2 answers

• 
  Sudhir Gill about 1 year ago

  In general, a finite element solution may be broken into the following three stages.

  1. Preprocessing: defining the problem;
  - Define keypoints/lines/areas/volumes
  - Define element type and material/geometric properties
  - Mesh lines/areas/volumes as required

  2. Solution: assigning loads, constraints and solving;

  3. Postprocessing:
  - Lists of nodal displacements
  - Element forces and moments
  - Deflection plots
  - Stress contour diagrams

  In this tutorial we will go through first step.

  1. Step 1

     Start Ansys Mechanical APDL.

     

  2. Step 2

     Click Preferences and select Structural since we are going to have structural analysis. Click OK.

     

  3. Step 3

     Now we have to plot keypoints. Under Preprocessor >> Modeling >> Create >> In active CS.

     

  4. Step 4

     Now we have to input Keypoints. Input keypoint number 1 and XYZ co-ordinates and click Apply.

     

  5. Step 5

     Enter 2nd Keypoint X=500, Y=1000. Z will remain zero since we have 2D Bridge Truss. Click Apply.

     

  6. Step 6

     Enter 3rd Keypoint X=1000,Y=0. Click Apply.

     

  7. Step 7

     Enter 4th Keypoint X=1500,Y=1000. Click Apply.

     

  8. Step 8

     Enter 5th Keypoint X=2000,Y=0. Click OK

     

  9. Step 9

     Now we have keypoints plotted. We have to create lines along these keypoints. Goto Modeling >> Create >> Lines >> In Active Coord.

     

  10. Step 10

      Now select the kepoint by clicking them and click other keypoint to create line. Create the members. Click OK.

      

  11. Step 11

      Now we have to define the Element type. i.e. Beam. Under Element type >> Add/Edit/Delete.

      

  12. Step 12

      Click Add.

      

  13. Step 13

      Under link select 3D finit stn. This is link 180 which we are going to use. In older version of ANSYS 2D Spar is used for defining link 180. Click OK.

      

  14. Step 14

      Now we have to define the cross section of the members. Under Real constants >> Add/Edit/Delete.

      

  15. Step 15

      Click Add.

      

  16. Step 16

      Input Cross-sectional area = 3250. Keep the default settings and click OK and then close.

      

  17. Step 17

      Now we have to define the material properties. Goto Material props >> Material models.

      

  18. Step 18

      Under Material model available goto Structural >> Linear >> Elastic >> Isotropic.

      

  19. Step 19

      Input EX=200000 PRXY=0. These are material properties Elasticity and Poisson Ratio. Click OK and then close.

      

  20. Step 20

      Now we have to define the mesh size for the structure. Goto Meshing >> Size CNTRLS >> lines >> All lines. Input no. of divisions = 1. Click

      

  21. Step 21

      Now we have to mesh the lines. Goto Meshing >> Mesh >> Lines.

      

  22. Step 22

      Click Pick all to select all lines.

      

  23. Step 23

      The lines become blue which means the mesh has been created along the members.

      

  24. Step 24

      Since the first part of the tutorial is done we have to save the project. Under File >> Save as.

      

  25. Step 25

      Save the document to My Documents or any other Directory. If we don't save the document the Solution will not be performed.

      Second part of the tutorial http://grabcad.com/questions/tutorial-2d-truss-analysis-in-mechanical-apdl-ansys-part-2.

• 
  Beann Cabrera 2 months ago

  Your are the best. You saved my life