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ANSYSOverviewofSolidModelingOperations
SeeAnsysMechanicalAPDLHelp:

ThefollowingpagescontainextractsfromtheANSYSmanualpages
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Solidmodelentities:Keypoints,Lines,Areas&Volumes
Thepurposeofusingasolidmodelis
torelieveyouofthetimeconsuming
task of building a complicated finite
element model by direct generation.
Some solid modeling and meshing
operationscanhelpyoutospeedup
the creation of your final analysis
model
Thepointsthatdefinetheverticesof
yourmodelarecalledkeypointsand
arethe"lowestorder"solidmodel
entities.
If,inbuildingyoursolidmodel,youfirstcreateyourkeypoints,andthenusethosekeypointstodefine
the"higherorder"solidmodelentities(thatis,lines,areas,andvolumes),youaresaidtobebuilding
yourmodel"fromthebottomup."Modelsbuiltfromthebottomuparedefinedwithinthecurrently
activecoordinatesystem.

Alternativelyyoucanbuildyourmodelfromthetopdown:TheANSYSprogramalsogivesyouthe
abilitytoassembleyourmodelusinggeometricprimitives,whicharefullydefinedlines,areas,and
volumes.ThisfeatureisnotpresentedherebutyoucanrefertotheANSYSHelpmanualforfurther
information.

CreatingYourSolidModelfromtheBottomUp
Anysolidmodel,whetherassembledfromthebottomuporfromthetopdown,isdefinedintermsof
keypoints,lines,areas,andvolumes

Keypoints
Keypoints are the vertices, lines are
the edges, areas are the faces, and
volumes are the interior of the
object. Notice that there is a
hierarchy in these entities: volumes,
the highestorder entities, are
bounded by areas, which are
bounded by lines, which in turn are
boundedbykeypoints.

When building your model from the

bottomup,youbeginbydefiningthe
lowestorder solid model entities,
keypoints. Keypoints are defined
within the currently active
coordinatesystem.Youcanthendefinelines,areas,andvolumesconnectingthesekeypoints.Youdo
notalwayshavetoexplicitlydefineallentitiesinascendingordertocreatehigherorderentities:you
can define areas and volumes directly in terms of the keypoints at their vertices. The intermediate
entitieswillthenbegeneratedautomaticallyasneeded.Forexample,ifyoudefineabricklikevolume
in terms of the eight keypoints at its corners, the program will automatically generate the bounding
areasandlines.
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Lines
Linesaremainlyusedtorepresenttheedgesofanobject.Aswithkeypoints,linesaredefinedwithin
thecurrentlyactivecoordinatesystem.Youdonotalwaysneedtodefinealllinesexplicitly,because
theprogramwillgeneratethenecessarylinesinmanyinstanceswhenanareaorvolumeisdefined.
Linesarerequiredifyouwanttogeneratelineelements(suchasbeams)ortocreateareasfromlines.

Areas
Flatareasareusedtorepresent2Dsolidobjects(suchasflatplatesoraxisymmetricsolids).Curved
as well as flat areas are used to represent 3D surfaces, such as shells, and the faces of 3D solid
objects. Areas are required if you wish to use area elements or if you wish to create volumes from
areas. Most commands that create areas will also automatically generate the necessary lines and
keypoints;similarly,manyareascanbeconvenientlygeneratedbydefiningvolumes.

Volumes
Volumesareusedtorepresent3Dobjects,andarerequiredonlyifyouwishtousevolumeelements.
Mostcommandsthatcreatevolumeswillalsoautomaticallygeneratethenecessarylowerorder
entities.

Meshing:
Your ultimate objective in building a solid model is to mesh that model with nodes and elements.
Onceyouhavecompletedthesolidmodel,setelementattributes,andestablishedmeshingcontrols,
you can then let the ANSYS program generate the finite element mesh including nodes, elements,
loads and support conditions. By taking care to meet certain requirements, you can request a
"mapped" mesh containing all quadrilateral, all triangular, or all brick elements. A mapped mesh, if
designedwell,canleadtobetterelementshapesundultimatelymoreaccurateresults.

Solidmodelloads:
IntheANSYSprogram,loadsarenormallyassociatedwithnodesandelements.However,usingsolid
modeling,youwilloftenfinditinconvenienttodefineloadsatnodesandelements.Fortunately,you
mayassignloadsdirectlytothesolidmodel;whenyouinitiatethesolutioncalculations(withaSOLVE
command), the program will automatically transfer these solid model loads to the finite element
model.

FreeMeshing MappedMeshing
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Revisingyourmodel(clearinganddeleting):
Before you can revise your model, you need to be aware of the hierarchy of solid model and finite
element model entities. A lower order entity cannot be deleted if it is attached to a higherorder
entity. Thus, a volume cannot be deleted if it has been meshed, a line cannot be deleted if it is
attached to an area, and so forth. If an entity is attached to any loads, deleting or redefining that
entitywilldeletetheattachedloadsfromthedatabase.Thehierarchyofmodelingentitiesisaslisted
below:

Highest Elements(andElementLoads)
Nodes(andNodalLoads)
Volumes(andSolidModelBodyLoads)
Areas(andSolidModelSurfaceLoads)
Lines(andSolidModelLineLoads)
Lowest Keypoints(andSolidModelPointLoads)

Ifyouneedtoreviseasolidmodelafterithasbeenmeshed,youmustusuallyfirstdeleteallthe
nodesandelementsintheportionofthemodeltoberevised,usingthexCLEARcommands(Main
Menu>Preprocessor>Meshing>Clear).Oncethesolidmodeliscleared,youcandelete(fromthetop
down)andredefinesolidmodelentitiestoreviseyourmodel.
ExampleofRevisingaMeshedSolidModel

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ModellingExample:Tiploadedcantilever
UsesolidmodellingtoprepareaFEmeshofthe
tip loaded cantilever beam shown and then
analyseit.
All cantilever dimensions are given using
consistentunits.
ModellingSteps:
StartANSYSAPDLandenterthePreProcessor
Preparation:
Beforecreatingtheelementsyoushoulddefinethetypeofelement,RealConstants(e.g.thickness)
andmaterialpropertiesasfollows:
PreprocessorElementTypeADDADDthenselectSolidQuad4Node182.
ClickOptionsandsettheKeyOptionforElementBehaviourK3toPlanestrsw/thk
PreprocessorRealConstantsADDOKthenenterTK(I)=1.
PreprocessorMaterialPropsMaterialModelsStructuralLinearElasticIsotropicleavethe
defaultmaterialas1thenclickOK.InthematerialsdialogboxenterEX=1e4andNUXY=0.
InordertobeabletoplotKeypoint,lineandAreanumbers,theymustfirstbeswitchedon.Thiscan
bedonefromthemainmenu.
1) Select:PlotCtrlsNumbering
2) ChecktheboxesforKeypoints,LinesandAreas

P=20 2
L=10
X
Y
E=10
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=0.3 Thicknesst=1.0
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1)Create4KEYPOINTSwithcoordinatesasfollows:

KP X Y Z
1 0.0 1.0 0.0
2 0.0 1.0 0.0
3 10.0 1.0 0.0
4 10.0 1.0 0.0

PreprocessorModellingCreateKeypointsInActiveCS
(ToentermorethanoneKeypointusetheApplybutton)




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2)Create4LINESconnectingthekeypointsasfollows:

Line KP Start KP End
1 1 2
2 2 3
3 3 4
4 4 1

PreprocessorModellingCreateLinesStraightLine

(ToentermorethanoneLineusetheApplybutton.Youcanenterthekeypointnumberinthe
selectionboxoralternativelypickthekeypointusingthemouse)

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3)Create1AREAboundedbythe4LINES:

PreprocessorModellingCreateAreasArbitraryByLines

SelectLines1,2,3,4usingthemouseorenterthelinenumbersdirectlyintheselectionbox.Make
suretoenterthelinesinthegivensequence.

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4)MeshtheAreausingdefaultsettings:

PreprocessorMeshingMeshToolAreasFree

SelectArea1usingthemouseorentertheAreanumberdirectlyintheselectionbox.


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FromthePlotCtrlsMenuselectNumberingandthen:

a)SwitchonNodenumbers
FromthePlotmenuselectPlotNodes

FromthePlotCtrlsMenuselectNumberingandthen:

b)SwitchonElementnumbersandswitchoffNodenumbers
FromthePlotmenuselectPlotElements

FromthePlotCtrlsMenuselectNumberingandswitchoffNodeandElementnumbersasrequired.
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5)SpecifySupportconditionsontheLinesandKeypoints:

FromthePlotCtrlsMenuselectNumberingandthen:
SwitchonKeyPointandLinenumbers
FromthePlotMenuPlotLINES

Nowdefinethesupportconditionsusingthefollowingmenusequence:
PreprocessorLoadsDefineLoadsApplyStructuralDisplacementOnKeypoints

Inthedialogueboxthatappearsapplythefollowingconstraints:
Keypoint1:UY


NowdefinethesupportconditionsonLine1inUXdirection:
PreprocessorLoadsDefineLoadsApplyStructuralDisplacementOnLines
Inthedialogueboxthatappearsapplythefollowingconstraints:
Line1:UXonly

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6)SpecifyForcesontheKeypoints:

Nowdefinethesupportconditionsusingthefollowingmenusequence:
PreprocessorLoadsDefineLoadsApplyStructuralForce/MomentOnKeypoints

Inthedialogueboxthatappearsapplythefollowingconstraints:
Keypoint2:FY=10
Keypoints3,4:FY=10




7)SaveandSolve:

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8)Enterthepostprocessorandcheckresults

ListReactionsandcheckvalueswithahandsolution.

Plotstresscontoursforstressinxdirection(SX)andcompareresultswithyourtheoreticalsolution
basedonbeamtheory.

ThetheoreticalsolutionleadstoastressvalueatthefixedendofSX=300intheextremefibres.The
expectedverticaldisplacementis1.031atthefreeend.

Tocheckstressvaluesatdifferentnodes,usethemenuoption:
GeneralPostprocQueryResultsSubgridSlou.
Then select Stress SX from the dialog box and pick the node where
thestressisrequired.

Discuss the difference in results between theoretical and FE

solutions.Cantheresultsbeimproved?
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Revisingthemesh

9)Clearthecurrentmesh(deleteallelementsandNodes):

PreprocessorMeshingMeshTool
InthedialogboxthatappearsclickClearandselecttheAreathatcontainstheelements.Inthiscase
thereisonly1areatoclear.
Allelementsandnodeswillbedeleted

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9)MeshtheAreaaftersettingnewlinedivisions:

FromthePlotMenuPlotLINES

PreprocessorMeshingMeshTool
IntheMeshtoolboxclickonSetlines
SelectLines1&4andtheninthedialogueboxthatappears
setthenumberofelementdivisionsalongthoselines=4
(NDIV=4)

Repeattheprocedureforlines2&4andsetthenumberofdivisions=16

FinallyusetheMeshtoolboxagainandselect
MeshbutmakesurethebuttonMappedis
selected.