Workshop 4A

Modal Analysis
(Plate with a Hole)

14.5 Release

ANSYS Mechanical
Linear and Nonlinear Dynamics
2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Goals
Our goal is to determine the first 10 natural frequencies and mode
shapes for the plate with the hole shown.

The plate is made of Aluminum.

Assume the plate is fully constrained at the hole.

As if the plate is tightly bolted down at the hole.

Fixed Center

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A Project Schematic

From the project schematic, insert a new
Modal system.

Import the Geometry file

plate.iges

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Preprocessing
Edit the Engineering Data cell.

add Aluminum Alloy from the General Materials library to Engineering Data

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Preprocessing
Return to the Project
Edit the Model cell to open the Mechanical application

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A Units
In Mechanical, set the following units system:

in, lbm, lbf, F, s, V, A

Degrees
RPM

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Preprocessing
Set the plate thickness to 0.1 in

Set the plate material assignment to Aluminum Alloy

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Environment
Constrain the center hole.

highlight the Modal Branch to >Insert>Fixed Supports.

Switch to edge selection mode as necessary
Use Box Select, or drag single-select LMB around the hole to pick all
8
applicable edge segments (4 edges)..

Click Apply in the Details window

Reorient model as necessary throughout.
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2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A Modal Solution

Check the Details of Modal Analysis Settings.

set Max Modes to Find to 10

set Calculate Stress Yes
set Calculate Strain Yes
If you just want frequencies and shapes, you
dont need to calculate stress or strain.
It will save a little time to skip those
calculations.

Solve the Modal analysis.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Results
After the modal solution is completed, review the modal shapes for each frequency.
Click on the Modal Solution Branch in the Tree. Then LMB on the top of the Frequency
Column in the Tabular Data region, and >RMB>Create Mode Shape Results

This will automatically insert Total Deformation objects in the Tree for all modes solved.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

10

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Results
To get an overall view of the Modal results step thru (LMB) the
Total Deformation result objects for each mode.

You can also Animate (Play & Stop) the mode from the Timeline
window.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

11

Release 14.5

Workshop 4A - Comments
Remember:

Displacements reported with mode shapes are relative and do not reflect the actual max
magnitudes of the displacements.
The actual magnitudes will depend on the energy input to the system (depends on forcing function).

Sometimes it is challenging to visualize the true mode shape from a simple contour plot.

Try the Vector Display instead.

Adjust the Vector Scale slider as desired.
You can also animate the vector plot too.

Vector
Plot
Arrows may
be more
intuitive in
some cases.

Contour
Plot.
Difficult to
determine
deformation
directions
2012 ANSYS, Inc.

March 28, 2013

12

Release 14.5