Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Customer Training Material

Lecture 3: Workbench/DesignLife
Integration
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Agenda Customer Training Material

• Review Workbench interface

• Discuss accessing ANSYS nCode DesignLife

• Discuss transferring data from ANSYS Mechanical to DesignLife

• Explain management of DesignLife files

• Review DesignLife material library

• Discuss interaction of ANSYS nCode DesignLife and Workbench

Parameter Manager

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Workbench Overview Customer Training Material

• Workbench is the interface used to host ANSYS products and

interact with CAD systems and other third-party software

• Workbench environment supports two types of applications

– native applications that run within the Workbench window
• Parameter Manager, Engineering Data, etc.
– data integrated applications that open in a separate window
• ANSYS Mechanical, ANSYS nCode DesignLife, etc.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Workbench Environment Customer Training Material

• Workbench environment is divided into 2 primary sections

Toolbox Project Schematic

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Toolbox Customer Training Material

• Analysis Systems
– predefined analysis templates

• Component Systems
– individual applications used to build analysis systems

• Custom Systems
– predefined coupled-field analysis systems

• Design Exploration
– parameter manager
– optimization tools

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-5 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Project Schematic Customer Training Material

• Project schematic contains a graphical representation of the workflow

– toolbox entities are dropped into project schematic to create workflow

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Accessing DesignLife Customer Training Material

• ANSYS nCode DesignLife is accessed from WB project page

– 7 pre-defined DesignLife workflows are stored in the Toolbox
– can be used “as-is” or modified
– user-defined DesignLife workflows can be added to the Toolbox

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-7 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Accessing DesignLife Customer Training Material

• To share Engineering Data and transfer Mechanical results, drop a

DesignLife Analysis System onto the Solution cell of the Mechanical
system

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Transferring WB Data to DesignLife Customer Training Material

• When DesignLife system is linked to Engineering Data cell of

Mechanical system, ANSYS nCode DesignLife opens ds.dat file and
reads
– unit system
– material information
– Named Selections (optional)

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Transferring WB Data to DesignLife Customer Training Material

• When DesignLife system is linked to Solution cell of Mechanical

system, ANSYS nCode DesignLife opens the file.rst file and reads
– node information (numbers, locations, etc.)
– element information (connectivity, attributes, etc.)
– stresses/strains

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-10 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

File Management Customer Training Material

• Workbench uses a project file, project directory, and a group of

subdirectories to manage files associated with a project
– ANSYS nCode DesignLife files are fully managed by WB

• When project is saved, project file (.wbpj) and project directory with
same name are created
– subdirectories are created under the project directory
– including a subdirectory containing the DesignLife files

DesignLife database

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

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 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Project Archive File Customer Training Material

• Archive utility generates compressed file that contains all project files
– accessed through the “File” menu
– stored in zip format (.wbpz)
– can be unzipped using the “Restore Archive . . . ” utility
– ANSYS nCode DesignLife files are included in the archive

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-12 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

nCode Material Library Customer Training Material

• nCode material library is integrated into Engineering Data

– if nCode library is not exposed, pick add new library button and browse
to find nCode_matml.xml file
– location may vary depending on system

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-13 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Parameter Manager Customer Training Material

• ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS nCode DesignLife share the WB

Parameter Manager

• Fatigue life and damage can be passed as parameters from

DesignLife to the WB Parameter Manager

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-14 April 20133
 Introduction to ANSYS nCode DesignLife

Summary Customer Training Material

• ANSYS nCode DesignLife is integrated into the Workbench platform

– 7 pre-defined DesignLife workflows are stored in the Toolbox
– user-defined DesignLife workflows can be added to the Toolbox
– nCode DesignLife material library integrated into Engineering Data
– ANSYS nCode DesignLife files are fully managed by WB
• stored in project archive
– DesignLife shares the WB Parameter Manager

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 14.5

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. L3-15 April 20133