2D Truss Analysis in ANSYS (200kPa, 3250mm2

Two Dimensional Truss
Introduction
This tutorial was created using ANSYS 7.0 to solve a simple 2D Truss problem. This
is the first of four introductory ANSYS tutorials.
Problem Description
Determine the nodal deflections, reaction forces, and stress for the truss system shown
below (E = 200GPa, A = 3250mm2).
(Modified from Chandrupatla & Belegunda, Introduction to Finite Elements in Engineering, p.123)
Preprocessing: Defining the Problem

1. Give the Simplified Version a Title (such as 'Bridge Truss Tutorial').
In the Utility menu bar select File > Change Title:
The following window will appear:
Enter the title and click 'OK'. This title will appear in the bottom left corner of
the 'Graphics' Window once you begin. Note: to get the title to appear
immediately, select Utility Menu > Plot > Replot
2. Enter Keypoints
The overall geometry is defined in ANSYS using keypoints which specify
various principal coordinates to define the body. For this example, these
keypoints are the ends of each truss.
o We are going to define 7 keypoints for the simplified structure as given
in the following table
keypoint
coordinate
x
1800
3118
3600
5400
3118
7200
9000
3118
10800
o (these keypoints are depicted by numbers in the above figure)

o From the 'ANSYS Main Menu' select:
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In Active CS
The following window will then appear:
o To define the first keypoint which has the coordinates x = 0 and y = 0:

Enter keypoint number 1 in the appropriate box, and enter the x,y
coordinates: 0, 0 in their appropriate boxes (as shown above).
Click 'Apply' to accept what you have typed.
o Enter the remaining keypoints using the same method.
Note: When entering the final data point, click on 'OK' to indicate that
you are finished entering keypoints. If you first press 'Apply' and then
'OK' for the final keypoint, you will have defined it twice!
If you did press 'Apply' for the final point, simply press 'Cancel' to close
this dialog box.
Units
Note the units of measure (ie mm) were not specified. It is the responsibility of
the user to ensure that a consistent set of units are used for the problem; thus
making any conversions where necessary.
Correcting Mistakes
When defining keypoints, lines, areas, volumes, elements, constraints and loads
you are bound to make mistakes. Fortunately these are easily corrected so that
you don't need to begin from scratch every time an error is made! Every
'Create' menu for generating these various entities also has a corresponding
'Delete' menu for fixing things up.
3. Form Lines
The keypoints must now be connected
We will use the mouse to select the keypoints to form the lines.
o In the main menu select: Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Lines >
Lines > In Active Coord. The following window will then appear:
o Use the mouse to pick keypoint #1 (i.e. click on it). It will now be
marked by a small yellow box.
o Now move the mouse toward keypoint #2. A line will now show on the
screen joining these two points. Left click and a permanent line will
appear.
o Connect the remaining keypoints using the same method.
o When you're done, click on 'OK' in the 'Lines in Active Coord' window,
minimize the 'Lines' menu and the 'Create' menu. Your ANSYS Graphics
window should look similar to the following figure.
Disappearing Lines
Please note that any lines you have created may 'disappear' throughout your
analysis. However, they have most likely NOT been deleted. If this occurs at
any time from the Utility Menu select:
Plot > Lines
4. Define the Type of Element
It is now necessary to create elements. This is called 'meshing'. ANSYS first
needs to know what kind of elements to use for our problem:
o From the Preprocessor Menu, select: Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete.

The following window will then appear:
o Click on the 'Add...' button. The following window will appear:
o For this example, we will use the 2D spar element as selected in the
above figure. Select the element shown and click 'OK'. You should see
'Type 1 LINK1' in the 'Element Types' window.
o Click on 'Close' in the 'Element Types' dialog box.
5. Define Geometric Properties
We now need to specify geometric properties for our elements:
o In the Preprocessor menu, select Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
o Click Add... and select 'Type 1 LINK1' (actually it is already selected).

Click on 'OK'. The following window will appear:
o As shown in the window above, enter the cross-sectional area

(3250mm):
o Click on 'OK'.
o 'Set 1' now appears in the dialog box. Click on 'Close' in the 'Real
Constants' window.
6. Element Material Properties
You then need to specify material properties:

o In the 'Preprocessor' menu select Material Props > Material Models
o Double click on Structural > Linear > Elastic > Isotropic
We are going to give the properties of Steel. Enter the following field:
EX 200000
o Set these properties and click on 'OK'. Note: You may obtain the note
'PRXY will be set to 0.0'. This is poisson's ratio and is not required for
this element type. Click 'OK' on the window to continue. Close the
"Define Material Model Behavior" by clicking on the 'X' box in the

upper right hand corner.
7. Mesh Size
The last step before meshing is to tell ANSYS what size the elements should
be. There are a variety of ways to do this but we will just deal with one method
for now.
o In the Preprocessor menu select Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize
> Lines > All Lines
o In the size 'NDIV' field, enter the desired number of divisions per line.
For this example we want only 1 division per line, therefore, enter '1' and
then click 'OK'. Note that we have not yet meshed the geometry, we have
simply defined the element sizes.
8. Mesh
Now the frame can be meshed.
o In the 'Preprocessor' menu select Meshing > Mesh > Lines and click
'Pick All' in the 'Mesh Lines' Window
Your model should now appear as shown in the following window
Plot Numbering
To show the line numbers, keypoint numbers, node numbers...
From the Utility Menu (top of screen) select PlotCtrls > Numbering...
Fill in the Window as shown below and click 'OK'
Now you can turn numbering on or off at your discretion

Saving Your Work
Save the model at this time, so if you make some mistakes later on, you will at least
be able to come back to this point. To do this, on the Utility Menu select File > Save
as.... Select the name and location where you want to save your file.
It is a good idea to save your job at different times throughout the building and
analysis of the model to backup your work in case of a system crash or what have you.
Solution Phase: Assigning Loads and Solving

You have now defined your model. It is now time to apply the load(s) and
constraint(s) and solve the the resulting system of equations.
Open up the 'Solution' menu (from the same 'ANSYS Main Menu').
1. Define Analysis Type
First you must tell ANSYS how you want it to solve this problem:
o From the Solution Menu, select Analysis Type > New Analysis.
o Ensure that 'Static' is selected; i.e. you are going to do a static analysis
on the truss as opposed to a dynamic analysis, for example.
o Click 'OK'.
2. Apply Constraints
It is necessary to apply constraints to the model otherwise the model is not tied
down or grounded and a singular solution will result. In mechanical structures,
these constraints will typically be fixed, pinned and roller-type connections. As
shown above, the left end of the truss bridge is pinned while the right end has a
roller connection.
o In the Solution menu, select Define Loads > Apply > Structural >
Displacement > On Keypoints
o Select the left end of the bridge (Keypoint 1) by clicking on it in the

Graphics Window and click on 'OK' in the 'Apply U,ROT on KPs'
window.
o This location is fixed which means that all translational and rotational
degrees of freedom (DOFs) are constrained. Therefore, select 'All DOF'
by clicking on it and enter '0' in the Value field and click 'OK'.
You will see some blue triangles in the graphics window indicating the
displacement contraints.
o Using the same method, apply the roller connection to the right end (UY
constrained). Note that more than one DOF constraint can be selected at
a time in the "Apply U,ROT on KPs" window. Therefore, you may need
to 'deselect' the 'All DOF' option to select just the 'UY' option.
3. Apply Loads
As shown in the diagram, there are four downward loads of 280kN, 210kN,
280kN, and 360kN at keypoints 1, 3, 5, and 7 respectively.
o Select Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/Moment > on
Keypoints.
o Select the first Keypoint (left end of the truss) and click 'OK' in the
'Apply F/M on KPs' window.
o Select FY in the 'Direction of force/mom'. This indicate that we will be

applying the load in the 'y' direction
o Enter a value of -280000 in the 'Force/moment value' box and click 'OK'.
Note that we are using units of N here, this is consistent with the
previous values input.
o The force will appear in the graphics window as a red arrow.
o Apply the remaining loads in the same manner.
The applied loads and constraints should now appear as shown below.
4. Solving the System

We now tell ANSYS to find the solution:
o In the 'Solution' menu select Solve > Current LS. This indicates that we
desire the solution under the current Load Step (LS).
o The above windows will appear. Ensure that your solution options are
the same as shown above and click 'OK'.
o Once the solution is done the following window will pop up. Click
'Close' and close the /STATUS Command Window..
Postprocessing: Viewing the Results

1. Hand Calculations
We will first calculate the forces and stress in element 1 (as labeled in the
problem description).
2. Results Using ANSYS

Reaction Forces
A list of the resulting reaction forces can be obtained for this element
o from the Main Menu select General Postproc > List Results >
Reaction Solu.
o Select 'All struc forc F' as shown above and click 'OK'
These values agree with the reaction forces claculated by hand above.
Deformation
o In the General Postproc menu, select Plot Results > Deformed Shape.
The following window will appear.
o Select 'Def + undef edge' and click 'OK' to view both the deformed and
the undeformed object.
o Observe the value of the maximum deflection in the upper left hand
corner (DMX=7.409). One should also observe that the constrained
degrees of freedom appear to have a deflection of 0 (as expected!)
Deflection
For a more detailed version of the deflection of the beam,
o From the 'General Postproc' menu select Plot results > Contour Plot >
Nodal Solution. The following window will appear.
o Select 'DOF solution' and 'USUM' as shown in the above window. Leave
the other selections as the default values. Click 'OK'.
o Looking at the scale, you may want to use more useful intervals. From
the Utility Menu select Plot Controls > Style > Contours > Uniform
Contours...
o Fill in the following window as shown and click 'OK'.
You should obtain the following.
o The deflection can also be obtained as a list as shown below. General

Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution select 'DOF Solution' and
'ALL DOFs' from the lists in the 'List Nodal Solution' window and click
'OK'. This means that we want to see a listing of all degrees of freedom
from the solution.
o Are these results what you expected? Note that all the degrees of
freedom were constrained to zero at node 1, while UY was constrained
to zero at node 7.
o If you wanted to save these results to a file, select 'File' within the results
window (at the upper left-hand corner of this list window) and select
'Save as'.
Axial Stress
For line elements (ie links, beams, spars, and pipes) you will often need to use
the Element Table to gain access to derived data (ie stresses, strains). For this
example we should obtain axial stress to compare with the hand calculations.
The Element Table is different for each element, therefore, we need to look at
the help file for LINK1 (Type help link1 into the Input Line). From Table 1.2
in the Help file, we can see that SAXL can be obtained through the ETABLE,
using the item 'LS,1'
o From the General Postprocessor menu select Element Table > Define
Table
o Click on 'Add...'
o As shown above, enter 'SAXL' in the 'Lab' box. This specifies the name
of the item you are defining. Next, in the 'Item,Comp' boxes, select 'By
sequence number' and 'LS,'. Then enter 1 after LS, in the selection box
o Click on 'OK' and close the 'Element Table Data' window.
o Plot the Stresses by selecting Element Table > Plot Elem Table
o The following window will appear. Ensure that 'SAXL' is selected and
click 'OK'
o Because you changed the contour intervals for the Displacement plot to
"User Specified" - you need to switch this back to "Auto calculated" to
obtain new values for VMIN/VMAX.
Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Style > Contours > Uniform
Contours ...
Again, you may wish to select more appropriate intervals for the contour
plot
o List the Stresses
From the 'Element Table' menu, select 'List Elem Table'
From the 'List Element Table Data' window which appears ensure
'SAXL' is highlighted
Click 'OK'
Note that the axial stress in Element 1 is 82.9MPa as predicted analytically.
Command File Mode of Solution

The above example was solved using a mixture of the Graphical User Interface (or
GUI) and the command language interface of ANSYS. This problem has also been
solved using the ANSYS command language interface that you may want to browse.
Open the .HTML version, copy and paste the code into Notepad or a similar text
editor and save it to your computer. Now go to 'File > Read input from...' and select
the file. A .PDF version is also available for printing.
Quitting ANSYS
To quit ANSYS, select 'QUIT' from the ANSYS Toolbar or select Utility
Menu/File/Exit.... In the dialog box that appears, click on 'Save Everything'
(assuming that you want to) and then click on 'OK'.
Space Frame Example

| Verification Example | | Preprocessing | | Solution | | Postprocessing | | Command Line |
| Bicycle Example | | Preprocessing | | Solution | | Postprocessing | | Command Line |
Introduction
This tutorial was created using ANSYS 7.0 to solve a simple 3D space frame problem.
Problem Description
The problem to be solved in this example is the analysis of a bicycle frame. The
problem to be modeled in this example is a simple bicycle frame shown in the
following figure. The frame is to be built of hollow aluminum tubing having an
outside diameter of 25mm and a wall thickness of 2mm.
Verification
The first step is to simplify the problem. Whenever you are trying out a new analysis
type, you need something (ie analytical solution or experimental data) to compare the
results to. This way you can be sure that you've gotten the correct analysis type, units,
scale factors, etc.
The simplified version that will be used for this problem is that of a cantilever beam
shown in the following figure:

1. Give the Simplified Version a Title (such as 'Verification Model').
Utility Menu > File > Change Title
2. Enter Keypoints
For this simple example, these keypoints are the ends of the beam.
o We are going to define 2 keypoints for the simplified structure as given
in the following table
keypoint
coordinate
x
500
o From the 'ANSYS Main Menu' select:

Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In Active CS
3. Form Lines
The two keypoints must now be connected to form a bar using a straight line.
o Select: Preprocessor > Modeling> Create > Lines > Lines > Straight
Line.
o Pick keypoint #1 (i.e. click on it). It will now be marked by a small
yellow box.
o Now pick keypoint #2. A permanent line will appear.
o When you're done, click on 'OK' in the 'Create Straight Line' window.
It is now necessary to create elements on this line.
o From the Preprocessor Menu, select: Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete.
o Click on the 'Add...' button. The following window will appear:
o For this example, we will use the 3D elastic straight pipe element as
selected in the above figure. Select the element shown and click 'OK'.
You should see 'Type 1 PIPE16' in the 'Element Types' window.
o Click on the 'Options...' button in the 'Element Types' dialog box. The
following window will appear:
o Click and hold the K6 button (second from the bottom), and select
'Include Output' and click 'OK'. This gives us extra force and moment
output.
o Click on 'Close' in the 'Element Types' dialog box and close the 'Element
Type' menu.
We now need to specify geometric properties for our elements:
o In the Preprocessor menu, select Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
o Click Add... and select 'Type 1 PIPE16' (actually it is already selected).
Click on 'OK'.
o Enter the following geometric properties:
o
o
Outside diameter
OD:
Wall thickness TKWALL:
25
2
This defines an outside pipe diameter of 25mm and a wall thickness of

2mm.
o Click on 'OK'.
o 'Set 1' now appears in the dialog box. Click on 'Close' in the 'Real
Constants' window.
You then need to specify material properties:
o In the 'Preprocessor' menu select Material Props > Material Models...
o Double click Structural > Linear > Elastic and
select 'Isotropic' (double click on it)
o Close the 'Define Material Model Behavior' Window.
We are going to give the properties of Aluminum. Enter the following
field:
EX 70000
PRXY 0.33
o Set these properties and click on 'OK'.

7. Mesh Size
o In the Preprocessor menu select Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize
> Lines > All Lines
o In the size 'SIZE' field, enter the desired element length. For this
example we want an element length of 2cm, therefore, enter '20' (i.e
20mm) and then click 'OK'. Note that we have not yet meshed the
geometry, we have simply defined the element sizes.
(Alternatively, we could enter the number of divisions we want in the
line. For an element length of 2cm, we would enter 25 [ie 25 divisions]).
NOTE
It is not necessary to mesh beam elements to obtain the correct solution.
However, meshing is done in this case so that we can obtain results (ie stress,
displacement) at intermediate positions on the beam.
8. Mesh

o In the 'Preprocessor' menu select Meshing > Mesh > Lines and click
'Pick All' in the 'Mesh Lines' Window
9. Saving Your Work
Utility Menu > File > Save as.... Select the name and location where you want
to save your file.
o From the Solution Menu, select 'Analysis Type > New Analysis'.
o Ensure that 'Static' is selected and click 'OK'.
o In the Solution menu, select Define Loads > Apply > Structural >
Displacement > On Keypoints
o Select the left end of the rod (Keypoint 1) by clicking on it in the
Graphics Window and click on 'OK' in the 'Apply U,ROT on KPs'
window.
o This location is fixed which means that all translational and rotational
degrees of freedom (DOFs) are constrained. Therefore, select 'All DOF'
by clicking on it and enter '0' in the Value field and click 'OK'.
3. Apply Loads
As shown in the diagram, there is a vertically downward load of 100N at the
end of the bar
o In the Structural menu, select Force/Moment > on Keypoints.
o Select the second Keypoint (right end of bar) and click 'OK' in the
'Apply F/M' window.
o Click on the 'Direction of force/mom' at the top and select FY.

o Enter a value of -100 in the 'Force/moment value' box and click 'OK'.
o The force will appear in the graphics window as a red arrow.

We now tell ANSYS to find the solution:
o Solution > Solve > Current LS
Now, since the purpose of this exercise was to verify the results - we need to
calculate what we should find.
Deflection:
The maximum deflection occurs at the end of the rod and was found to be
6.2mm as shown above.
Stress:
The maximum stress occurs at the base of the rod and was found to be 64.9MPa
as shown above (pure bending stress).
2. Results Using ANSYS
Deformation
o from the Main Menu select General Postproc from the 'ANSYS Main
Menu'. In this menu you will find a variety of options, the two which we
will deal with now are'Plot Results' and 'List Results'
o Select Plot Results > Deformed Shape.
o Select 'Def + undef edge' and click 'OK' to view both the deformed and
the undeformed object.
o Observe the value of the maximum deflection in the upper left hand
corner (shown here surrounded by a blue border for emphasis). This is
identical to that obtained via hand calculations.
Deflection
For a more detailed version of the deflection of the beam,
o From the 'General Postproc' menu select Plot results > Contour Plot >
Nodal Solution.
o Select 'DOF solution' and 'USUM'. Leave the other selections as the
default values. Click 'OK'.
o You may want to have a more useful scale, which can be accomplished
by going to the Utility Menu and selecting Plot Controls > Style >
Contours > Uniform Contours
o The deflection can also be obtained as a list as shown below. General
Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution ... select 'DOF Solution' and
'ALL DOFs' from the lists in the 'List Nodal Solution' window and click
'OK'. This means that we want to see a listing of all translational and
rotational degrees of freedom from the solution. If we had only wanted
to see the displacements for example, we would have chosen 'ALL Us'
instead of 'ALL DOFs'.
o Are these results what you expected? Again, the maximum deflection
occurs at node 2, the right end of the rod. Also note that all the rotational
and translational degrees of freedom were constrained to zero at node 1.
o If you wanted to save these results to a file, use the mouse to go to the
'File' menu (at the upper left-hand corner of this list window) and select
'Save as'.
Stresses
For line elements (ie beams, spars, and pipes) you will need to use the Element
Table to gain access to derived data (ie stresses, strains).
o From the General Postprocessor menu select Element Table > Define
Table...
o Click on 'Add...'
o As shown above, in the 'Item,Comp' boxes in the above window, select

'Stress' and 'von Mises SEQV'
o Click on 'OK' and close the 'Element Table Data' window.
o Plot the Stresses by selecting Plot Elem Table in the Element Table
Menu
o The following window will appear. Ensure that 'SEQV' is selected and
click 'OK'
o If you changed the contour intervals for the Displacement plot to "User
Specified" you may need to switch this back to "Auto calculated" to
obtain new values for VMIN/VMAX.
Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Style > Contours > Uniform
Contours ...
Again, select more appropriate intervals for the contour plot

o List the Stresses
From the 'Element Table' menu, select 'List Elem Table'
From the 'List Element Table Data' window which appears ensure
'SEQV' is highlighted
Click 'OK'
Note that a maximum stress of 64.914 MPa occurs at the fixed end of the
beam as predicted analytically.
Bending Moment Diagrams
To further verify the simplified model, a bending moment diagram can be
created. First, let's look at how ANSYS defines each element. Pipe 16 has 2
nodes; I and J, as shown in the following image.
To obtain the bending moment for this element, the Element Table must be
used. The Element Table contains most of the data for the element including the
bending moment data for each element at Node I and Node J. First, we need to
obtain obtain the bending moment data.
o General Postproc > Element Table > Define Table... . Click 'Add...'.
o In the window,
Enter IMoment as the 'User label for item' - this will give a name to
the data
Select 'By sequence num' in the Item box
Select 'SMISC' in the first Comp box
Enter SMISC,6 in the second Comp box
Click 'OK'
This will save all of the bending moment data at the left hand side (I
side) of each element. Now we need to find the bending moment data at
the right hand side (J side) of each element.
o Again, click 'Add...' in the 'Element Table Data' window.
Enter JMoment as the 'User label for item' - again, this will give a
name to the data
Same as above
Same as above
For step D, enter SMISC,12 in the second Comp box
Click 'OK'
o Click 'Close' in the 'Element Table Data' window and close the 'Element
Table' Menu. Select Plot Results > Contour Plot > Line Elem Res...
o From the 'Plot Line-Element Results' window, select 'IMOMENT' from

the pull down menu for LabI, and 'JMOMENT' from the pull down menu
for LabJ. Click 'OK'. Note again that you can modify the intervals for the
contour plot.
Now, you can double check these solutions analytically. Note that the
line between the I and J point is a linear interpolation.
o Before the explanation of the above steps, enter help
command line as shown below and then hit enter.
pipe16
in the
o Briefly read the ANSYS documentation which appears, pay particular

attention to the Tables near the end of the document (shown below).
Table 1. PIPE16 Item, Sequence Numbers, and Definitions for the
ETABLE Commands
node I
name
item
MFORX
SMISC
MFORY
SMISC
MFORZ
SMISC
MMOMX
SMISC
Definition
Member forces at the node
Member moments at the
MMOMY
SMISC
MMOMZ
SMISC
node
Note that SMISC 6 (which we used to obtain the values at node I)

correspond to MMOMZ - the Member moment for node I. The value of
'e' varies with different Element Types, therefore you must check the
ANSYS Documentation files for each element to determine the
appropriate SMISC corresponding to the plot you wish to generate.
The above example was solved using the Graphical User Interface (or GUI) of
ANSYS. This problem can also been solved using the ANSYS command language
interface. To see the benefits of the command line clear your current file:
From the Utility menu select: File > Clear and Start New
Ensure that 'Read File' is selected then click 'OK'
select 'yes' in the following window.
Copy the following code into the command line, then hit enter. Note that the text
following the "!" are comments.
/PREP7
K,1,0,0,0,
K,2,500,0,0,
L,1,2
!*
ET,1,PIPE16
KEYOPT,1,6,1
and moment output
!*
R,1,25,2,
thickness
!*
MP,EX,1,70000
70000 MPa
MP,PRXY,1,0.33
1, 0.33
!*
LESIZE,ALL,20
LMESH,1
FINISH
/SOLU
ANTYPE,0
!*
DK,1, ,0, ,0,ALL
!
!
!
!
Preprocessor
Keypoint, 1, x, y, z
Keypoint, 2, x, y, z
Line from keypoint 1 to 2
! Element Type = pipe 16

! This is the changed option to give the extra force
! Real Constant, Material 1, Outside Diameter, Wall
! Material Properties, Young's Modulus, Material 1,
! Material Properties, Major Poisson's Ratio, Material
! Element sizes, all of the lines, 20 mm
! Mesh the lines
! Exit preprocessor
! Solution
! The type of analysis (static)
! Apply a Displacement to Keypoint 1 to all DOF
FK,2,FY,-100
direction
/STATUS,SOLU
SOLVE
FINISH
! Apply a Force to Keypoint 2 of -100 N in the y

! Solve the problem
Note that you have now finished Postprocessing and the Solution Phase with just
these few lines of code. There are codes to complete the Postprocessing but we will
review these later.
Bicycle Example
Now we will return to the analysis of the bike frame. The steps which you completed
in the verification example will not be explained in great detail, therefore use the
verification example as a reference as required. We will be combining the use of the
Graphic User Interface (GUI) with the use of command lines.
Recall the geometry and dimensions of the bicycle frame:

1. Clear any old ANSYS files and start a new file
Utility Menu > File > Clear and Start New
2. Give the Example a Title

Utility menu > File > Change Title
3. Defining Some Variables
We are going to define the vertices of the frame using variables. These
variables represent the various lengths of the bicycle members. Notice that by
using variables like this, it is very easy to set up a parametric description of
your model. This will enable us to quickly redefine the frame should changes
be necessary. The quickest way to enter these variables is via the 'ANSYS
Input' window which was used above to input the command line codes for the
verification model. Type in each of the following lines followed by Enter.
x1
x2
y1
y2
z1
=
=
=
=
=
500
825
325
400
50
4. Enter Keypoints
For this space frame example, these keypoints are the frame vertices.
o We are going to define 6 keypoints for this structure as given in the
following table (these keypoints are depicted by the circled numbers in
the above figure):
keypoint
coordinate
x
y1
y2
x1
y2
x1
x2
z1
x2
-z1
o Now instead of using the GUI window we are going to enter code into
the 'command line'. First, open the 'Preprocessor Menu' from the
'ANSYS Main Menu'. The preprocessor menu has to be open in order for
the preprocessor commands to be recognized. Alternatively, you can
type /PREP7 into the command line. The command line format required
to enter a keypoint is as follows:
o
K, NPT, X, Y, Z
where, each Abbreviation is representative of the following:

Keypoint, Reference number for the keypoint, coords x/y/z
For a more detailed explanation, type help
into the command line
For example, to enter the first keypoint type:

K,1,0,y1,0
into the command line followed by Enter.

As with any programming language, you may need to add comments.
The exclamation mark indicates that anything following it is commented
out. ie - for the second keypoint you might type:
K,2,0,y2,0
! keypoint, #, x=0, y=y2, z=0
o Enter the 4 remaining keypoints (listed in the table above) using the
command line
o Now you may want to check to ensure that you entered all of the
keypoints correctly:
Utility Menu > List > Keypoints > Coordinates only
(Alternatively, type 'KLIST' into the command line)
o If there are any keypoints which need to be re-entered, simply re-enter

the code. A previously defined keypoint of the same number will be
redefined. However, if there is one that needs to be deleted simply enter

the following code:
o
KDELE,#
where # corresponds to the number of the keypoint.

In this example, we defined the keypoints by making use of previously defined
variables like y1 = 325. This was simply used for convenience. To define
keypoint #1, for example, we could have alternatively used the coordinates x =
0, y = 325, z = 0.
5. Changing Orientation of the Plot
o To get a better view of our view of our model, we'll view it in an
isometric view:
o Select Utility menu bar > PlotCtrls > Pan, Zoom, Rotate...'
In the window that appears (shown left),

you have many controls. Try experimenting with them.
By turning on the dynamic mode (click on the checkbox
beside 'Dynamic Mode') you can use the mouse to drag
the image, translating and rotating it on all three axes.
To get an isometric view, click on 'Iso' (at

the top right). You can either leave the 'Pan, Zoom,
Rotate' window open and move it to an empty area on the
screen, or close it if your screen is already cluttered.
6. Create Lines
We will be joining the following keypoints together:
line
keypoint
1st 2nd
Again, we will use the command line to create the lines.

The command format to create a straight line looks like:
L, P1, P2
Line, Keypoint at the beginning of the
line, Keypoint at the end of line
For example, to obtain the first line, I would write:

' L,1,2 '
Note: unlike 'Keypoints', 'Lines' will automatically
assign themselves the next available reference number.
o Enter the remaining lines until you get a picture like that shown below.
o Again, check to ensure that you entered all of the lines correctly: type
' LLIST ' into the command line
o If there are any lines which need to be changed, delete the line by typing
the following code: ' LDELE,# ' where # corresponds to the reference
number of the line. (This can be obtained from the list of lines). And then
re-enter the line (note: a new reference number will be assigned)
You should obtain the following:

Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete > Add
As in the verification model, define the type of element (pipe16). As in the
verification model, don't forget to change Option K6 'Include Output' to obtain
extra force and moment output.
Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
Now specify geometric properties for the elements
Outside diameter
OD:
Wall thickness TKWALL:
25
2

To set Young's Modulus and Poisson's ratio, we will again use the command
line. (ensure that the preprocessor menu is still open - if not open it by
clicking Preprocessor in the Main Menu)
MP, LAB, MAT, C0
Material Property,Valid material property label, Material Reference

Number, value
o To enter the Elastic Modulus (LAB = EX) of 70000 MPa, type:

' MP,EX,1,70000 '
o To set Poisson's ratio (PRXY), type '
MP,PRXY,1,0.33
'
10.Mesh Size
As in the verification model, set the element length to 20 mm
Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Lines > All Lines
11. Mesh
o In the 'Preprocessor' menu select 'Mesh' > 'Lines' and click 'Pick All' in
the 'Mesh Lines' Window
Saving Your Job
Utility Menu > File > Save as...

Close the 'Preprocessor' menu and open up the 'Solution' menu (from the same
'ANSYS Main Menu').
Solution > Analysis Type > New Analysis... > Static
Once again, we will use the command line. We are going to pin (translational
DOFs will be fixed) the first keypoint and constrain the keypoints
corresponding to the rear wheel attachment locations in both the y and z
directions. The following is the command line format to apply constraints at
keypoints.
DK, KPOI, Lab, VALUE, VALUE2, KEXPND, Lab2, Lab3, Lab4, Lab5, Lab6
Displacement on K, K #, DOF label, value, value2, Expansion key, other
DOF labels
Not all of the fields are required for this example, therefore when entering the
code certain fields will be empty. For example, to pin the first keypoint enter:
DK,1,UX,0,,,UY,UZ
The DOF labels for translation motion are: UX, UY, UZ. Note that the 5 th and
6th fields are empty. These correspond to 'value2' and 'the Expansion key' which
are not required for this constraint. Also note that all three of the translational
DOFs were constrained to 0. The DOFs can only be contrained in 1 command
line if the value is the same.
To apply the contraints to Keypoint 5, the command line code is:
DK,5,UY,0,,,UZ
Note that only UY and UZ are contrained to 0. UX is not constrained. Again,

note that the 5th and 6th fields are empty because they are not required.
o Apply the constraints to the other rear wheel location (Keypoint 6 - UY
and UZ).
o Now list the constraints ('DKLIST') and verify them against the following:
If you need to delete any of the constraints use the following command:
'DKDELE, K, Lab' (ie 'DKDELE,1,UZ' would delete the constraint in the 'z'
direction for Keypoint 1)
3. Apply Loads
We will apply vertical downward loads of 600N at the seat post location
(keypoint 3) and 200N at the pedal crank location (keypoint 4). We will use the
command line to define these loading conditions.
FK, KPOI, Lab, value, value2

Force loads at keypoints, K #, Force Label directions (FX, FY, FZ),
value1, value2 (if req'd)
To apply a force of 600N downward at keypoint 3, the code should look like
this: ' FK,3,FY,-600 '
Apply both the forces and list the forces to ensure they were inputted correctly
(FKLIST).
If you need to delete one of the forces, the code looks like this: 'FKDELE, K,
Lab' (ie 'FKDELE,3,FY' would delete the force in the 'y' direction for Keypoint 3)

Solution > Solve > Current LS

To begin Postprocessing, open the 'General Postproc' Menu
1. Deformation
Plot Results > Deformed Shape... 'Def + undef edge'
o You may want to try plotting this from different angles to get a better
idea what's going on by using the 'Pan-Zoom-Rotate' menu that was
earlier outlined.
o Try the 'Front' view button (Note that the views of 'Front', 'Left', 'Back',
etc depend on how the object was first defined).
o Your screen should look like the plot below:
2. Deflections
Now let's take a look at some actual deflections in the frame. The deflections
have been calculated at the nodes of the model, so the first thing we'll do is plot
out the nodes and node numbers, so we know what node(s) we're after.
o Go to Utility menu > PlotCtrls > Numbering... and turn on 'Node
numbers'. Turn everything else off.
o Note the node numbers of interest. Of particular interest are those nodes
where the constraints were applied to see if their displacements/rotations
were indeed fixed to zero. Also note the node numbers of the seat and
crank locations.
o List the Nodal Deflections (Main Menu > General Postproc > List
Results > Nodal Solution...'). Are the displacements and rotations as
you expected?
o Plot the deflection as well.
General Postproc > Plot Results > (-Contour Plot-) Nodal
Solution select 'DOF solution' and 'USUM' in the window
o Don't forget to use more useful intervals.

3. Element Forces
We could also take a look at the forces in the elements in much the same way:
o Select 'Element Solution...' from the 'List Results' menu.
o Select 'Nodal force data' and 'All forces' from the lists displayed.
o Click on 'OK'.
o For each element in the model, the force/moment values at each of the
two nodes per element will be displayed.
o Close this list window when you are finished browsing.
o Then close the 'List Results' menu.
4. Stresses
As shown in the cantilever beam example, use the Element Table to gain access
to derived stresses.
o General Postproc > Element Table > Define Table ...

o Select 'Add'
o Select 'Stress' and 'von Mises'
o Element Table > Plot Elem Table
o Again, select appropriate intervals for the contour plot

5. Bending Moment Diagrams
As shown previously, the bending moment diagram can be produced.
Select Element Table > Define Table... to define the table (remember
SMISC,6 and SMISC,12)
And, Plot Results > Line Elem Res... to plot the data from the Element Table

Quitting ANSYS
To quit ANSYS, select 'QUIT' from the ANSYS Toolbar or select 'Utility
Menu'/'File'/'Exit...'. In the dialog box that appears, click on 'Save Everything'
(assuming that you want to) and then click on 'OK'
Plane Stress Bracket

| Verification Example | | Preprocessing | | Solution | | Postprocessing | | Command Line |
| Bracket Example | | Preprocessing | | Solution | | Postprocessing | | Command Line |
Introduction
This tutorial is the second of three basic tutorials created to illustrate commom
features in ANSYS. The plane stress bracket tutorial builds upon techniques covered
in the first tutorial (3D Bicycle Space Frame), it is therefore essential that you have
completed that tutorial prior to beginning this one.
The 2D Plane Stress Bracket will introduce boolean operations, plane stress, and
uniform pressure loading.
Problem Description
The problem to be modeled in this example is a simple bracket shown in the following
figure. This bracket is to be built from a 20 mm thick steel plate. A figure of the plate
is shown below.
This plate will be fixed at the two small holes on the left and have a load applied to
the larger hole on the right.
Verification Example
The first step is to simplify the problem. Whenever you are trying out a new analysis
type, you need something (ie analytical solution or experimental data) to compare the
results to. This way you can be sure that you've gotten the correct analysis type, units,
scale factors, etc.
The simplified version that will be used for this problem is that of a flat rectangular
plate with a hole shown in the following figure:

1. Give the Simplified Version a Title
2. Form Geometry
Boolean operations provide a means to create complicated solid models. These
procedures make it easy to combine simple geometric entities to create more
complex bodies. Subtraction will used to create this model, however, many
other Boolean operations can be used in ANSYS.
a. Create the main rectangular shape
Instead of creating the geometry using keypoints, we will create

an area (using GUI)
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Rectangle
> By 2 Corners
Fill in the window as shown above. This will create a rectangle

where the bottom left corner has the coordinates 0,0,0 and the top
right corner has the coordinates 200,100,0.
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above command
is BLC4,0,0,200,100)
b. Create the circle
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Circle >
Solid Circle
Fill in the window as shown above. This will create a circle where
the center has the coordinates 100,50,0 (the center of the
rectangle) and the radius of the circle is 20 mm.
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above command
is CYL4,100,50,20 )
c. Subtraction
Now we want to subtract the circle from the rectangle. Prior to
this operation, your image should resemble the following:
To perform the Boolean operation, from the Preprocessor menu

select:
Modeling > Operate > Booleans > Subtract > Areas
At this point a 'Subtract Areas' window will pop up and the
ANSYS Input window will display the following message: [ASBA]
Pick or enter base areas from which to subtract (as shown
below)
Therefore, select the base area (the rectangle) by clicking on it.

Note: The selected area will turn pink once it is selected.
The following window may appear because there are 2 areas at
the location you clicked.
Ensure that the entire rectangular area is selected (otherwise click

'Next') and then click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' on the 'Subtract Areas' window.
Now you will be prompted to select the areas to be subtracted,
select the circle by clicking on it and then click 'OK'.
You should now have the following model:
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step

is ASBA,1,2)
It is now necessary to define the type of element to use for our problem:
Preprocessor Menu > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete
a. Add the following type of element: Solid (under the Structural heading)
and the Quad 82 element, as shown in the above figure.
PLANE82 is a higher order version of the two-dimensional, four-node

element (PLANE42). PLANE82 is an eight noded quadrilateral element
which is better suited to model curved boundaries.
For this example, we need a plane stress element with thickness,
therefore
b. Click on the 'Options...' button. Click and hold the K3 button, and select
'Plane strs w/thk', as shown below.

is ET,1,PLANE82 followed by KEYOPT,1,3,3)
o Define Geometric Properties
a. As in previous examples Preprocessor menu > Real Constants >

Add/Edit/Delete
b. Enter a thickness of 20 as shown in the figure below. This defines a plate
thickness of 20mm)
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is R,1,20)
o Element Material Properties
a. As shown in previous examples, select Preprocessor > Material Props
> Material models > Structural > Linear > Elastic > Isotropic
We are going to give the properties of Steel. Enter the following when
prompted:
EX 200000
PRXY 0.3

is MP,EX,1,200000 followed by MP,PRXY,1,0.3)
o Mesh Size
To tell ANSYS how big the elements should be, Preprocessor > Meshing >
Size Cntrls > Manual Size > Areas > All Areas
a. Select an element edge length of 25. We will return later to determine if

this was adequate for the problem.
is AESIZE,ALL,25,)
o Mesh
a. In the 'Preprocessor' menu select Meshing > Mesh > Areas > Free and
select the area when prompted
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is AMESH,ALL)
You should now have the following:
Saving Your Job

o Ensure that a Static Analysis will be performed (Solution > Analysis
Type > New Analysis).
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is ANTYPE,0)
As shown previously, the left end of the plate is fixed.
o In the Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement
> On Lines
o Select the left end of the plate and click on 'Apply' in the 'Apply U,ROT
on Lines' window.
o Fill in the window as shown below.
o This location is fixed which means that all DOF's are constrained.
Therefore, select 'All DOF' by clicking on it and enter '0' in the Value
field as shown above.
You will see some blue triangles in the graphics window indicating the
displacement contraints.
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is DL,4,,ALL,0)
3. Apply Loads
o As shown in the diagram, there is a load of 20N/mm distributed on the
right hand side of the plate. To apply this load:
Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Pressure > On
Lines
o When the window appears, select the line along the right hand edge of
the plate and click 'OK'
o Calculate the pressure on the plate end by dividing the distributed load
by the thickness of the plate (1 MPa).
o Fill in the "Apply PRES on lines" window as shown below. NOTE:
The pressure is uniform along the surface of the plate, therefore

the last field is left blank.
The pressure is acting away from the surface of the plate, and is
therefore defined as a negative pressure.
o The applied loads and constraints should now appear as shown below.

Now, since the purpose of this exercise was to verify the results - we need to
calculate what we should find.
Deflection: The maximum deflection occurs on the right hand side of the plate
and was calculated to be 0.001 mm - neglecting the effects of the hole in the
plate (ie - just a flat plate). The actual deflection of the plate is therefore
expected to be greater but in the same range of magnitude.
Stress: The maximum stress occurs at the top and bottom of the hole in the
plate and was found to be 3.9 MPa.
2. Convergence using ANSYS
At this point we need to find whether or not the final result has converged. We
will do this by looking at the deflection and stress at particular nodes while
changing the size of the meshing element.
Since we have an analytical solution for the maximum stress point, we
will check the stress at this point. First we need to find the node
corresponding to the top of the hole in the plate. First plot and number
the nodes
Utility Menu > Plot > Nodes
Utility Menu > PlotCtrls > Numbering...
o The plot should look similar to the one shown below. Make a note of the
node closest to the top of the circle (ie. #49)
o List the stresses (General Postproc > List Results > Nodal Solution >
Stress, Principals SPRIN) and check the SEQV (Equivalent Stress /
von Mises Stress) for the node in question. (as shown below in red)
The equivalent stress was found to be 2.9141 MPa at this point. We will
use smaller elements to try to get a more accurate solution.
o Resize Elements
a. To change the element size, we need to go back to the
Preprocessor Menu
Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > Manual Size >
Areas > All Areas
now decrease the element edge length (ie 20)
b. Now remesh the model (Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh >
Areas > Free). Once you have selected the area and clicked 'OK'
the following window will appear:
c. Click 'OK'. This will remesh the model using the new element
edge length.
d. Solve the system again (note that the constraints need not be
reapplied). ( Solution Menu > Current LS )
o Repeat steps 'a' through 'd' until the model has converged. (note - the
number of the node at the top of the hole has most likely changed. It is
essential that you plot the nodes again to select the appropriate node).
Plot the stress/deflection at varying mesh sizes as shown below to
confirm that convergence has occured.
Note the shapes of both the deflection and stress curves. As the number of
elements in the mesh increases (ie - the element edge length decreases), the
values converge towards a final solution.
The von Mises stress at the top of the hole in the plate was found to be
approximatly 3.8 MPa. This is a mere 2.5% difference between the analytical
solution and the solution found using ANSYS.
The approximate maximum displacement was found to be 0.0012 mm, this is

20% greater than the analytical solution. However, the analytical solution does
not account for the large hole in the center of the plate which was expected to
significantly increase the deflection at the end of the plate.
Therefore, the results using ANSYS were determined to be appropriate for the
verification model.
3. Deformation
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Deformed Shape > Def +
undeformd to view both the deformed and the undeformed object.
o Observe the locations of deflection.

4. Deflection
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Nodal Solution... Then select DOF
solution, USUM in the window.
o Alternatively, obtain these results as a list. (General Postproc > List

Results > Nodal Solution...)
o Are these results what you expected? Note that all translational degrees
of freedom were constrained to zero at the left end of the plate.
5. Stresses
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Nodal Solution... Then select
Stress, von Mises in the window.
o You can list the von Mises stresses to verify the results at certain nodes
General Postproc > List Results. Select Stress, Principals
SPRIN

Bracket Example
Now we will return to the analysis of the bracket. A combination of GUI and the
Command line will be used for this example.
The problem to be modeled in this example is a simple bracket shown in the following
figure. This bracket is to be built from a 20 mm thick steel plate. A figure of the plate
is shown below.
This plate will be fixed at the two small holes on the left and have a load applied to
the larger hole on the right.

1. Give the Bracket example a Title
2. Form Geometry
Again, Boolean operations will be used to create the basic geometry of the
Bracket.
a. Create the main rectangular shape
The main rectangular shape has a width of 80 mm, a height of 100mm
and the bottom left corner is located at coordinates (0,0)
Ensure that the Preprocessor menu is open. (Alternatively

type /PREP7 into the command line window)
Now instead of using the GUI window we are going to enter code
into the 'command line'. Now I will explain the line required to
create a rectangle:
BLC4, XCORNER, YCORNER, WIDTH, HEIGHT

BLC4, X coord (bottom left), Y coord (bottom left),
width, height
Therefore, the command line for this rectangle is BLC4,0,0,80,100

b. Create the circular end on the right hand side
The center of the circle is located at (80,50) and has a radius of 50 mm
The following code is used to create a circular area:
CYL4, XCENTER, YCENTER, RAD1
CYL4, X coord for the center, Y coord for the center,
radius
Therefore, the command line for this circle is CYL4,80,50,50

c. Now create a second and third circle for the left hand side using the
following dimensions:
parameter
circle 2
circle 3
XCENTER
YCENTER
20
80
RADIUS
20
20
d. Create a rectangle on the left hand end to fill the gap between the two
small circles.
XCORNER
-20
YCORNER
20
WIDTH
20
HEIGHT
60
e. Your screen should now look like the following...
f.
g. Boolean Operations - Addition
We now want to add these five discrete areas together to form one area.
To perform the Boolean operation, from the Preprocessor menu
select:
Modeling > Operate > Booleans > Add > Areas
In the 'Add Areas' window, click on 'Pick All'
is AADD,ALL)
You should now have the following model:
h. Create the Bolt Holes We now want to remove the bolt holes from this
plate.
Create the three circles with the parameters given below:
parameter
circle 1
circle 2
circle 3
WP X
80
WP Y
50
20
80
radius
30
10
10
Now select
Preprocessor > Modeling > Operate > Booleans >
Subtract > Areas
Select the base areas from which to subract (the large plate that
was created)
Next select the three circles that we just created. Click on the
three circles that you just created and click 'OK'.

is ASBA,6,ALL)
Now you should have the following:
i.
As in the verification model, PLANE82 will be used for this example
a. Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete
b. Use the 'Options...' button to get a plane stress element with thickness
is ET,1,PLANE82 followed by KEYOPT,1,3,3)
c. Under the Extra
Element Output K5
select nodal
stress.
o Define Geometric Contants

a. Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete
b. Enter a thickness of 20mm.
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is R,1,20)
o Element Material Properties
a. Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Library > Structural >
Linear > Elastic > Isotropic
We are going to give the properties of Steel. Enter the following when
prompted:
EX 200000
PRXY 0.3
(The command line code for the above step is MP,EX,1,200000 followed
by MP,PRXY,1,0.3)
o Mesh Size
a. Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > Manual Size > Areas > All
Areas
b. Select an element edge length of 5. Again, we will need to make sure the
model has converged.
is AESIZE,ALL,5,)
o Mesh
a. Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Areas > Free and select the area
when prompted
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is AMESH,ALL)
Saving Your Job


o 'Solution' > 'New Analysis' and select 'Static'.
(Alternatively, the command line code for the above step is ANTYPE,0)
As illustrated, the plate is fixed at both of the smaller holes on the left hand
side.
o Solution > Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Displacement > On
Nodes
o Instead of selecting one node at a time, you have the option of creating a
box, polygon, or circle of which all the nodes in that area will be
selected. For this case, select 'circle' as shown in the window below.
(You may want to zoom in to select the points Utilty Menu / PlotCtrls /
Pan, Zoom, Rotate...) Click at the center of the bolt hole and drag the
circle out so that it touches all of the nodes on the border of the hole.
o Click on 'Apply' in the 'Apply U,ROT on Lines' window and constrain

all DOF's in the 'Apply U,ROT on Nodes' window.
o Repeat for the second bolt hole.
3. Apply Loads
As shown in the diagram, there is a single vertical load of 1000N, at the bottom
of the large bolt hole. Apply this force to the respective keypoint ( Solution >
Define Loads > Apply > Structural > Force/Moment > On Keypoints Select
a force in the y direction of -1000)

Post-Processing: Viewing the Results

We are now ready to view the results. We will take a look at the deflected shape and
the stress contours once we determine convergence has occured.
1. Convergence using ANSYS
As shown previously, it is necessary to prove that the solution has
converged. Reduce the mesh size until there is no longer a sizeable
change in your convergence criteria.
2. Deformation
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Def + undeformed to view both the
deformed and the undeformed object.
The graphic should be similar to the following
o Observe the locations of deflection. Ensure that the deflection at the bolt
hole is indeed 0.
3. Deflection
o To plot the nodal deflections use General Postproc > Plot Results >
Contour Plot > Nodal Solution then select DOF Solution - USUM in
the window.
o Alternatively, obtain these results as a list. (General Postproc > List

Results > Nodal Solution...)
o Are these results what you expected? Note that all translational degrees
of freedom were constrained to zero at the bolt holes.
4. Stresses
o General Postproc > Plot Results > Nodal Solution... Then select von
Mises Stress in the window.
o You can list the von Mises stresses to verify the results at certain nodes
General Postproc > List Results. Select Stress, Principals
SPRIN

Quitting ANSYS
To quit ANSYS, click 'QUIT' on the ANSYS Toolbar or select Utility Menu > File >
Exit... In the window that appears, select 'Save Everything' (assuming that you want
to) and then click 'OK'.
Modeling Tools in ANSYS

Introduction
This tutorial was completed using ANSYS 7.1 The purpose of the tutorial is to show
several modeling tools available in ANSYS.
Three methods will be shown to create the meshed plate shown below.
Using Cutlines in ANSYS

1. Give example a Title
Utility Menu > File > Change Title ...
/title, meshing a plate using cutlines
2. Open preprocessor menu

ANSYS Main Menu > Preprocessor
/PREP7
3. Create a block at origin (0,0) with a width and height of 1

Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Rectangle > By 2
Corners...
blc4,0,0,1,1
4. Divide the area into 4 parts using 2 diagonal lines

o Create a line Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Lines > Lines >
Straight Line
o Select the top left keypoint and draw the line to the bottom right
keypoint by clicking on that keypoint
o Now divide the area into 2 areas using the line by
selecting Preprocessor > Modeling > Operate > Booleans > Divide >
Area by Line
o Select the area and click OK in the 'Divide Area by Line' window
o Now select the line and click OK in the 'Divide Area by Line' window
The area is now divided into 2 as shown in the figure below. A warning
may appear with the statement "Line 5 is attached to 2 area(s) and cannot
be deleted. This is expected because the command which divides the
area deletes the line used to create the area. However, in this case, the
line is required to define the new areas. Click OK and ignore the
warning.
o Now we need to further divide the 2 areas to make 4 areas. Using the
same method, create a line from the top right keypoint to the bottom left.
Be sure to select both areas to divide, otherwise, you will have to create
the line again to divide the second area.

Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete... > Add... > Structural
Mass, Solid > Quad 4node 42
For this problem we will use the PLANE42 (2D plane stress or plane
strain) element. This element has 4 nodes each with 2 degrees of
freedom(translation along the X and Y axes).
6. Select Plane Stress with Thickness
In the Element Types window, select Options... and in Element behavior
select Plane strs w/thk
7. Define Real Constants
Preprocessor > Real Constants > Add/Edit/Delete > Add... > OK
In the 'Real Constants for PLANE42' window, enter the thickness: 0.1
8. Define Element Material Properties
Preprocessor > Material Props > Material Models > Structural > Linear
> Elastic > Isotropic
In the window that appears, enter the following geometric properties for
steel:
o Young's modulus EX: 200000
o Poisson's Ratio PRXY: 0.3
ii.
Define Mesh Size

Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Lines > All
Lines...
To obtain the desired mesh we need to set NDIV to 2
iii.
Create a hardpoint
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > Hard PT on line >
Hard PT by ratio
For demonstration purposes only, we are going to create a hardpoint on

one of the diagonal lines. Select the bottom right diagonal line and enter
a ratio of 0.41 This will ensure the creation of a node at a location 41%
down the line
iv.
Mesh the frame

Preprocessor > Meshing > Mesh > Areas > click 'Pick All'
amesh,all
The mesh should then appear as shown below. Note that the node is not at the
midway point on the bottom right diagonal line due to the hardpoint.
Merging Objects in ANSYS

1. Clear the memory and start a new model
Utility Menu > File > Clear & Start New ...
/clear

/title, meshing a plate by copying elements

/PREP7
4. Define Keypoints
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In Active CS...
K,#,x,y,z
We are going to define 3 keypoints as given in the following table:

Keypoint
Coordinates (x,y)
(0,0)
(1,0)
(0.5,0.5)
5. Create Area
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Arbitrary > Through KPs
a,k1,k2,k3...
We are going to define an area through keypoints 1,2,3. Select keypoints

1,2 and 3 and then select 'OK'.
As in the previous mesh, we will use the PLANE42 (2D plane stress or
plane strain) element. This element has 4 nodes each with 2 degrees of
7. Select Plane Stress with Thickness
9. Define Element Material Properties

steel:
i.
Young's modulus EX: 200000
ii.
Poisson's Ratio PRXY: 0.3
10.Define Mesh Size

Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Lines > All
Lines...
To obtain the desired mesh we need to set NDIV to 2
11. Mesh the area
amesh,all
12.Mirror the geometry

i.
Create local coord system to mirror geom.

Select: Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Local Coordinate Systems >
Create Local CS > At specified Loc
ii.
We are first going to mirror the geometry about the diagonal from node 1
to 4. Click on the lower left node (bottom corner) and select 'OK'
iii.
As shown below, create a coordinate system rotated 45 degrees about Z
iv.
Next, mirror the geometry

Select: Preprocessor > Modeling > Reflect > Areas Click 'Pick All'
v.
In the window that appears select X-Z plane Y and click 'OK'. This will
mirror the geometry about the X-Z plane
vi.
Use the same technique to obtain the full geometry

o Re-activate the global coordinate system
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Change Active CS to > Global Cartesian
csys,0
o Plot Elements
Utility Menu > Plot > Elements
Your mesh should now appear as follows:
However, you are not done! If you plot the node numbers you will note that
some duplicate nodes exist (created in mirroring).
o Merge duplicate nodes/elements
Preprocessor > Numbering Ctrls > Merge Items > All
nummrg,all
Gluing Areas in ANSYS

1. Clear the memory and start a new model
Utility Menu > File > Clear & Start New ...
/clear

/title, meshing a plate by copying areas

/PREP7
4. Define Keypoints
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Keypoints > In Active CS...
K,#,x,y,z
We are going to define 7 keypoints as given in the following table:

Keypoint
Coordinates (x,y)
(0,0)
(0.5,0)
(1,0)
(0.75,0.25)
(0.5,0.5)
(0.25,0.25)
(0.5,0.166667)
5. Create Area
Preprocessor > Modeling > Create > Areas > Arbitrary > Through KPs
a,k1,k2,k3...
Now we are going to define 3 areas; (1,2,7,6), (2,3,4,7), (4,5,6,7)

6. Mirror the geometry
o As shown in the previous section, create a local coordinate system and
mirror the geometry
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Local Coordinate Systems > Create
Local CS > At specified Loc
o Then, mirror the geometry, select: Preprocessor > Modeling > Reflect
> Areas
o Do this twice to obtain the full geometry
7. Re-activate the global coordinate system
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Change Active CS to > Global Cartesian
csys,0
8. Glue the areas together

Preprocessor > Modeling > Operate > Booleans > Glue > Areas
aglue,all
We need to glue the areas together so that the areas are attached but that
the subdivided areas remain to give us the elements we want
As in the previous mesh, we will use the PLANE42 (2D plane stress or
plane strain) element. This element has 4 nodes each with 2 degrees of
10.Select Plane Stress with Thickness
12.Define Element Material Properties
steel:
o Young's modulus EX: 200000
o Poisson's Ratio PRXY: 0.3
ii.
Define Mesh Size

Preprocessor > Meshing > Size Cntrls > ManualSize > Areas > All
Areas...
To obtain the desired mesh we need to set SIZE to 1
iii.
Mesh the area
amesh,all
And again we obtain the desired mesh:
Solid Model Creation

Introduction
This tutorial is the last of three basic tutorials devised to illustrate commom features in
ANSYS. Each tutorial builds upon techniques covered in previous tutorials, it is
therefore essential that you complete the tutorials in order.
The Solid Modelling Tutorial will introduce various techniques which can be used in
ANSYS to create solid models. Filleting, extrusion/sweeping, copying, and working
plane orientation will be covered in detail.
Two Solid Models will be created within this tutorial.
Problem Description A
We will be creating a solid model of the pulley shown in the following figure.
Geometry Generation
We will create this model by first tracing out the cross section of the pulley and then
sweeping this area about the y axis.
Creation of Cross Sectional Area
1. Create 3 Rectangles
Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > Rectangle > By
2 Corners
BLC4, XCORNER, YCORNER, WIDTH, HEIGHT
The geometry of the rectangles:

WP X (XCORNER)
WP Y (YCORNER)
Rectangle 1
2
0
Rectangle 2
3
2
Rectangle 3
8
0
WIDTH
HEIGHT
1
5.5
5
1
0.5
5
2. Add the Areas

Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > (-Boolean-)
Add > Areas
AADD, ALL
ANSYS will label the united area as AREA 4 and the previous three areas will
be deleted.
3. Create the rounded edges using circles
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Areas-) Circle > Solid circles
CYL4,XCENTER,YCENTER,RAD
The geometry of the circles:

WP X (XCENTER)
WP Y (YCENTER)
RADIUS
Circle 1
3
5.5
0.5
Circle 2
8.5
0.2
0.2
4. Subtract the large circle from the base

Preprocessor > Operate > Subtract > Areas
ASBA,BASE,SUBTRACT
5. Copy the smaller circle for the rounded edges at the top
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Copy > Areas
o Click on the small circle and then on OK.
o The following window will appear. It asks for the x,y and z offset of the
copied area. Enter the y offset as 4.6 and then click OK.
o Copy this new area now with an x offset of -0.5

You should obtain the following
6. Add the smaller circles to the large area.

Preprocessor > Operate > Add > Areas
AADD,ALL
7. Fillet the inside edges of the top half of the area

Preprocessor > Create > (-Lines-) Line Fillet
o Select the two lines shown below and click on OK.
o The following window will appear prompting for the fillet radius. Enter
0.1
o Follow the same procedure and create a fillet with the same radius
between the following lines
8. Create the fillet areas

o As shown below, zoom into the fillet radius and plot and number the
lines.
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Areas-) Arbitrary > By Lines
o Select the lines as shown below
o Repeat for the other fillet

9. Add all the areas together
Preprocessor > Operate > Add > Areas
AADD,ALL
10.Plot the areas (Utility Menu > Plot - Areas)

Sweep the Cross Sectional Area
Now we need to sweep the area around a y axis at x=0 and z=0 to create the pulley.
1. Create two keypoints defining the y axis
Create keypoints at (0,0,0) and (0,5,0) and number them 1001 and
1002 respectively. (K,#,X,Y,Z)
2. By default the graphics will now show all keypoints. Plot Areas
3. Sweep the area about the y axis
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > Extrude > (-Areas-) About
axis
o You will first be prompted to select the areas to be swept so click on the
area.
o Then you will be asked to enter or pick two keypoints defining the axis.
o Plot the Keypoints (Utility Menu > Plot > Keypoints. Then select the
following two keypoints
o The following window will appear prompting for sweeping angles. Click
on OK.
You should now see the following in the graphics screen.
Create Bolt Holes

1. Change the Working Plane
By default, the working plane in ANSYS is located on the global Cartesian X-Y
plane. However, for us to define the bolt holes, we need to use a different
working plane. There are several ways to define a working plane, one of which
is to define it by three keypoints.
o Create the following Keypoints
#2001
#2002
#2003
X
0
1
0
Y
3
3
3
Z
0
0
1
o Switch the view to top view and plot only keypoints.

2. Align the Working Plane with the Keypoints
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Align WP with > Keypoints +
o Select Keypoints 2001 then 2002 then 2003 IN THAT ORDER. The first
keypoint (2001) defines the origin of the working plane coordinate
system, the second keypoint (2002) defines the x-axis orientation, while
the third (2003) defines the orientation of the working plane. The
following warning will appear when selecting the keypoint at the origin
as there are more than one in this location.
Just click on 'Next' until the one selected is 2001.

o Once you have selected the 3 keypoints and clicked 'OK' the WP symbol
(green) should appear in the Graphics window. Another way to make
sure the active WP has moves is:
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Show WP Status
note the origin of the working plane. By default those values would be
0,0,0.
3. Create a Cylinder (solid cylinder) with x=5.5 y=0 r=0.5 depth=1 You should
see the following in the graphics screen
We will now copy this volume so that we repeat it every 45 degrees. Note that
you must copy the cylinder before you use boolean operations to subtract it
because you cannot copy an empty space.
4. We need to change active CS to cylindrical Y
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Change Active CS to > Global
Cylindrical Y
This will allow us to copy radially about the Y axis
5. Create 8 bolt Holes
Preprocessor > Copy > Volumes
o Select the cylinder volume and click on OK. The following window will
appear; fill in the blanks as shown,
Youi should obtain the following model,
o Subtract the cylinders from the pulley hub (Boolean operations) to create
the boltholes. This will result in the following completed structure:

Problem Description B
We will be creating a solid model of the Spindle Base shown in the following figure.
Geometry Generation
We will create this model by creating the base and the back and then the rib.
Create the Base
1. Create the base rectangle
WP X (XCORNER)
0
WP Y (YCORNER)
0
WIDTH
109
HEIGHT
102
2. Create the curved edge (using keypoints and lines to create an area)
o Create the following keypoints
Keypoint 5
Keypoint 6
Keypoint 7
Keypoint 8
o You should obtain the following:
X
-20
-20
0
0
Y
82
20
82
20
Z
0
0
0
0
o
o Create arcs joining the keypoints
Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Lines-)
Arcs > By End KPs & Rad
Select keypoints 4 and 5 (either click on them or type 4,5 into the
command line) when prompted.
Select Keypoint 7 as the center-of-curvature when prompted.
Enter the radius of the arc (20) in the 'Arc by End KPs & Radius'
window
Repeat to create an arc from keypoints 1 and 6
(Alternatively, type LARC,4,5,7,20 followed by LARC,1,6,8,20 into the
command line)
o Create a line from Keypoint 5 to 6
Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Lines-)
Lines > Straight Line
L,5,6
o Create an Arbitrary area within the bounds of the lines

Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Areas-)
Arbitrary > By Lines
AL,4,5,6,7
o Combine the 2 areas into 1 (to form Area 3)

Main Menu > Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > (Booleans-) Add > Volumes
AADD,1,2
3. You should obtain the following image:
4.
5. Create the 4 holes in the base
We will make use of the 'copy' feature in ANSYS to create all 4 holes
o Create the bottom left circle (XCENTER=0, YCENTER=20,
RADIUS=10)
o Copy the area to create the bottom right circle (DX=69)
(AGEN,# Copies (include original),Area#,Area2# (if 2 areas to

be copied),DX,DY,DZ)
o Copy both circles to create the upper circles (DY=62)
o Subtract the three circles from the main base
(ASBA,3,ALL)
6. Extrude the base

Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > Extrude > (-Areas-) Along
Normal
The following window will appear once you select the area
o Fill in the window as shown (length of extrusion = 26mm). Note, to

extrude the area in the negative z direction you would simply enter -26.
(Alternatively, type VOFFST,6,26 into the command line)
Create the Back
1. Change the working plane
As in the previous example, we need to change the working plane. You may
have observed that geometry can only be created in the X-Y plane. Therefore,
in order to create the back of the Spindle Base, we need to create a new
working plane where the X-Y plane is parallel to the back. Again, we will
define the working plane by aligning it to 3 Keypoints.
#100
#101
#102
X
109
109
159
Y
102
2
102
Z
0
0
sqrt(3)/0.02
o Align the working plane to the 3 keypoints

Recall when defining the working plane; the first keypoint defines the
origin, the second keypoint defines the x-axis orientation, while the third
defines the orientation of the working plane.
(Alternatively, type KWPLAN,1,100,101,102 into the command line)
2. Create the back area
o Create the base rectangle (XCORNER=0, YCORNER=0, WIDTH=102,

HEIGHT=180)
o Create a circle to obtain the curved top (XCENTER=51,
YCENTER=180, RADIUS=51)
o Add the 2 areas together
3. Extrude the area (length of extrusion = 26mm)
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > Extrude > (-Areas-) Along
Normal
VOFFST,27,26
4. Add the base and the back together

o Add the two volumes together
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > (-Booleans-) Add >
Volumes
VADD,1,2
You should now have the following geometry
Note that the planar areas between the two volumes were not added
together.
o Add the planar areas together (don't forget the other side!)
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Operate > (-Booleans-) Add >
Areas
AADD, Area 1, Area 2, Area 3
5. Create the Upper Cylinder

o Create the outer cylinder (XCENTER=51, YCENTER=180,
RADIUS=32, DEPTH=60)
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Volumes-) Cylinder >
Solid Cylinder
CYL4,51,180,32, , , ,60
o Add the volumes together

o Create the inner cylinder (XCENTER=51, YCENTER=180,
RADIUS=18.5, DEPTH=60)
o Subtract the volumes to obtain a hole
You should now have the following geometry:
Create the Rib
1. Change the working plane

o First change the active coordinate system back to the global coordinate
system (this will make it easier to align to the new coordinate system)
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Align WP with > Global
Cartesian
(Alternatively, type WPCSYS,-1,0 into the command line)
#200
#201
#202
X
-20
0
-20
Y
61
61
61
Z
26
26
30
o Align the working plane to the 3 keypoints

Recall when defining the working plane; the first keypoint defines the
origin, the second keypoint defines the x-axis orientation, while the third
defines the orientation of the working plane.
(Alternatively, type KWPLAN,1,200,201,202 into the command line)
2. Change active coordinate system
We now need to update the coordiante system to follow the working plane
changes (ie make the new Work Plane origin the active coordinate)
Utility Menu > WorkPlane > Change Active CS to > Working Plane
CSYS,4
3. Create the area

o Create the keypoints corresponding to the vertices of the rib
#203
#204
X
129-(0.57735*26)
129-(0.57735*26) + 38
Y
0
sqrt(3)/2*76
o Create the rib area through keypoints 200, 203, 204
Z
0
0
Preprocessor > (-Modeling-) Create > (-Areas-) Arbitrary >

Through KPs
A,200,203,204
4. Extrude the area (length of extrusion = 20mm)

5. Add the volumes together
Quitting ANSYS
To quit ANSYS, select 'QUIT' from the ANSYS Toolbar or select 'Utility
Menu'/'File'/'Exit...'. In the dialog box that appears, click on 'Save Everything'
(assuming that you want to) and then click on 'OK'.

2D Truss Analysis in ANSYS (200kPa, 3250mm2

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Two Dimensional Truss

Preprocessing: Defining the Problem

The following window will appear:

o (these keypoints are depicted by numbers in the above figure)

The following window will then appear:

o To define the first keypoint which has the coordinates x = 0 and y = 0:

o From the Preprocessor Menu, select: Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete.

o Click on the 'Add...' button. The following window will appear:

o Click Add... and select 'Type 1 LINK1' (actually it is already selected).

o As shown in the window above, enter the cross-sectional area

You then need to specify material properties:

o Double click on Structural > Linear > Elastic > Isotropic

"Define Material Model Behavior" by clicking on the 'X' box in the

Now you can turn numbering on or off at your discretion

Solution Phase: Assigning Loads and Solving

o Select the left end of the bridge (Keypoint 1) by clicking on it in the

o Select FY in the 'Direction of force/mom'. This indicate that we will be

4. Solving the System

Postprocessing: Viewing the Results

2. Results Using ANSYS

You should obtain the following.

o The deflection can also be obtained as a list as shown below. General

Note that the axial stress in Element 1 is 82.9MPa as predicted analytically.

Command File Mode of Solution

Space Frame Example

Preprocessing: Defining the Problem

o From the 'ANSYS Main Menu' select:

This defines an outside pipe diameter of 25mm and a wall thickness of

o Set these properties and click on 'OK'.

Now the frame can be meshed.

o Click on the 'Direction of force/mom' at the top and select FY.

4. Solving the System

o As shown above, in the 'Item,Comp' boxes in the above window, select

Again, select more appropriate intervals for the contour plot

o From the 'Plot Line-Element Results' window, select 'IMOMENT' from

o Briefly read the ANSYS documentation which appears, pay particular

Note that SMISC 6 (which we used to obtain the values at node I)

! Element Type = pipe 16

! Apply a Force to Keypoint 2 of -100 N in the y

Preprocessing: Defining the Problem

2. Give the Example a Title

where, each Abbreviation is representative of the following:

For a more detailed explanation, type help

into the command line

For example, to enter the first keypoint type:

into the command line followed by Enter.

! keypoint, #, x=0, y=y2, z=0

o If there are any keypoints which need to be re-entered, simply re-enter

redefined. However, if there is one that needs to be deleted simply enter

where # corresponds to the number of the keypoint.

In the window that appears (shown left),

To get an isometric view, click on 'Iso' (at

Again, we will use the command line to create the lines.

For example, to obtain the first line, I would write:

7. Define the Type of Element

9. Element Material Properties

Material Property,Valid material property label, Material Reference

o To enter the Elastic Modulus (LAB = EX) of 70000 MPa, type:

Solution Phase: Assigning Loads and Solving

Note that only UY and UZ are contrained to 0. UX is not constrained. Again,

FK, KPOI, Lab, value, value2

4. Solving the System