to keep the brick shapes as close to cubes as possible

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 … SOLID164 -- 3-D 8-Node Brick
• Two brick element formulations are available:

– Single point integrated solid (constant stress over the element)

• Default formulation
• Very fast and very robust for large element deformations
• Hourglass controls may be needed to prevent hourglass modes

– Fully integrated solid (2x2x2 integration)

• Slower formulation, but has no hourglass modes
• Both shear locking and volumetric locking (for high Poisson’s ratios) can
occur, giving poor results
• Accuracy more sensitive to element shape than for default formulation
• Can be used in selected regions to minimize ill effects

– In addition to the pure Lagrangian element formulation, SOLID164 also

supports the ALE method (discussed later).

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 J. COMBI165 -- 3-D Spring or Damper
• Defined using two nodes and discrete material properties
• Can be connected to all other explicit elements
• May have translational or torsional properties
• Complex nonlinear force-displacement relations are possible
• Unlike COMBIN14, springs and dampers must be separate elements
• Since only the spring or damper option can be used with COMBI165, two
elements must be overlaid for a spring-damper assembly.

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 K. MASS166 -- 3-D Mass
• MASS166 is a point mass element having up to nine DOF’s: translations,
velocities, and accelerations in the x, y, and z directions

• The element has an additional option for rotary inertia without mass:
• KEYOPT(1)=0 3-D Mass without inertia: mass input
• KEYOPT(1)=1 3-D Rotary inertia (no mass): 6 inertia values input

• This element is used to adjust the mass of a complex model like a full car crash
model, where many components (e.g., seats, headlights, instrument panel,
dummy, etc.) are not modeled

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 L. LINK167 -- 3-D Cable
• Three-noded tension-only element
– 3rd node initially orients element
– Used to model cables

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 M. SOLID168 -- 3-D 10-Node Tet
• SOLID168 is a 3-D, 10-node tetrahedral
– 3 DOFs at each node (translations in the nodal
x, y, and z directions) plus nodal velocity and
acceleration solution results.
– Well suited modeling irregular meshes
(especially curved shapes).
– Default formulation (KEYOPT(1) = 0,1) uses
quadratic displacement behavior with five
point integration.
– Composite formulation (KEYOPT(1) = 2) is an
assemblage of linear sub-tetrahedral shapes
that overcome the difficulty of lumped mass
calculations and volume locking inherent with
quadratic elements.
– Automatic contact recommended.

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 N. General Element Guidelines
• Avoid small elements whenever possible as they will significantly reduce
the time step size, thereby increasing the run time. If small elements
are required, use mass scaling (discussed later).
• Minimize the use of triangular/tetrahedron/prism elements. Although
these elements are supported, they are highly NOT recommended.
• Avoid acute angled elements and warped shells, as they will degrade the
accuracy of the results.
• Fully integrated elements can be defined in regions of a model where
hourglass control is needed. However, volumetric locking (due to
Poisson’s ratios approaching 0.5) and shear locking (e.g., in the bending
of a simply supported short beam) are possible with fully integrated
brick elements.

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 O. Elements Workshop
• This workshop consists of the following problem:
• WS02. Explicit Dynamic Elements
• Please refer to your Workshop Supplement for instructions.

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