EME401

APPLIED FINITE
ELEMENT

FUNDAMENTALS OF MODELING
(PREPROCESSING)

DR. NORWAHIDA YUSOFF

menorwahida@usm.my
FEA Lecture Topics

Tuesday, 9-11am Topics

Wk 1 Intro to EME401
Wk 2 Basic FEA Procedures (Ansys APDL)
Wk 3 Element Performance
FEA Assignment 1 – Structural Analysis (Plane stress problem)
Wk 4 Fundamentals of Modeling (Preprocessing) & Heat Transfer
FEA Assignment 2 – Heat Transfer
Wk 5 Fundamentals of Modeling (Preprocessing) & Nonlinearity
FEA Assignment 3 – Nonlinear Analysis
Wk 6 Fundamentals of Modeling (Solution)
Wk 7 Fundamentals of Modeling (Postprocessing)
ANSYS Analysis Disciplines
• The ANSYS program is capable of simulating problems in a wide range of engineering disciplines;
• Structural Analysis - Deformation, stress, and strain fields, as well as reaction forces in a solid body.
• Static Analysis - The applied loads and support conditions of the solid body do not change with time.
• Nonlinear Analysis - Involves material and geometrical properties such as plasticity, contact, creep,
etc.
• Thermal Analysis - Steady-state or time-dependent temperature field and heat flux in a solid body.
• Primary Heat Transfer - Steady-state or transient conduction, convection and radiation.
• The ANSYS solution for each of these analysis disciplines provides nodal values of the field variable. This
primary unknown is called a degree of freedom (DOF). The analysis discipline should be chosen based on the
quantities of interest.
Structural Analysis - Nonlinearity
• Most real-world physical phenomena exhibit nonlinear behavior. A nonlinear structural behavior may arise because of
geometric and material nonlinearities.
• There are two main types of geometric nonlinearity:
• Large Deflection and Rotation - If the structure undergoes large displacements compared to its smallest dimension
and rotations to such an extent that its original dimensions and position, as well as the loading direction, change
significantly, the large deflection and rotation analysis becomes necessary. For example, a fishing rod with a low
lateral stiffness under a lateral load experiences large deflections and rotations.
• Stress Stiffening - When the stress in one direction affects the stiffness in another direction, stress stiffening occurs.
Typically, a structure that has little or no stiffness in compression while having considerable stiffness in tension
exhibits this behavior. Cables, membranes, or spinning structures exhibit stress stiffening.
• Nonlinear material behavior in ANSYS is characterized as:
• Plasticity - Permanent, time-independent deformation.
• Creep - Permanent, time-dependent deformation.
• Nonlinear Elastic - Nonlinear stress-strain curve; upon unloading, the structure returns back to its original state—no
permanent deformations.
• Viscoelasticity - Time-dependent deformation under constant load. Full recovery upon unloading.
• Hyperelasticity - Rubber-like materials
 Symmetry Conditions
• If the physical system under consideration exhibits symmetry in geometry,
material properties, and loading, then it is computationally advantageous to
model only a representative portion. If the symmetry observations are to be
included in the model generation, the physical system must exhibit symmetry
in all of the following:
• Geometry.
• Material properties.
• Loading.
• Degree of freedom constraints.
Types of symmetry
• Axisymmetry – The symmetry about a central axis, as exhibited by structures such as light bulbs, straight pipes, cones, circular plates,
and domes.

Different views of a 3-D body with axisymmetry and its cross section (far right)

• Rotational Symmetry - A structure possesses rotational symmetry when it is made up of repeated segments
arranged about a central axis. An example is a turbine rotor

Different views of a 3-D body with rotational symmetry

• Planar or Reflective Symmetry - When one-half of a structure is a mirror image of the other half, planar or
reflective symmetry exists. In this case, the plane of symmetry is located on the surface of the mirror.

Different views of a 3-D body with reflective/planar symmetry

• Repetitive or Translational Symmetry Repetitive or translational symmetry exists when a structure is made
up of repeated segments lined up in a row, such as a long pipe with evenly spaced cooling fins.

A 3-D body with repetitive/ translational symmetry

Cont.
• Symmetry in Material Properties, Loading, Displacements - Once symmetry in geometry is observed, the
same symmetry plane or axis should also be valid for the material properties, loading (forces, pressure, etc.),
and constraints.
• For example, a homogeneous and isotropic square plate with a hole at the center under horizontal tensile
loading has octant (1/8th) symmetry in both geometry and material with respect to horizontal, vertical, and
both diagonal axes. However, the loading is symmetric with respect to horizontal and vertical axes only.
Therefore, a quarter of the structure is required in the construction of the solution.
Cont.
• Since a structure may exhibit symmetry in one or more categories, one should try to find the smallest
possible segment of the structure that would represent the entire structure. Typically, the use of symmetry
produces better results as it leads to a finer, more detailed model.
• A three-dimensional finite element mesh of the structure shown below contains 18,739 tetrahedral
elements with 5014 nodes. However, the two-dimensional mesh of the cross section necessary for the
axisymmetric analysis has 372 quadrilateral elements and 447 nodes. The use of symmetry in this case
reduces the CPU time required for the solution while delivering the same level of accuracy in the results.

Three-dimensional mesh of a structure ( left) and 2-D mesh of the same structure ( right) using axisymmetry
Local & Global Numbering

Element numbers, global node numbers, and local node numbers Commonly used one-, two-, and three-dimensional finite elements
 Modeling Operation -
Elements
• Before starting meshing, the element type(s) to be
used must be defined (otherwise ANSYS refuses to
create the mesh).
• The elements that are available in ANSYS can be
classified according to many different criteria, such as
dimensionality, analysis discipline, and material
behavior. ANSYS classifies the elements in 23 different
groups.
Examples of thermal elements in ANSYS
• Each discipline requires the use of its own element
types because the element type determines the
degree-of-freedom set (displacements, temperatures,
pressures, etc.) and the dimensionality of the problem
(2-D or 3-D).
• BEAM188 element, has six structural degrees of
freedom (displacements and rotations in and
about the x-, y-, and z-directions) at each of the
two nodes, is a line element, and can be
modeled in 3-D space.
• The PLANE55 element, which has a total of four
thermal degrees of freedom (temperature at
BEAM188 element for 3-D problems and PLANE55 each node), is a 4-noded quadrilateral element,
element for 2-D problems and can be used only for two-dimensional
problems.

Examples of structural elements in ANSYS • The menu path for element specification is
Main Menu > Preprocessor > Element Type >
Add/Edit/Delete
Modeling Operation –
Real Constants
• Any data required for the calculation of the element matrix that
cannot be determined from the nodal coordinates or material
properties are called “real constants” – area, thickness, inner
diameter, outer diameter, spring constant, damping coefficient
etc.
• Not all element types require real constants.
• Real constants of a particular element type are briefly explained
in the “Element Reference” of the ANSYS Help System.
• A good example for describing the real constants is the spring-
damper element (element type COMBIN14). As shown in
figure, the real constants for this type consist of the spring
constant (K), damping coefficient (CV1), nonlinear damping
coefficient (CV2), etc.
• Real constants are specified using the following GUI path:
Main Menu > Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete

Real constants for the COMBIN14 element

 Modeling Operation – List of material properties for structural, thermal, and fluids disciplines

Material Properties
• For each element type, there are a minimum
number of required material properties that
depends on the type of analysis. The material
properties may be:
• Linear or nonlinear.
• Isotropic, orthotropic, or anisotropic.
• Temperature dependent or independent
• Menu path to specify material properties:
Main Menu > Preprocessor > Material Props >
Material Models
Heat Transfer
• In certain cases, a thermal analysis is followed by a stress analysis in order to evaluate the
structural integrity of the component under the given thermal conditions
• In a typical heat transfer problem, the goal is to obtain certain thermal quantities within a body
under a specific set of boundary conditions that include temperatures, thermal fluxes and
gradients, and the amount of heat dissipated.
• There are two main types of thermal analyses:
• Steady-state heat transfer: Solution is time independent.
• Transient heat transfer: Subjected to specific initial conditions, the solution exhibits a time
dependent behavior. If the transient solution is obtained for a sufficiently long time period,
the solution is expected to converge to the steady-state solution.
• ANSYS accommodates three main heat transfer types: conduction, convection, and radiation.
 Steady-State Analysis
• When the boundary conditions and body loads do not vary
with time and there are no specified initial conditions, the
solution quantities do not vary with time.
Example 1: Analysis of a tank
A cylindrical tank and a small pipe form a junction, as shown in
figure (only 1/8th of the geometry is shown due to octant-
symmetry). Inside the tank, there is fluid at a temperature of 450
°F. A steady flow of a fluid at a temperature of 100 °F is
experienced inside the pipe. The film coefficient along the inner
surface of the tank is 250 Btu/hr-ft2-°F whereas the film
coefficient along the inner surface of the pipe depends on the
surface temperature. The geometric parameters and boundary
conditions are given in Table 9.1, and the material properties are
summarized in Table 9.2. Note in Tables 9.1 and 9.2 that the
length units are in inches and feet. However, in order to obtain a
physically correct solution the units must be consistent. Inches
are used in this problem, therefore any parameter with the
length unit in feet must be converted to inches. The goal is to
determine the temperature distribution in the tank.
 Transient Analysis
• A transient analysis is utilized to simulate the heat transfer
phenomenon in the presence of time-dependent boundary
conditions, body loads, and/or initial conditions.
• In a transient analysis, in addition to the initial and boundary
conditions and the body loads, the user must specify time-related
quantities, such as time step size, number of load steps, number of
substeps, and the final time.

Example 2: Transient Thermomechanical Analysis of an Electronic

Package.
An electronic device contains a silicon die (chip), epoxy die-attach,
substrate, and a copper heat spreader, as shown in Figure.
The surrounding air is at a temperature of T = 25 °C (ambient
temperature). All of the surfaces, except the symmetry line, are
subjected to convective heat loss with a heat transfer coefficient of h = 5
W/(m2· °C). There is no heat transfer through the symmetry line
(insulation). In ANSYS thermal analyses, when boundary conditions are
not specified along a boundary, insulation is imposed automatically. Heat
is generated at the bottom face of the die, which is expressed in terms of
a constant heat flux of q = 1000 W/m. The initial temperature of the
device is assumed to be uniform at T0 = 25 °C. Heat transfer is simulated
for a period of 5 min (300 s), after which the device reaches a steady
state.