EME3156 Computational Methods for Mechanical Engineering

CMME 2: Numerical solution of PDE (solid mechanics problem)

1. Introduction

In this lab, a commercial software ANSYS is used to solve engineering problems,

specifically in solid mechanics. Since most solid mechanics problems are represented
by partial differential equations, ANSYS actually solves the PDE after specifying the
engineering data, geometry, model, setup, solution and results. Each step mentioned
above will be introduced so that an overall idea of ANSYS is clearly understood.

The Workbench is executed and the interface is shown below.

After that, Static Structural (ANSYS) is clicked and dragged to the Project Schematic
window; the following toolbox appears.

10

The section Static Structural (ANSYS) represents the case where the current system is
the structural analysis in static condition.

The section Engineering Data is the location where the material properties are
specified.

The section Geometry is the location where the geometry of the object is constructed.

The section Model is the location where the discretisation or meshing of the geometry
is done.

The section Setup is the location where the forces and boundary conditions are
specified.

The section Solution is the location where the system is solved by specifying the
parameters (example displacement, stress, etc) to be solved.

Each section is explained in detail as follows.

11

2. Engineering Data

This section contains the material library as well as creating materials with self-defined
material properties. When this section is double-clicked, the following display may
appear. The default material is structural steel, where the properties are shown in the
remaining windows. This default material can be changed by simply clicking General
Materials in the Outline Filter window and a list of materials appears.

12

3. Geometry

This section creates the geometry of the object. When this section is double-clicked, a
new window with the following display may appear. A small window showing the
selection of units is displayed, and millimeter is chosen as the desired unit.

The sketching tools are located in the Sketching tab. A click on this tab shows the
following display.

13

As a simple illustration, a rectangle is sketched in the x-y plane. Thus the isometric view
is changed to the normal view in x-y plane by clicking on the z-axis arrow located at the
bottom right of the window, and the following display appears.

After that, the rectangle is selected from the left window and the cursor is moved to the
origin of the x-y plane. Then, a rectangular shape is formed by clicking and dragging the
cursor. The shape is finalised by releasing the drag.

14

In order to sketch the rectangle to the desired dimensions, Dimensions from the left
window is clicked and the following display appears. After that, one horizontal line and
one vertical line is selected to display the dimensioning of the lines.

The display on the bottom left shows the length and width of the rectangle (H1 =
32.154mm and V2 = 19.719mm). These values can be changed to become the intended
values by clicking on the values. The following display shows the new values of H1 and
V2, which are 100mm and 10mm respectively. The shape of the rectangle has also
changed according to these new dimensions.

15

The full shape of the rectangle can be displayed by clicking the button Zoom to Fit.
There are also several other buttons beside this button for other related functions like
rotating, panning and zooming.

Next, the modeling tab is clicked and the following additional information now appears.
The rectangle sketch belongs to x-y plane, thus shown as a branch of this plane. Another
observation is that 0 Parts, 0 Bodies is shown, meaning that the rectangular sketch has
not yet become a proper body for analysis purpose. Thus, the following steps are
required to make the rectangle a body.

16

For a two dimensional shape, a body is actually a surface, thus a rectangular surface
is created by selecting Surfaces From Sketches shown below, and a new branch
SurfaceSk1 is created. After that, any edge of the rectangle is selected and this
becomes the Base Objects to create a surface by clicking the Apply button.

17

After that, SurfaceSk1 is right-clicked and Generate is selected. A body is now

created, indicated by 1 Part, 1 Body.

18

4. Model
This section creates a mesh for the object. When this section is double-clicked in
workbench, a new window with the following display may appear.

On the left window, Mesh is right-clicked and Generate Mesh is selected so that the
default mesh is generated.

19

If another type of mesh is desired, Mesh is right-clicked and Insert is selected to

show several ways to create the mesh.

For example, by choosing the Mapped Face Meshing, the following mesh is
produced.

20

21

5. Setup
This section applies the forces and boundary conditions to the object. Using the same
window as the previous section, various types of forces and boundary conditions are
available when Static Structural (A5) is right-clicked.

The object is subject to an axial force on one end with the opposite end fixed. This is
equivalent to a simple spring-force system with exact answer coming from the Hookes
Law F = kx. A simple analysis is done so that the results obtained from ANSYS can be
verified by using simple calculation.

Using Insert -> Fixed Support, the fixed end is set at the left edge shown below. Thus
the left edge is selected and highlighted in red. After selecting the left edge, the Apply
button is clicked and a blue symbol representing the Fixed Support appears. Similar
steps can be followed when applying a force to the right edge, and a red arrow
representing the force is displayed.

22

23

6. Solution
This section selects the parameters to be solved. Using the same window as the previous
section, various types of parameters are available to be selected by clicking Solution
(A6) followed by Insert. The more popular parameters are the deformation and stress
distributions of the object. After selecting the parameters, the solve button is clicked.

24

7. Results
By clicking on the parameters chosen earlier, the results can now be seen, as shown
below for deformation and normal stress.

25

8. Verification
The results can be verified by performing calculations using Hookes Law as follows.

The deformation at the right edge is given as = FL AE where F is the force applied
(1000N), L is the length (100mm), A is the cross sectional area (10mm 1mm) and E is
the Youngs modulus (2e11). The normal stress can be obtained from the equation

= F A.

9. Exercise
Solve the following problems. Additional problems may be provided in the lab session.
100N
100mm
Object thickness = 1mm

10mm

100N

100mm
Object thickness = 1mm

26

10mm

100N