Workbench Simulation

Contact Analysis

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Objective and Outline

Contact related features available in ANSYS

Workbench

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Contact objects
Initial contact status
Contact meshing
Solution information
Contact results
Wizards

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Workbench Contact Modeling

Automatic contact generation for a variety of CAD
geometry
Various options for specifying contact behavior
Associative with geometry changes

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Contact Folder: Details

Automatic generation
based on pair options
Disable transparency
Rename based on
geometry names
Tolerance type:
a) slider
b) numeric value

Search sphere size

indicator appears in
graphics window

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Contact Folder: Details

Auto detection types:

Face/Face
Face/Edge
Edge/Edge
Priority for type during
auto generation
Automates construction of
connections between part,
manual effort is sometimes
necessary

Joins solid and surface bodies

together by defining contact
relationship between
corresponding faces and
edges

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Setting the appropriate priority

improves the outcome of the
automatic generation, review
of generated objects is good
practice
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Examples of Contact Types

Surface body face to

surface body edge

Solid body edge to

surface body edge
Surface body edge to
surface body edge

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Contact Folder: Worksheet View

Lists details for each contact object

Good for verifying intentions
Rows can be sorted by clicking column header
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Contact Folder: Worksheet View

Columns can be sized by sliding header
divider

The RMB on the header

displays options to
add, removed, and
reset columns

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Contact Object Display

Contact side is red
Target side is blue

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Contact Object Display

Click on detail and
corresponding part
highlights
Makes it easy to
understand definition

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Contact Objects: Transparency

Selected contact
objects in tree will be
shown in graphics
window displayed
with corresponding
parts as more opaque
than other parts

Transparency can be
disabled, level of
opaqueness can be
adjusted in options
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Contact Objects: Object Details

Highlight of geometry
entities by selection details

Symmetry behavior on
individual basis, including
auto asymmetry
Interface treatment
Contact stiffness
specification and update
options (very important for
good solution convergence)

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Contact Object: RMB Options

Disable
transparency
Flip contact and
target
Rename based on
geometry

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Initial Contact Status

Available by inserting
a contact tool in the
contact folder.

Initial information
result object displays a
table of information
about the initial state
of contact throughout
the model
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Initial Contact Status

Lists useful
information such as:
1) Status
2) Number elements
contacting
3) Penetration and/or
gap (gap is negative)
4) Size of gaps closed

Valuable information
when setting up
contact simulations

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Contact Meshing
Based on the sphere of
influence capability

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Element size is synchronized

across the contact interface

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Contact Meshing
Contact objects
can be drug and
dropped

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Solution Information
Convergence History
Result Trackers
Newton Raphson Residuals

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Convergence History

Useful for
understanding the
solution progress

- Solution output text

- Force convergence
- Max DOF increment
- Line search parameter
- Time increment
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Result Trackers

Valuable for know how the

model performs with
increasing load

Available for each

contact pair
Converged solution
data
Various types

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Result Tracker Types

Directional Deformations (x, y, z)

Contact

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Number Contacting
Number Sticking
Pressure
Penetration
Gap
Frictional Stress
Sliding Distance
Chattering
Elastic Slip
Normal Stiffness
Max Tangential Stiffness
Min Tangential Stiffness
Resulting Pinball

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Newton Raphson Residuals

Objects appear in tree if
activated and solution fails
to converged

Shows regions where

convergence is having difficulty,
in this case the contact below the
washer and the bracket

Details

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Contact Tool

Collected by a
parent object
Automatic
transparency

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Contact Results

Includes:

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Frictional stress
Pressure
Sliding distance
Penetration
Gap
Status
Reactions

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Contact Tool - Reactions

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Command Objects

ANSYS macro

Multiple instances allowed

Can be exported or inserted
Parametric output back to WB

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Contact in 2D

2D surface
bodies
Options for
plane stress,
plain strain,
axisymmetry

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Contact in 2D
Large Deflection 2D Sliding Contact

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Contact Custom Wizard

Purpose
Helps ensure preferred and
proven options are used
Highlights recommends
features

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More Contact Features

Contact reaction output can be requested in a local coordinate
system
Contact reactions can be parameters
Multiple selection support for Flip Contact/Target
Scoping by Named Selections for Contact Regions
Penalty based surface body edge contact that includes
stiffness for rotational DOF
Save/Load contact region settings
Reset to default options

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More Contact Features

Options for collecting

topologies for same body
pairs
Option to merge individual
contacts for same body pair
(using multi select)

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Contact Features ANSYS Workbench

Easy to use
Wide variety of features
Useful results
Sophisticated simulation

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