Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of

a Solid Lug

Objectives:

• Using solid element; element type SOLID186.

• Create a solid lug.

• Compare the computation time of following cases:

– Nonlinear SOLID186, TARGE170 and CONTA174

– Linear PLANE182 and LINK1

• Review the results

DISCLAIMER: This module is based on the example problem presented in MSC.Natran 120 Exercise Workbook - Release 9.0.

However, a number of modifications is made to tailor the need of ANSYS 9.0.

 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Model Description

Figure 1 shows the CN-235 turboprop aircraft. The aircraft has four lugs connecting the

wing to the fuselage. Figure 2 is a geometric representation of the lug shown on the title

page. Also shown are the pin-bearing load scenario that will be considered.

Figure 1: The CN-235 has four lugs connecting the wing to the fuselage.

t = 1.0
1.0 psi

R2.5

15.0
R5

Figure 2: The simplified lug and its loading conditions.

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Pre-Processing Phase:

1. Define some parameters: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Parameters ⊲ Scalar Parameters

Selection PI = ACOS(-1.0)

Accept

2. Select an element type: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Element Type ⊲ Add/Edit/Delete

Add

Solid 20node 186

OK

Close

3. Define material properties: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Material Props ⊲ Material Models

Structural ⊲ Linear ⊲ Elastic ⊲ Isotropic

EX 10.0E+06

PRXY 0.3

OK

Material ⊲ Exit

4. Create two rectangles: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Areas ⊲ Rectangle ⊲ By 2 Corners

WP X 0.0

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

WP Y 0.0

Width 5.0

Height 5.0

Apply

WP X 5.0

WP Y 0.0

Width 10.0

Height 5.0

OK

5. Create two circles: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Area ⊲ Circl ⊲ Partial Annulus

WP X 0.0

WP Y 0.0

Rad-1 0.0

Theta-1 0.0

Rad-2 5.0

Theta-2 180

Apply

WP X 0.0

WP Y 0.0

Rad-1 0.0

Theta-1 0.0

Rad-2 2.5

Theta-2 180

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

OK

6. Turn on some entities numbers: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

PlotCtrls ⊲ Numbering

LINE Line numbers ⊠ on

AREA Area numbers ⊠ on

NODE Node numbers ⊠ on

OK

7. Add Area A1 and Area A3: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessing ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Operate ⊲ Booleans ⊲ Add ⊲ Areas

< Pick Areas A1 and A3 >

OK

You should see the new area which has a number of A5

8. Substract Area A5 by A4: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessing ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Operate ⊲ Booleans ⊲ Substract ⊲ Areas

< Pick Area A5 >

OK

< Pick Area A4 >

OK

You should see the new area which has a number of A1

9. Merges coincident Keypoints: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Numbering Ctrls ⊲ Merge Items

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Label Type of item to be merge Keypoints

OK

After the substraction and merging the coincident keypoints, we obtain a model, pre-

sented in Fig. 3, that has two areas: A1 and A2.

Figure 3: The model after the area substraction and merging of the coincident nodes.

10. Create two keypoints: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Keypoints ⊲ In Active CS

NPT Keypoint number 100

X, Y, Z Location in active CS 0.0 0.0 0.0

Apply

NPT Keypoint number 200

X,Y,Z Location in active CS 5.0*COS(3/4*PI) 5.0*SIN(3/4*PI) 0

OK

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

11. Create three lines: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Lines ⊲ Lines ⊲ Straight line

< Pick Keypoints: 100, and then 200 >

< Pick Keypoints: 100, and then 4 >

< Pick Keypoints: 100, and then 3 >

Cancel

12. Cut the Area A1 into two areas: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessing ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Operate ⊲ Booleans ⊲ Divide ⊲ Area by Line

< Pick Area A1 >

OK

< Pick Line L1 >

Apply

You should see the new area of Area A4. Cut the area by Line L8:

< Pick Area A4 >

OK

< Pick Line L8 >

Apply

You should see the new area of Area A5. Cut the area by Line L10:

< Pick Area A5 >

OK

< Pick Line L10 >

OK

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Figure 4: The lug model that breaking down into five areas.

13. Control the mesh density: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Meshing ⊲ MeshTool

Lines Set

Pick All

NDIV No. of element divisions 4

Apply

< Pick Lines L5 and L7 >

NDIV No. of element divisions 6

OK

Close

14. Extrude the areas: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Operate ⊲ Extrude ⊲ Areas ⊲ By XYZ Offset

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Pick All

DX,DY,DZ Offsets for extrusion 0.0 0.0 0.5

OK

15. Merges coincident Keypoints: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Numbering Ctrls ⊲ Merge Items

Label Type of item to be merge Keypoints

OK

16. Change the viewpoint to the isometric viewpoint: ANSYS Toolbars

< Click >

17. Sweep mesh all volumes: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Meshing ⊲ Mesh ⊲ Volume Sweep ⊲ Sweep

Pick All

Note ◮ A pin having a radius of 2.5 in (See following figure) is inserted into

the lug hole to prevent the lug being moved when an uniform stress is

applied onto the lug right end. Therefore, the target elements must be

installed onto the surface of the lug hole, and the contact element must

be installed onto the surface of the pin surface. Those nodes in the

area where the target and the contact elements will be created should

be grouped for simplicity.

Target elements Contact elements
Lug

Pin

18. Change the active coordinate system: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Figure 5: The meshed lug.

Workplane ⊲ Change Active CS To ⊲ Global Cylindrical

19. Select and groups nodes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Entities

Nodes

By Location

• X coordinates

Min, Max 2.5, 2.5

Apply

Plot

OK

Group those nodes:

Select ⊲ Comp/Assembly ⊲ Create Component

Cname Component name cNodeTarget

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Entity Component is made of Nodes

Close

20. Change the active coordinate system: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Workplane ⊲ Change Active CS To ⊲ Global Cartesian

21. Activate everything: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Everything

22. Create a quarter of a solid cylinder: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Volumes ⊲ Cylinder ⊲ Partial Cylinder

WP X 0.0

WP Y 0.0

Rad-1 0.0

Theta-1 0.0

Rad-2 2.5

Theta-2 90

Depth 0.5

OK

23. Before we mesh the quarter solid cylinder, we should bring the volume into our focus,

and removes all other volumes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Entities

Volumes

OK

< Click the quarter of a cylinder >

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

A quarter of a cylinder

Figure 6: A quarter of a solid cylinder for modeling the pin.

OK

Now, select all lines and areas constructed the volume:

Select ⊲ Below ⊲ Selected Volumes

Plot ⊲ Lines

You should obtain a figure as shown in Fig. 7. Before we mesh the volume, similar

to the meshing of the previous volume, we should control the mesh density along the

boundary; in this case, mesh density on lines: L36, L36, and L40.

Figure 7: The quarter of a cylinder.

24. Control mesh density on lines L36, L37, and L40; and mesh the new volume: ANSYS

Main Menu

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Preprocessor ⊲ Meshing ⊲ MeshTool

Lines Set

< Click Line L40 >

NDIV No. of element divisions 8

Apply

< Click Line L36 and L37 >

NDIV No. of element divisions 6

OK

Mesh: Volumes

Shape: • Hex/Wedge

Shape: • Sweep

Sweep

< Click the volume >

Close

You should obtain a finite element mesh similar to that depicted in Fig. 8. In addition,

you should reflect the mesh to obtain a meshed half cylinder.

Figure 8: The meshed of the quarter of a cylinder.

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

25. Reflect the volume and all elements within the volume: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Reflect ⊲ Volumes

< Click the volumes >

OK

NOELEM Items to be reflected Volume and mesh

OK

26. Plot the elements: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Plot ⊲ Elements

You should obtain a mesh similar to that shown in Fig. 9. As you can see, there are

a number of coincidents nodes, encircled noded in the figure; therefore, those nodes

should be merged.

Figure 9: The coincident nodes, encircled nodes, on the half cylinder

27. Merge the coincident nodes: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Numbering Ctrls ⊲ Merge Items

Label Type of item to be merge Nodes

OK

28. Change the active coordinate system: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Workplane ⊲ Change Active CS To ⊲ Global Cylindrical

29. Select and groups nodes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Entities

Nodes

By Location

• X coordinates

Min, Max 2.5, 2.5

Apply

Plot

OK

30. Group those nodes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Comp/Assembly ⊲ Create Component

Cname Component name cNodeContact

Entity Component is made of Nodes

Close

31. Change the active coordinate system: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Workplane ⊲ Change Active CS To ⊲ Global Cartesian

32. Activate everything: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Everything

Plot ⊲ Areas

You should obtain a solid model of a pinned lug (see Fig. 10).

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Figure 10: The solid model of a pinned lug.

33. Select everything: ANSYS Puldown Menu

Select ⊲ Everything

Plot ⊲ Elements

Note ◮ We have two groups of nodes: cNodeTarget and cNodeContact. Therefore,

we now are ready to create both the target elements and the contact

elements. ANSYS 9.0 has a wizard to automatically create both type

of elements: TARGE170 and CONTA174.

34. Create the target elements and the contact elements: ANSYS Main Menu

Preprocessor ⊲ Modeling ⊲ Create ⊲ Contact Pair

Press this button to start the wizard

for creating the contact and
the target elements

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Select the target nodes

Select the contact nodes

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Close the wizard.

Solution Phase

1. Define the analysis type: ANSYS Main Menu

Solution ⊲ Analysis Type ⊲ New Analysis

[ANTYPE] Type of analysis: • Static

OK

2. Activate the front view: ANSYS Toolbars

< Click >

3. Select and grouping the nodes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Select ⊲ Entities

Nodes

By Location

• Y coordinates

0, 0

Apply

Plot

Select ⊲ Entities ⊲ Comp/Assembly ⊲ Create Components

Cname Component name cNodeBottom

Entity Component is made of Nodes

Apply

• X coordinates

0, 0

• Resellect

Apply

Plot

Select ⊲ Entities ⊲ Comp/Assembly ⊲ Create Components

Cname Component name cNodeCenter

Entity Component is made of Nodes

OK

Select ⊲ Entities

• Z coordinates

0, 0

Apply

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Plot

Select ⊲ Entities ⊲ Comp/Assembly ⊲ Create Components

Cname Component name cNodeFront

Entity Component is made of Nodes

Apply

Select ⊲ Everything

Plot ⊲ Nodes

4. Apply the boundary condition: ANSYS Main Menu

Solution ⊲ Define Loads ⊲ Apply ⊲ Structural ⊲ Displacement ⊲ On Nodes Compo-

nents

• List of Items cNodeBottom

Apply

Lab2 DOFs to be constrained UY

Apply

• List of Items cNodeFront

Apply

Lab2 DOFs to be constrained UZ

Apply

• List of Items cNodeCenter

Apply

Lab2 DOFs to be constrained ALL DOF

OK

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

5. Activate the isometric view: ANSYS Toolbars

< Click >

6. Apply the uniform pressure: ANSYS Main Menu

Solution ⊲ Define Loads ⊲ Apply ⊲ Structural ⊲ Pressure ⊲ On Area

< Click Area A13 >

OK

VALUE Load PRES value -100.0

OK

Note ◮ If you have done any selection command, for example, selecting certain

lines, nodes, elements or so on, you should remember to reselect entire

model before the run.

7. Activate everything: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Everything

8. Solve the problem: ANSYS Main Menu

Solution ⊲ Solve ⊲ Current LS

OK

Close

Post Processing Phase

1. Plot deformation: ANSYS Main Menu

General Postproc ⊲ Plot Results ⊲ Deformed Shape

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

KUND Items to be plotted: • Def shape only

OK

The result is shown Fig. 11; in the left-top corner, it tells that the DMX, the maximum

displacement, is 0.474E-03 in.

Figure 11: The deformation of a pinned lug.

2. Plot the von-Mises stress of a partial model:

(a) Activate the isometric view: ANSYS Toolbars

< Click >

(b) Activate the area number: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

PlotCtrls ⊲ Numbering

AREA Area numbers ⊠ on

(c) Select the volumes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Entities

Volumes

OK

< Click A5 and A16 >

OK

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

(d) Select everything within the volumes: ANSYS Pulldown Menu

Select ⊲ Everything Below ⊲ Selected Volumes

(e) Plot the stress: ANSYS Main Menu

General Postproc ⊲ Plot Results ⊲ Nodal Solu

Nodal Solution ⊲ Stress ⊲ von Misses stress

OK

Figure 12: The von-Mises stress of the partial model.

3. The appendix presents a different approach that utilizes a linear solution PLANE183 and

LINK1. the results are compared in the table.

Table 1: Comparison
Computation Time (s) σx at a node (psi)
0.2778E-03 44.22
0.3611E-02 (13× longer) 43.85

Batch Mode

Preamble:
/clear ! Delete everything
/view, 1, 1, 1, 1, ! Change the view to isometric view
PI = acos(-1.0) ! Define a constant of PI

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

Figure 13: the von-Mises stress for PLANE183 and LINK1 elements

Pre-Processing Phase

1. Enter the preprocessing phase:

/prep7 ! Enter preprocessing phase

The GUI counterpart of the above command is

ANSYS Main Menu ⊲ Preprocessor

2. Select an element type:

et, 1, solid186 ! Select 20 nodes solid186 element type

3. Define the material properties:

mp, ex, 1, 10.0E+06 ! Young’s modulus

mp, nuxy, 1, 0.3 ! Poisson’s ratio

4. Create some areas:

rectng, 0.0, 5.0, 0.0, 5.0 ! Create a rectangle; has a number of A1

rectng, 5.0, 15.0, 0, 5 ! Create a rectangle; has a number of A2
pcirc, 0.0, 5.0, 90, 180 ! Create a half circle; has a number of A3
pcirc, 0.0, 2.5, 0, 180 ! Create a half circle; has a number of A4

5. Joint areas and cut the hole:

aadd, 1, 3 ! Add A1 with A3, produces A5

asba, 5, 4 ! Cut A5 with A4, produces A1

Only two areas are left: A1 and A2.

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

6. Some Keypoints reside in the same locations; therefore, joint them:

nummrg, kp

Joining the keypoints will also joint the lines connecting those keypoints.

7. Create two Keypoints:

k, 100, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0

k, 200, 5.0*cos(0.75*PI), 5.0*sin(0.75*PI), 0.0

8. Create three lines:

l, 100, 200 ! visual check, L1

l, 100, kp(0.0, 5.0, 0.0) ! visual check, L8
l, 100, kp(5.0, 5.0, 0.0) ! visual check; L10

Note ◮ The kp is an intrinstic function that returns the number of the keypoint

at a given location. The complete command is

presentKeypoint = kp(x, y, z)

As you may guess, to get the node number at a given location (x, y, z),

the intrinsic function is

presentNode = node(x, y, z)

9. Cut the area:

asbl, 1, 1 ! Divides A1 with L1; produces A4 (visual check)

asbl, 4, 8 ! Divides A4 with L8; produces A5 (visual check)
asbl, 5, 10 ! Divides A5 with L10; produces A1 (visual check)

10. Control the mesh-size:

lesize, all, , , 4 ! Break down all lines into 4 elements

lesize, 5, , , 6 ! For L5 and L7, use 6 elements
lesize, 7, , , 6 !

11. Create volumes:

voffst, 1, 0.5*1.0 ! Offset A1 to form a volume

voffst, 2, 0.5*1.0 ! Offset A2 to form a volume
voffst, 3, 0.5*1.0 ! Offset A3 to form a volume
voffst, 4, 0.5*1.0 ! Offset A4 to form a volume
voffst, 6, 0.5*1.0 ! Offset A6 to form a volume

12. Merge the coincident Keypoints:

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

nummrg, kp

13. Mesh all volumes:

vsweep, all ! Mesh all volumes

14. Group some nodes to form creating target elements:

csys, 1 ! Activate the cylidrical coordinate system

nsel, , loc, x, 2.5, 2.5 ! Select nodes at location r = 2.5
cm, cNodeTarget, node ! Groups those nodes, the group name is cNodeTarget
csys, 0 ! Activate the cartesian coordinate system
alls ! Select everything

15. Create a quarter of volume for making the pin:

cyl4, , , 0.0, 0.0, 2.5, 90, 0.5*1.0 ! Create a quarter cylinder, V6

16. Mesh the pin:

lesize, 40, , , 8 ! 8 elements on L40; needs visual check

lesize, 37, , , 6 ! 6 elements on L37; needs visual check
lesize, 36, , , 6 ! 6 elements on L36; needs visual check
vsweep, 6 ! Mesh volume V6

17. Reflect the volumes and the elements

vsymm, x, 6 ! Create V7 and also elements

18. Merge the coincident nodes on the pin:

vsel, , volu,, 6 ! Select V6

vsel, a, volu,, 7 ! In addition, select V7
nslv,, 1 ! Select nodes on selected volumes, in this case V6 and V7
nummrg, node ! Joint the coincident nodes

19. Group the nodes

csys, 1 ! Activate the cylindrical coordinate system

nsel, , loc, x, 2.5, 2.5 ! Select nodes on location r = 2.5
cm, cNodeContact, node ! Group those nodes, the name is cNodeContact
csys, 0 ! Activate the Cartesian coordinate system
alls ! Select everything

20. Create the target elements:

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

et, 2, targe170 ! Create element type of targe170

nsel,, node,, cNodeTarget ! Select nodes: cNodeTarget
esln, s, 0 ! Select the elements attached to those nodes
esurf ! Create targe170 elements

Note ◮ The command esln allows us to select elements for a given selected

nodes. The command is mnemonic of Elements SeLected Nodes. There-

fore, it is logical to speculate the existence of : nsll (nodes selected

lines), nslv (nodes selected volumes), nsle (nodes selected elements),

esln (elements selected nodes), and so on; including the best one, of

course, is wslf (wife selected by fate).

21. Create the contact elements:

et, 3, conta174 ! Create element type of conta174

nsel,, node,, cNodeContact ! Select nodes: cNodeContact
esln, s, 0 ! Select the elements attached to those nodes
esurf ! Create conta174 elements
alls ! Select everything

22. Leave the pre-processing phase:

finish ! Get out the preprocessing phase

Solution

1. Enter the solution phase:

/solu

2. Select the analysis type:

antype, static

3. Apply the boundary constraints:

nsel,, loc, y, 0.0, 0.0 ! Select nodes at location y = 0.0

dsym, symm, y ! Apply the constraints on those nodes

nsel, r, loc, x, 0.0, 0.0 ! Reselect the previous selected nodes only at location x = 0.0
d, all ,all ! Apply the constraints on those nodes

nsel,, loc, z, 0.0, 0.0 ! Select nodes at z = 0.0

dsym, symm, z ! Apply the symmetry constraints

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

4. Apply pressure:

asel,, loc, x, 15.0, 15.0 ! Select area at x = 15.0, end of the lug
sfa, all, , pres, -100.0 ! Apply uniform pressure

5. Select everything:

alls ! Select everything

6. Solve

solve

7. Leave the solution phase

finish

Appendix

Code for Linear Analysis

/clear
*afun, deg
pi = acos(-1.0)
/prep7
et, 1, plane183, , , 3
r, 1, 1.0
mp, ex, 1, 10.0E+06
mp, nuxy, 1, 0.3

rectng, 0.0, 5.0, 0.0, 5.0

rectng, 5.0, 15.0, 0, 5
pcirc, 0.0, 5.0, 90, 180
pcirc, 0.0, 2.5, 0, 180
aadd, 1, 3
asba, 5, 4
nummrg, kp
k, 100, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
k, 200, 5.0*cos(0.75*pi), 5.0*sin(0.75*pi), 0.0
l, 100, 200
l, 100, kp(0.0, 5.0, 0.0)
l, 100, kp(5.0, 5.0, 0.0)
asbl, 1, 1
asbl, 4, 8
asbl, 5, 10

lesize, all, , , 4

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 Module 5: Non-Linear Static Analysis of a Solid Lug

lesize, 5, , , 6
lesize, 7, , , 6

amesh, all

et, 2, link1
r, 2, 100
type, 2
real, 2
n, 1000, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
angleInc = 90/8
angle = 180
iNode = 1000
*do, i, 1, 8
jNode = node( 2.5*cos(angle), 2.5*sin(angle), 0.0 )
e, iNode, jNode
angle = angle - angleInc
*enddo
finish
/solu
type, static

dcum, add
nsel,, loc, y, 0.0, 0.0
dsym, symm, y

nsel, r, loc, x, 0.0, 0.0

d, all ,all

lsel,, loc, x, 15.0, 15.0

sfl, all, pres, -100.0
sftran
alls
*get, timeStart, ACTIVE, 0, time, wall
solve
*get, timeEnd, ACTIVE, 0, time, wall
finish
/post1
nodeOutput = node(0, 5.5, 0.0)
*get, nodeStress, NODE, nodeOutput, S, EQV
*cfopen, output, dat
*vwrite, timeEnd - timeStart, nodeStress
(E15.4, 2X, E15.4)
*cfclose
finish

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