2006

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

MCEN 4173/5173

ANSYS is a general purpose finite element modeling package for numerically solving a
wide variety of problems. These problems include: static/dynamic structural analysis
(both linear and non-linear), heat transfer and fluid problems, acoustic, electro-magnetic
and even coupled field problems involving thermal-structural interactions, fluid-structural
interactions, etc. In general, a finite element solution may be broken into the following
three stages. This is a general guideline that can be used for setting up any finite element
analysis.

(1) Preprocessing:
This involves the definition of the problem. The major steps in preprocessing are given
below:

Definition of keypoints/lines/areas/volumes

Definition of the material/geometric properties

Definition of boundary conditions, involving the specification of

loads(point of pressure) and constraints(translational and rotational)

Definition of the element type

Meshing lines/areas/volumes as required

The amount of detail required will depend on the dimensionality of the analysis (i.e. 1D,
2D, axi-symmetric, 3D)

(2) Solution:
This involves the solution of the resulting set of equations.

(3) Postprocessing:
This involves further processing and viewing of the results. In this stage one may analyze
(for a structural problem) the nodal displacements, forces, stress contour plots, deflection
plots and other terms specific to the analysis.
Ref: http://www.mece.ualberta.ca/tutorials/ansys/AU/intro/Intro.html

Limitations of the current version:

ANSYS Product
ANSYS University
Intermediate
Additional Tasks in
Increments of 10

Base Product

Max.
Node

Max helement

Max pelement

Mechanical

32,000

32,000

8,000

FLOTRAN

128,000

2G

N/A

Emag LF

64,000

64,000

16,000

Emax/Emag HF

128,000

2G

N/A

Ref: http://www.ansys.com/corporate/education-product-table.asp

The first tutorial gives a basic introduction to the steps involved in performing a
structural analysis of a two-dimensional truss. Before beginning the tutorial, it is advised
to go over the suggestions below:

(1)The files should be saved on the scratch disk D:/. A folder can be setup in this
directory for subsequent storage of the analysis files. After the lab session, the folder can
be transferred using SSH or FTP( Ex: ftp://itll-users.colorado.edu) or written to a CD if
you feel the need to do so for your future reference. Submission of these files is not
required.

(2) ANSYS works with numbers only and utmost care should be taken to ensure that the
pre-processing and solution steps are in consistent units. Using the SI system throughout
the analysis is preferable.

(3)Before beginning the analysis, the problem should be understood from a physical
view-point and the defining properties, constraints and boundary conditions should be
identified. The capability of the program in handling the problem should be verified
through simple bench-mark problems. This is common to any analysis software.

(4)After finishing the analysis, a careful examination of the results must be performed in
order to ensure the validation of the results from a physics view-point.