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Explicit Dynamics Basics
Introduction to ANSYS
Explicit STR
1 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Explicit Dynamics (Mechanical) GUI
Menus
Toolbars
Graphics Window
Tree Outline
Status Bar
2 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Menus
The menus provide much of the functionality present in Explicit Dynamics. The more
commonly used menu items are covered below:
• The title bar lists analysis type, product and active ANSYS license.
• “File > Clean” to delete mesh and / or results from database.
• “Units” to change units on‐the‐fly.
• “Tools > Options… ” to customize settings and options.
• “Help > Mechanical Help” to access documentation.
Analysis Type Product License
3 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Toolbars
Toolbars provide quick access to functionality.
• Toolbars can be repositioned anywhere on the top of the Mechanical
window.
• The “Context” toolbar updates depending on what branch is active in the
“Outline” tree.
– Offers options similar to those available by RMB on the active
branch
• Tooltips appear if the cursor is placed over a toolbar button.
4 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Toolbars
“Standard” toolbar
Bring up Mechanical Wizard
(Not available for Explicit Dynamics) Annotations Comments
Capture Snapshot
“Graphics” toolbar
• used for selection and graphics manipulation:
• The left mouse button can be either in “selection” mode or “graphics manipulation” mode.
The above toolbar buttons are grouped as “select entities” and “graphics manipulation”
control.
• The graphics selection can be done using individual selection or box‐selection. This is
controlled by the “Select Mode” icon.
5 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Outline Tree
The Outline Tree provides an easy way of
organizing the model, materials, mesh, loads,
and results for the analysis.
• The “Model” branch contains the input
data required for the analysis
• The “Explicit Dynamics” branch contains
the initial conditions, loads, supports and analysis
settings required to run the analysis.
• The “Solution” branch contains result
objects and solution information
6 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Outline Tree
The Outline Tree shows icons for each branch, along with a status symbol.
Examples of the status symbols are below:
• Checkmark indicates branch is fully defined / OK
• Question mark indicates item has incomplete data (need input)
• Lightning bolt indicates solving is required
• Exclamation mark means a problem exists
• “X” means item is suppressed (will not be solved)
• Transparent checkmark means body or part is hidden
• Green lightning bolt indicates item is currently being evaluated
• Minus sign means that mapped face meshing failed
• Check mark with a slash indicates a meshed part / body
• Red lightning bolt indicates a failed solution
Becoming familiar with these basic status symbols lets you debug
Mechanical problems quickly.
7 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Details View
The Details View contains data input and output
fields. The contents will change depending on
the branch selected.
• White field: input data
– Data in white text field is editable
• Gray (or Red) field: information
– Data in gray fields cannot be modified.
• Yellow field: incomplete input data
– Data in yellow fields indicates missing information.
8 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Graphics Window
The Graphics Window shows the geometry and results. Tabs allow access to Print
and Report Previews as well.
9 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Worksheet View
Worksheet views are available for many objects in the tree (i.e. geometry,
connections, etc.).
Provides a list view of the data in the tree.
Activate
Worksheet
Toggle between
graphics and
worksheet
10 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Geometry
• Explicit Dynamics supports Solid,
Surface and Line bodies.
• Check that all geometric bodies
have been imported
– Line bodies are not imported by
default. If line bodies are not
shown in the tree, select Tools >
Options > Geometry Import in the
Workbench project window and
check the “Line Bodies” box
11 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Geometry
Geometry
• Solid, Surface and Line bodies
– Check that the imported material assignment for
each body is correct
– By default a linear “Structural Steel” is assigned.
– Use RMB to assign a different material
• Surface bodies
– Specify the Thickness
• (the Thickness mode and Offset type fields for surface
bodies are not supported for Explicit Dynamics systems)
• Line bodies
– Only symmetric cross‐sections are supported
12 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Imported Shell Thickness
Thickness can be Imported from External Data
File (e.g. from PolyFlow)
1. Specify File Name
2. Specify the file type, units, and the line to
start importing data
3. Define the parameters to be imported
1
3
CSV File
13 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Imported Shell Thickness
Imported Thickness is automatically inserted in the outline tree under Geometry
14 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Stiffness Behavior
• Flexible
– Can be assigned to any body type.
• Rigid
– Can only be assigned to Solid and Surface bodies.
– Only the density of the rigid body is used.
• Mass and inertia is derived from the density of all
elements
– Rigid bodies must be discretized with a Full Mesh.
• This is the default for the explicit meshing physics
preference
– Kinematic rigid body motion depends on the resultant
forces and moments applied through interaction with
other parts of the model
– Constraints can only be applied to an entire rigid body.
• e.g. a fixed displacement cannot be applied to one edge of
a rigid body, it must be applied to the whole body
15 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Coordinate Systems
• Local Cartesian and Cylindrical co‐ordinate systems can be
assigned to bodies. These coordinate systems can be used
to:
– Apply Boundary conditions
– Define the material directions when using the
Orthotropic Elasticity property in a material definition.
– Perform mesh refinements
Mesh
refinement
Boundary
Condition:
Rotation
velocity
16 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Connections ‐ Body Interactions
The Body Interactions folder, under Connections, is used to
define global connection options for Explicit Dynamics
• Two options for Contact Detection
– Trajectory (default)
– Proximity Based
• Four options for the Type of Body Interaction
– Bonded (joined)
– Frictionless (sliding contact)
– Frictional (sliding contact)
– Reinforcement (for embedded beams)
A default Frictionless interaction, using Trajectory Contact
detection, is scoped to all bodies.
• Activates frictionless contact between any external node and
face in the entire model that may come into contact during the
simulation.
– Safe, but may be relatively inefficient
17 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Connections ‐ Contact Region
By default, if two faces of any
Bodies are touching, or
Automatically
within a certain tolerance, a generated
bonded Contact Region will bonded
contact
be scoped automatically to
the two faces
• The tolerance can be changed in
Details of “Connections”
• AutoDetection can be turned Off in
Options if you wish
– By default it is On
Always check the Objects
automatically generated
under Connections to make
sure they are what you need
18 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Mesh
To generate the best meshes for
Explicit Dynamics:
• Select Explicit for the Physical preference
– Sets the preferred defaults to generate
a mesh for an explicit analysis
• Open Meshing Options panel and select
Automatic (Patch Conforming/Sweeping)
for the default Mesh method
– Ensures that hex elements are
generated automatically when a body
can be “swept”
– But not the best method if a
tetrahedron mesh is generated
• Override the default using the Patch
Independent tetrahedron method
Fast High
Transitions
20 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Slow
Mesh Sizing
• The Physical Preference also defines a default
element size for Explicit.
• Never use this
Global Sizing
Scoped Sizing
21 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Default Mesh method for Explicit Dynamics
• Automatic (Patch Conforming/Sweeping)
• Sweepable bodies are automatically meshed with Hex and Wedge
Elements
Produces better mesh if a size control is
used on the swept face or body
Swept Face
22 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Default Mesh method for Explicit Dynamics
• Automatic (Patch Conforming/Sweeping)
• Non-sweepable bodies are automatically meshed using the Patch
Conforming tetrahedron mesher
• All Faces, Edges, Vertices of the geometry are respected during mesh
generation (Delaunay Method)
• Not recommended for Explicit Dynamics
• Initial Conditions
• Loads and Constraints
• Analysis Settings
• Solution Information
25 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Initial Conditions
By default, all bodies in an Explicit Dynamics
system are at rest, unconstrained and stress
free.
At least one Initial Condition, Constraint or Load
must be applied to the model.
• otherwise the initial solution is the final solution
and there is no need to Solve.
Two forms of velocity are available as Initial
Conditions for Explicit Dynamics:
• Velocity (Translational)
• Angular Velocity (Rotational)
26 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Initial Conditions: Velocity
Applied to single or multiple bodies in global or local
Cartesian co‐ordinate systems.
• If rotational and translational velocities are applied to the
same body, the initial velocity of the body will be calculated
as the sum of these two conditions
27 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Initial Conditions: Pre‐stressing
Drag &Drop an Explicit Dynamics system onto the Solution cell • Static Structural and Explicit
of the Static Structural system that performs the pre‐ Dynamics analyses must use
stressing analysis the same mesh.
• Choose Explicit for the Physics
Preference under Mesh
• Choose Double
Precision for the
Explicit Dynamics
analysis
(this is the default
for the Static
Structural analysis)
28 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Loads and constraints that can be applied
for Explicit Dynamics analyses:
• Acceleration
• Standard Earth Gravity
• Pressure
• Force
• Line Pressure
• Detonation Point
• Fixed Support
• Displacement
• Remote Displacement
• Velocity
• Impedance Boundary
• Simply Supported
• Fixed Rotation
29 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Acceleration
• A constant body acceleration can be applied to all
bodies in the model. This results in a body
acceleration vector, defined via three Cartesian
components being applied to all nodes in the model
prior to any constraints
Fi
x i bi
m
– Any constraints applied to the model will over‐ride an
applied body acceleration
Standard Earth Gravity
• Special case of an Acceleration load which is
applied to all bodies.
• Magnitude of acceleration is fixed at standard earth
gravitational acceleration
• Acting direction can be applied in ± x, y, z
directions.
– Any constraints applied to the model will over‐ride any
applied gravity
30 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Pressure
• Constant and tabular Pressure loads applied to
faces of flexible bodies.
– Pressure is applied normal to element faces of
scoped bodies.
– Direction of applied pressure rotates with
deformation of faces.
Hydrostatic Pressure
• Pressure on a surface due to fluid weight
– Hydrostatic Pressure is calculated as:
where
ρ = fluid density
g = acceleration
h = depth below free surface (user defined)
31 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Force
• Constant and tabular Force loads can be applied to
flexible and rigid bodies.
– Flexible bodies
• Force loads can be scoped to points, lines and faces.
– Rigid bodies
• Force loads can only be scoped to bodies.
– User defines total force load applied to mesh nodes of
scoped bodies.
– Force applied to each node is equal to total force divided
by number of mesh nodes in the scoping.
• Resulting distribution of force is mesh dependent.
– When defining tabular forces, define the analysis end time
first.
– Force can be applied in global or local Cartesian co‐
ordinate systems.
Line Pressure
• Constant and tabular Line Pressure loads can be
applied to edges of flexible bodies.
– Force/unit length applied in a specified direction.
– Does not rotate with the deformation of the model.
32 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Detonation
• Defines location where explosive is to be
detonated.
• Detonation Point Properties:
– X/Y/Z location
– Detonation Time
– Instantaneous Burn Option
• Annotation
– Location represented by a small sphere
• More details on detonation are given in Chapter
9 on material modeling
33 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Fixed Support
• A Fixed Support can be scoped to flexible and rigid bodies to
constrain all degrees of freedom.
– Flexible bodies:
• Fixed supports can be scoped to points, lines and faces.
– Rigid bodies:
• Fixed supports can only be scoped to bodies.
Displacement
• Constant and tabular Displacement constraints can be
applied to flexible and rigid bodies.
– Flexible bodies:
• Displacements can be scoped to points, lines and faces.
– Rigid bodies:
• Displacements can only be scoped to bodies.
• Displacements are ramped linearly over analysis time.
– For tabular displacements, the initial value at time zero should be
zero.
• For rigid bodies, the rotational degrees of freedom will
automatically be constrained if a displacement object is
scoped to the body.
34 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Remote Displacement
• Displacements and rotations applied from remote point
35 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Velocity
• Constant and tabular Velocity constraints
can be applied to flexible and rigid bodies.
– Flexible bodies:
• Velocity constraints can be scoped to
points, lines and faces.
– Rigid bodies:
• Velocity constraints can only be
scoped to bodies.
• For rigid bodies, the rotational degrees of
freedom will be automatically constrained if
a displacement object is scoped to the
body.
• When defining tabular velocities, define the
analysis end time first.
• Velocities can be applied in global or local
Cartesian co‐ordinate systems.
36 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Impedance Boundary
• Allows outward traveling waves to pass out of the mesh without
reflection
– e.g. an expanding air blast or an underwater or underground explosion.
where uN is the normal velocity
[ρc]boundary is the Material Impedance
pref is the Reference Pressure
uref is the Reference Velocity
• Deals only with the normal component of wave velocity
– Velocity component parallel to the boundary is ignored.
– Place boundaries well away from regions of interest
• If the Impedance is Program Controlled (default, recommended),
the transient impedances of the elements to which the boundary
is applied are used
37 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Simply Supported
• Scoped to nodes and edges
• Nodes are fixed but rotate freely
Fixed Rotation
• Scoped to nodes and edges
• Nodes have fixed rotation
38 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Loads and Constraints
Expressions for Pressure and Velocity Boundary Conditions
• Can be defined as continuous functions of time
• Value is calculated directly from the expression at each time point
– No discretization or interpolation is used
39 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Analysis Settings
Analysis Settings are grouped in six categories
• Step Controls
• Solver Controls
• Damping Controls
• Erosion Controls
• Output Controls
• Analysis Data Management
End Time is the only required input
• All other options have defaults, e.g.
– Time step is program controlled
– Results saved 20 times
– Restart files saved 5 times
– Time history data saved every cycle
40 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Explicit Dynamic Project Files
Project files created while solving a model
File type Description
Results file (binary) Contains results data used for the main post-processing operations in Explicit
Dynamics.
name_{base_cycle_no}_{results_cycle_no}.adres
e.g. admodel_0_100.adres is the result file for cycle 100, referencing a base file
for cycle 0.
Results base file (binary) Contains base data that results files use.
name_{base_cycle_no}_.adbase
e.g. admodel_0.adbase is the result base file for cycle 0.
Restart file (binary) Contains complete model database. A solve can be resumed from any restart file.
name_{save_cycle_no}.ad
e.g. admodel_500.ad is the save file for cycle 500.
Print file (ASCII) Contains a brief summary of the initial model definition and a summary of the
energy and momentum distribution in the model over time.
name.prt
e.g. admodel.prt is the print file for the model
Log file (ASCII) Contains cycle increment data and error / warning messages
name.log
e.g. admodel.log is the log file
41 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution
• Solver Mechanisms
– My Computer, In Process (default)
• Solution is automatically monitored in
Workbench as it executes
– My Computer, Background
• Solution is obtained on the local
machine in the background.
– Remote Processing
– Calculation is executed on remote
(networked) machines
42 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
My Computer, In Process provides five Solution Output options to Defaults
view automatically while the calculation is running:
• Solver Output (default)
– Shows the progress of the simulation.
• Cycle summaries
• Warning or error messages
• Estimated clock time to remaining
– A “best guess” based on time currently taken to solve a cycle and
current time increment and the simulation time remaining.
– May be significantly over‐predicted in early cycles.
• Time Increment
– Shows how the time step varies with time.
• Fluctuations should be expected, but a reduction greater than a factor
of 10 often indicates a problem in the model setup / progress.
• Energy Conservation
– Shows how the energy is being conserved over time
• Momentum Summary
– Shows how the momentum of the system varies with time
• Energy Summary
– Shows how the energy components of the system vary with time
43 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
Solver Output (default)
• Shows the progress of the simulation.
44 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
Time Increment
• Shows how the time step varies with time.
• Fluctuations in time
step size should be
expected.
• However, a reduction
in time step greater
than a factor of 10,
often indicates a
problem in the model
setup / progress.
45 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
Energy Conservation
• Shows how the total energy of the system is conserved over time
46 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
Momentum Summary
• Shows how the momentum of the system varies with time
47 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Solution Information
Energy Summary
• Shows how the energy components of the system vary with time
48 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Results Data
• RMB Solution > Insert allows one or more customized results to be specified
• Results can be inserted before or after the solve
– If results are inserted after the solve, you must RMB Solution > Evaluate All Results to
view these results
• Results are evaluated and viewed using the results file after the solve is complete
49 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Results Tracker Data
• RMB Solution Information> Insert
allows customized Tracker results
to be specified.
• These should be used in
preference to standard Results if a
high frequency response is
required.
– Result files are usually stored at
a relatively low cycle frequency
(20 per solve is the default)
– Result Tracker files are stored at
a very high frequency (every
cycle is the default)
• Tracker results MUST be specified
BEFORE the Solve.
• Tracker results are equivalent to
Gauges in AUTODYN
50 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Setting up 2D problems in Explicit Dynamics
2D analyses can be solved much more efficiently that 3D analyses
Example: Normal impact of a bullet.
3856 cycles 3820 cycles
180 secs 7 secs
RMB
52 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Workshop 1 – Taylor Test (Continued)
Goal:
Simulate the impact of rod into a plate (typically known as a “Taylor Test”)
Procedure:
Mesh the two parts and set the initial velocity condition of the rod
Define the analysis settings, boundary conditions, and applied loads
Solve and review the results
Walkthrough
53 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Workshop 2 – Pre‐stressed Container Impact
Goal:
Model a projectile impacting a pre‐
stressed container
Procedure:
Pre‐stress a container in Static
Structural (ANSYS)
Link to Explicit Dynamics (ANSYS)
and set up impact problem
Run the pre‐stressed analysis in
Explicit Dynamics
Walkthrough
54 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Workshop 3 – Pre‐stressed Gas Bottle Drop
Goal
• Use ANSYS Mechanical to
calculated pre‐stress state of a
pressurised gas bottle then
simulate an impact with the
ground using ANSYS Explicit
Dynamics
Procedure
• Load the ANSYS Mechanical
model
• Complete the model set up and
solve
• Add an Explicit Dynamics system
to the project
• Complete the model set‐up Quick Instructions
55 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012
Workshop 4 ‐ 2D Axisymmetric Impact
Bullet
(Steel)
Axis of
Symmetry 500 m/s
Target
(Aluminum)
Fixed Boundary
Walkthrough
56 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. March 8, 2012