Institute of Engineering

Department of Automobile & Mechanical

Engineering
IOE, Thapathali Campus, Thapathali

System Design and Simulation

7. Structure Analysis
2020 Summer
Structural analysis
• Structural analysis is the most common application of the finite element method.
• The term structural/ structure implies not only civil engineering structures such
as bridges and buildings, but also naval, aeronautical, and mechanical structures
such as ship hulls, aircraft bodies, and machine housings, as well as mechanical
components such as pistons, machine parts, and tools.
• The seven types of structural analyses available in the ANSYS family of products
are explained below. The primary unknowns (nodal degrees of freedom)
calculated in a structural analysis are displacements. Other quantities, such as
strains, stresses, and reaction forces, are then derived from the nodal
displacements.
• Structural analyses are available in the ANSYS/Multiphysics, ANSYS/Mechanical,
ANSYS/Structural, and ANSYS/LinearPlus programs only.
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Types of Structure Analyses
1. Static Analysis-Used to determine displacements, stresses, etc. under static loading conditions. Both
linear and nonlinear static analyses.
Nonlinearities can include plasticity, stress stiffening, large deflection, large strain, hyper elasticity,
contact surfaces, and creep.
2. Modal Analysis-Used to calculate the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a structure. Different
mode extraction methods are available.
3. Harmonic Analysis-Used to determine the response of a structure to harmonically time-varying loads.
4. Transient Dynamic Analysis-Used to determine the response of a structure to arbitrarily time-varying
loads. All nonlinearities mentioned under Static Analysis above are allowed.
5. Spectrum Analysis-An extension of the modal analysis, used to calculate stresses and strains due to a
response spectrum or a PSD input (random vibrations).
6. Buckling Analysis-Used to calculate the buckling loads and determine the buckling mode shape. Both
linear (eigenvalue) buckling and nonlinear buckling analyses are possible.
7. Explicit Dynamics Analysis-ANSYS provides an interface to the LS-DYNA explicit finite element
program and is used to calculate fast solutions for large deformation dynamics and complex contact
problems.
In addition to the above analysis types, several special-purpose features are available such as; Fracture
mechanics, Composites, Fatigue ,P- Method.
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Linear Static Analysis
• A linear static analysis is an analysis where a linear relation holds between
applied forces and displacements.
• In practical, this is applicable to structural problems where stresses remain in
the linear elastic range of the used material.
• In a linear static analysis the model’s stiffness matrix is constant, and the
solving process is relatively short compared to a nonlinear analysis on the
same model.
• For a first estimate, the linear static analysis is often used prior to performing
a full nonlinear analysis.

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Nonlinear Static analysis
• A nonlinear analysis is an analysis where a nonlinear relation holds between applied forces and
displacements.
• Nonlinear effects can originate from geometrical nonlinearity’s (i.e. large deformations),
material nonlinearity’s (i.e. elasto-plastic material), and contact.
• These effects result in a stiffness matrix which is not constant during the load application. This
is opposed to the linear static analysis, where the stiffness matrix remained constant.
• As a result, a different solving strategy is required for the nonlinear analysis and therefore a
different solver.
• Modern analysis software makes it possible to obtain solutions to nonlinear problems.
However, experienced skill is required to determine their validity and these analyses can easily
be inappropriate.
• Care should be taken to specify appropriate model and solution parameters. Understanding the
problem, the role played by these parameters and a planned and logical approach will do much
to ensure a successful solution.
• The source of this nonlinearity can be attributed to multiple system properties, for example,
materials, geometry, nonlinear loading and constraints.
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Types of Solution Methods
• Two solution methods are available for solving structural problems in the ANSYS
family of products:
• h-method and p-method solutions
• The h-method can be used for any type of analysis, but the p-method can be
used only for linear structural static analyses.
• Depending on the problem to be solved, the h-method usually requires a finer
mesh than the p-method.
• The p-method provides an excellent way to solve a problem to a desired level of
accuracy while using a coarse mesh.

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Engineers use 1D, 2D, 3D elements in FEA

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Model and Analysis od 2D and 3D structure
elements under different conditions
• Shock
• Bike shock absorber analysis in ansys workbench

Recommended watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSUlq3_rBAc

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Model and Analysis od 2D and 3D structure
elements under different conditions
• Impact
• Impact between two or more bodies is modeled by the ANSYS structural family of
programs, including mechanical, explicit dynamics and rigid body dynamics
(RBD).
• These programs calculate the forces between two or more colliding bodies and
the resultant deformation or damage.
• Explicit Dynamics generally is used for high speed interactions or complex
contact. RBD is suited for impacts with no deformation, or when deformation can
be ignored.

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Model and Analysis od 2D and 3D structure
elements under different conditions
• Residual stress
• Generate during the metal forming process (bending , rolling, welding and many
other metal forming process)
• Residual stresses can be computed by using a non-linear analysis with material
plasticity. You apply the loads on you design and subsequently unload to a
loading free condition (with the applicable boundary conditions intact).
• The stress state after the unloading cycle are the residual stresses resulting from
the plastic deformation. To explain it in simple terms you could consider portions
of your model to be compressed or elongated (i.e. local deformation), which
results in your residual stresses (minimum of potential energy). The portions of
material that are for instance elongated result in compressive residual stresses in
the surrounding material.
• Ansys workbench tutorials -10: Stress analysis due to shrink fit between cylinders
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RBjUAQM60A)
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 Temperature and other forces will be analyzed in
practical classes.

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 End of Chapter

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