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Overview:
1. Launch ANSYS/Professional with the MTB:
Start ANSYS with the Mechanical Toolbar.
2. Setup tab:
Define analysis type, units, title, and optional user info.
3. Model Tab:
Import geometry, define material properties, and multiple shell thicknesses..
Advanced meshing features will be used.
4. Loads Tab:
Apply area constraints, line loads and area loads.
5. Solve
Perform elastic solution.
Generate an HTML
7. Plastic Analysis
Enter the ANSYS/Mechanical Classic interface. Define nonlinear stress strain
curve and perform plastic analysis.
9. Conclusions
Draw conclusions from the analysis. What have we learned? What could we
do to improve the design? What other types of analyses might be necessary
to verify this design?
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Step-by-step Instructions:
Before beginning this problem, create a separate folder on your computer for
this job and copy the suspension Parasolid part file suspension.xmt_txt to
this folder.
If you do not have a parasolid translator, copy the file suspension.db instead.
When you reach section 3.1 (Model Import), select ANSYS (*db*) for type of
file and import the suspension.db file.
1. Launch ANSYS/Professional
1.1. Launch ANSYS using your start menu.
A. Browse to select the working directory you just created for this job.
B. Enter a job name (suspension1). All ANSYS files created for this
problem will have a filename of suspension1 followed by a unique
extension.
C. Change the workspace and database sizes for this job to be 256 and
64 respectively.
D. Click RUN to start the ANSYS GUI.
1.1.A
1.1.B
1.1.C
1.1.D
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2. Setup
2.1. In the Mechanical Toolbar (MTB), we will set the basic analysis type
options.
A. Structural and static analysis settings are already set. Choose units of
Inch-lbm-s-F
2.1
.A
D. A menu dialog appears for you to enter menu preferences and other
information. Click on the User Info tab.
2.1.D
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E. This step is optional. You can enter your name, company name, and
address. Click OK when finished.
2.1.E
3. Model
3.1. Import Geometry:
Under the Model tab, we import the geometry file, assign shell element
thicknesses, material properties and mesh the part.
A. Click on the Model tab in the MTB.
3.1
.A
B. Click on the Import geometry box to bring up the model import dialog
box.
3.1.B
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3.1.D
3.1
.E
3.1.C
F. Another dialog box will open asking you to choose import options.
Select Shell or 2-D Solid.
G. Leave the No model clean-up (faster) option set.
H. Click OK.
3.1.F
3.1.G
3.1.H
Exercise 3: Automobile Suspension Bracket Analysis
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I. ANSYS will import the Parasolid file and draw the part in the graphics
window. Use the dynamic viewing controls to view all portions of the
model.
3.2.A
3.2.B
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C. We need to assign this property to the model. Click on the Assign
Shape dialog box.
3.2
.C
D. A dialog box will appear for you to select areas for this property. Click
the Pick All button.
3.2.D
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E. The plot will change colors with the legend indicating the model has the
property of Frame.
3.2.E
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F. We will want to use a different thickness for the mounting area
surrounding the center hole, and the tabs that attach to the subframe.
To do this, click on the shape box arrow and highlight shell. A dialog
box will appear for you to define a new shell property.
3.2
.F
G. In the shell property dialog box, enter Mount for the name and a
thickness of 0.125.
H. Click OK.
3.2.G
3.2.H
I. Click the Assign Shape button to assign this new shell property to the
mounting area.
3.2
.I
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J.
K. As before, a dialog box will pop up asking you to select the areas for
the new shell properties. You may have to use the Pan/Zoom/Rotate
function to obtain a better view of the center hole in order to select it.
3.2.J
3.2.M
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L.
M. Use the mouse to select the areas shown below. There are three
areas at the center hole. Click near the center to select the keyhole
shaped area, and off to the sides to select the two fillet areas
surrounding the center hole. Hold down the left button and drag the
mouse until the proper area is highlighted. The selection will be made
when you release the button.
N. Also select the four holes, which make up the tabs that mount to the
subframe.
3.2.K
3.2.L
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O. Click OK in the Select Areas for Shape box. The plot will change such
that the Frame and Mount areas are color coded as shown below.
3.2.M
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3.3.A
3.3.B
3.3.C
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D.
E. Operate:
F. Scale:
G. Areas:
H. Pick All:
3.3.D
3.3.E
3.3.F
3.3.G
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I. Enter 39.37 for all three scale factors (RX, RY, RZ).
J. Change the Copied button to Moved. Otherwise you will end up with
two brackets, one the original size, and the other the correct scaled
size.
K. OK.
3.3.H
3.3.I
3.3.J
L. The model is now scaled to the correct dimensions. We can turn off the
ANSYS input window and return to the MTB. Click MenuCtrls
M. Click on the Main Menu button to turn it off.
3.3.K
3.3.L
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N.
3.4. Assign Material Properties
A. Next we want to change the material properties from the default of
Aluminum to Steel. Click on the Assign Material box in the MTB.
B. ANSYS has built in properties for Aluminum, Steel and Titanium.
Highlight Steel in the list.
C. Click Continue.
3.4
.A
3.4.B
3.4.C
3.4.D
Exercise 3: Automobile Suspension Bracket Analysis
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E.
F. The plot will change color with the legend indicating that the entire part
is Steel.
3.4.E
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G.
3.5. Meshing:
We will use the default SmartSize meshing to create an initial mesh on the
part, then use the MeshTool to illustrate some advanced meshing features.
These include specifying number of elements on lines, and mesh refinement.
A. The slider bar in the MTB controls the SmartSize mesh density in
various levels from very coarse (right most setting) to very fine (left
most setting). We will use the default (center setting).
B. Click on the Mesh Model button to create the mesh.
C. A dialog box will appear asking you to select areas for meshing. Click
on the Pick All button. ANSYS will mesh may take a few minutes.
When meshing is complete, the mesh will briefly appear in the graphics
window, and disappear in the areas replot.
3.5.A
3.5
.B
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.
D. In the MTB, click and hold on the Area Plot button momentarily until
the fly-out options appear.
E. Click on the far right fly-out button to plot elements.
3.5.D
3.5.E
3.5.C
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Maximum stresses
occur in this zone.
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B. A new dialog box will pop up with many advanced features for
controlling and refining the mesh. Some of these features are
described below:
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C.
D. Lets start by refining the mesh in the high stress zone indicated above.
Near the bottom of MeshTool, change the Refine at: Elements to
Areas.
E. Click the Refine button.
F. A dialog box will appear asking you to select areas for refinement.
3.6.E
3.6.G
3.6.C
3.6.D
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G.
H. Select the fillet area indicated in the plot below.
I. Click OK.
3.6.F
J. A dialog box will appear asking you to select the level of refinement.
Accept the default (1 minimal) and click OK.
3.6.H
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K.
L. Notice how the elements in this region have been refined. Use the
Pan/Zoom/Rotate function to see a detailed view of the fillet mesh.
3.6.I
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M. Use the the Pan/Zoom/Rotate function to view the side of the bracket
shown below. We will use some advanced features to remesh one of
the areas on this side.
3.6.J
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N.
O. In the MeshTool, click the Clear button to clear the mesh on the coarse
mesh area.
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3.6.K
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P.
Q. A dialog box will appear for you to select the
area. Select the area highlighted in the plot
below.
R. Click OK. The mesh on this area will disappear.
3.6.M
3.6.L
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3.6.N
3.6.P
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3.6.O
3.6.Q
3.6.R
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X. Now we will remesh the area. Click on the mesh button. A dialog box
will appear asking you to select the area for meshing.
Y. Click on the area to be meshed shown in the plot below.
Z. Click OK. The new mesh should look like the one in the plot below.
3.6.U
3.6.S
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3.6.T
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4. Loads and boundary conditions:
Now that we have completed the model definition phase, its time to apply the
loads and boundary conditions. We will apply a rigid constraint on the area
surrounding center hole of the bracket. Force loads will be applied on the
other 3 holes acting downward.
4.1. Rigid Constraints:
A. Click on the Load tab in the MTB. Notice the scrollable box that says
Environment 1. As you apply loads and boundary conditions, these
will be stored in this load case or Environment. You can create
multiple sets of loads and BCs, each stored in their own Environment.
4.1
.A
4.1
.B
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4.1.C
4.1.D
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D. Click OK. All nodes on this area will now be fixed in all 6 degrees of
freedom.
E. Notice that the constraints do not appear on the element plot when it
redraws. This is because loads and BCs applied to the geometric
entities are not transferred to the nodes and elements until the time the
solution is performed. Click and hold the plot button until the fly-out
options appear. Then, click on the Area Plot button to view the
boundary condition symbols.
Click and hold this button until
the fly-out options appear.
4.1.D
4.1.F
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4.2. Next, we will apply vertical forces on the mount arm holes.
A. Click on the Area Force button in the MTB.
B. A dialog box will appear for you to select the areas. There are two area
fillets surrounding the single hole at the front end of the bracket.
Select these two areas. Click and hold the left mouse button. Drag
the cursor around until the desired area is selected. Release the
button to select the area. It may help to use the Pan/Zoom/Rotate
function to obtain a better view first.
C. Click OK.
4.2
.A
4.2.B
4.2.C
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D. Another dialog box will appear for you to enter the force direction and
values. The vertical direction is Z. We want to apply a total force of
600 pounds acting downward. Enter a value of 600 in the Z direction
box.
E. Click OK. The force will be distributed such that a uniform total load of
600 pounds acts on two areas.
4.2.D
4.2.E
F. Lets plot lines instead of areas so that we can better visualize the
boundary conditions. As we did above, click and hold the Plot Area
button until the fly-out menu appears. Click on the Plot Lines button.
4.2.F
G. Use the pan/zoom/rotate function to orient the view so you can easily
apply loads to the four holes on the rear of the bracket.
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4.2.G
4.3. Next, we will apply a total of 150 lb. acting downward on the 4 holes
on the right side of the bracket. These will be applied to hole edges
or lines.
A. In the MTB, click and hold the area force button until the fly-out
appears. Click on the line force button.
B. A dialog box will appear for you to select lines. Pick the eight lines that
make up the four holes on the right side of the bracket.
C. Click OK.
Click and hold this button until
the fly-out options appear.
4.3.A
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D. A box will appear for you to enter the force magnitude and direction.
Enter a value of 150 in the Zdirection, which is downward. The 4.3.B
load will be distributed evenly such
that a total of 150 lbs acts downward on the
bracket at these lines.
E. Click OK.
4.3.D
4.3.E
4.3.C
4.3.F
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G. We have now completed the modeling process. Lets save our work
before proceeding. Click on the save button in the MTB.
4.3.G
5.1.A
5.1.B
5.1.C
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D.
E. When finished, a text window will appear showing that the solution
completed and will list the maximum displacement and stress. Close
this box when finished reviewing.
F. Also, a Von Mises stress plot will appear.
5.1.D
5.1.E
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6.1.C
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6.1.D
6.1.E
6.1.F
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6.2.A
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B. A Report Options dialog box will appear. Accept the default option
which is to generate a new report. Click OK.
6.2.B
The report generation may take a few minutes. ANSYS will generate a
professional looking report summarizing the model definition including element
type, number of nodes and elements, applied loads, and constraints. All
stresses, displacements and reaction force components will be plotted and
summarized as well.
When complete, ANSYS will launch the report in your internet browser. Take a
few moments to review each section. This report can be customized and
included in other documentation by cut and paste, or through hyperlinks.
Your boss will think you spent hours creating this report, when in fact, you
were actually trading stocks on-line.
The report contains four sections:
Summary:
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7. Plastic Analysis:
7.1. ANSYS Classic Interface:
The next step is to go into the fully functional ANSYS Classic Interface perform
the plastic analysis. The steel bracket has a yield strength of 35 KSI, yet the
linear elastic analysis we just performed says the stress is over 60 KSI. By
repeating the analysis with nonlinear materials, we can predict the plastic
stress, plastic strain, and the permanent deformation.
A. Enter the ANSYS classic interface.
ANSYS button in the MTB.
7.1.B
7.1.C
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D.
7.2. First, we must determine the material ID reference number used by
the elements in our model. We can do this by listing elements.
A. In the ANSYS Utilities Menu, pick List:
B. Elements >:
C. Attributes only.
D. A listing of elements will appear.
number is 3.
7.2.A
7.2.B
7.2.C
7.2.D
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7.3. Define the Plastic stress/strain curve.
There are several nonlinear material behavior laws available in ANSYS. For this
problem, we will use the Multilinear isotropic hardening rule.
A. Click on Preprocessor.
B. Click on Material Properties
7.3.A
7.3.B
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C. A material model dialog will appear. Since our part is referencing
material ID 3, make sure Material Model 3 is highlighted.
D. In the right hand column, under Material Models Available, we will
select the desired model. To select items that have an expandable
option, you must double click the item you want. Double click on
Structural.
E. Double click on Nonlinear.
F. Double click on Inelastic.
G. Double click on Isotropic Hardening.
H. Single click on Multilinear.
7.3.C
7.3.D
7.3.E
7.3.F
7.3.G
7.3.H
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I. A dialog will appear that looks like the one below. It currently has only
two active boxes for a single stress/strain pair. Also, the T1 item for
7.3.I
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J. Click in the strain box so that it becomes active. Add the first point in
the nonlinear stress strain curve. Enter 0.00125 for strain, and 35000
for stress.
K. Next, click the button that says Add Point. Another pair of boxes will
appear for your to enter data.
L. Enter 0.002 for strain and 36000 for stress.
7.3.J
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7.3.L
7.3.K
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M. Repeat this procedure and enter the remaining stress strain pairs. If
you should skip a point, position the cursor in one of the stress or
strain boxes before the missing point. When you click the Add Point
button, a new stress/strain pair will be added after the cursor.
7.3.M
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N. Next, lets plot our stress strain curve to visually verify it.
Graph button.
Pick the
7.3.N
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O. A stress/strain plot should appear that looks like the one below:
7.3.O
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7.4. Nonlinear solution control
We are now ready to perform the nonlinear analysis. By default, ANSYS
Solution Control is activated when you define nonlinear material properties.
This is a set of reliable and efficient default solution settings for nonlinear
analyses. ANSYS will choose optimized default settings and advanced
internal solution algorithms, which solve a majority of nonlinear problems with
the least amount of user intervention. All the user must do is provide an initial
step size for the analysis. Enter the solution module and define the initial
number of time steps.
A. Click on the Solution button in the ANSYS Main Menu
B. Click on Soln Control
7.4.A
7.4.B
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7.4.C
7.4.D
7.4.E
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F.
7.5. Perform nonlinear solution:
A. We have completed the nonlinear materials and solution control
definition for the model. Lets save our work before proceeding. In the
ANSYS Toolbar, click the SAVE_DB button.
7.5.A
B. Now we will solve the model. In the Solution menu under Solve- click
Current LS
7.5.B
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C.
D. A summary of solution options will appear and a confirmation that you
want to solve. Close the solution options window.
7.5.C
7.5.D
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7.5.E
8. Post Processing:
8.1. Now that the nonlinear solution is complete, we
want to view the von Mises stresses.
A. In the main menu, click on General Postproc >.
8.1.A
B.
8.1.B
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C. Nodal Solu
D. In the Contour Nodal Solution Data
window, select Stress
8.1.C
8.1.D
8.1.E
8.1.F
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8.1.G
8.1.H
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8.2. Next, lets plot the von Mises plastic strain to see where and how
much yielding has occurred.
A. In the Contour Nodal Solution Data window, select StrainPlastic
B. VonMises EPPLEQV
C. Apply
8.2
8.2.B
8.2.C
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D.
E. The plastic strain is plotted in the graphics window. Note that the
yielded zones are very localized on the top of the bracket. Also note
that the plastic strain is in the 0.3% 0.4% range.
8.2.D
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F.
8.2.E
8.3. Lastly, lets animate the stress results to better visualize how the
bracket deforms during loading.
A. In the ANSYS Utliities Menu, click on PlotCtrls
B. Animate
C. Deformed Results.
D. Stress
E. VonMises SEQV
F. OK
G. This may take a few minutes while ANSYS generates animation
segments and launches the animation in your mediaplayer. Click here
to view an animated von Mises plot.
Exercise 3: Automobile Suspension Bracket Analysis
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8.3.A
8.3.B
8.3.C
8.3.E
8.3.D
8.3.F
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9. Conclusions:
What does this tell us about the design? If these loads occurred on the part in a
real passenger car, would the result be catastrophic? Since the yielding is very
localized, the result will be some permanent deformation of the part and possibly
some misalignment of the wheel.
What other analyses might be necessary to verify this design? What about
buckling? Since the yielding is very local, buckling would probably not be a
concern.
What could we do to improve the design? A thickness change would be the
simplest solution, however what would be the impact to the to the manufacturing
cost of the part? How could we change the shape of the part to reduce stresses,
yet keep cost down?
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