0 Introduction to ansa

version 12.0.1

BETA CAE Systems S.A. ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorial Guide

ANSA version 12.0.1

Tutorial Guide


ANSA version 12.0.1 Tutorial Guide

PDF document for version 12.0.1 - June 2005

COPYRIGHT 1990-2005 BETA CAE SYSTEMS S.A.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This ANSA Tutorial Guide is an integral part of the ANSA software. This Tutorial Guide, in whole or in part, may not be copied, reproduced, translated, transferred, or reduced to any form, including electronic medium or machine-readable form, or transmitted or publicly performed by any means, electronic or otherwise, unless BETA CAE Systems consents in writing in advance. Use of the software and its documentation has been provided under a software license agreement. BETA CAE Systems assumes no responsibility or liability for any damages or data loss caused by installation or use of the software. Information described in this documentation is furnished for information only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by BETA CAE Systems. BETA CAE Systems assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The software and its documentation contain valuable trade secrets and proprietary information and are protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized use of the software or its documentation can result in civil damages and criminal prosecution. All other company and product names, mentioned in the software and its documentation, are property, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. BETA CAE Systems S.A. Kato Scholari, Thessaloniki, GR-57500 Epanomi, Greece Tel: +30-2392 021420 Fax: +30-2392 021417 E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.beta-cae.gr


MAIN TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Tutorial 1 BASIC ANSA

Tutorial 2 TWO PART ASSEMBLY

Tutorial 3 SOLID MESHING FOR STRESS ANALYSIS

Tutorial 4 EXTERNAL AERODYNAMICS

Tutorial 5 FROM SOLID TO SHELL

Tutorial 6 MORPHING FOR AERODYNAMICS

Tutorial 7 OPTIMIZING COUPLING

Introduction

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 1 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorial Guide

INTRODUCTION

Intro.1.1. About this Tutorial Guide

This Tutorial Guide was prepared to introduce ANSA to new users. The tutorials are described in detail so that one can perform all the tasks without any previous experience of ANSA. A short Getting Started section is included to familiarize the user with the interface.

This document can be used in combination with the ANSA v12.x Users Guide, where detailed descriptions of all the demonstrated functionalities can be found, in order to provide more insight to the user. The document will be updated regularly to include additional examples and more advanced ANSA functionalities.

Although not all tutorials may be relevant to your applications, it is still worth studying them, as they will familiarize you with the main menus of ANSA, TOPO, MESH, DECK and MORPH.

Tutorial 1 is the basic tutorial from which you should begin. It introduces all the steps for the creation of a shell mesh, starting from reading the CAD file into ANSA, up to shell mesh output. You will start from the TOPO menu of ANSA where you will learn how to clean up geometry, correcting the most commonly encountered problems, and how to prepare it for surface meshing. Moving to the MESH menu you will get familiar with the flexibility of the Macro Areas.

Tutorial 2 presents the assembly capabilities of ANSA. It describes all the steps for the creation of a two part shell mesh assembly starting from reading the CAD files into ANSA, right to output in NASTRAN format. You will start from the TOPO menu where you check and prepare the geometry for surface meshing, with more detail on special regions like flanges. You will also learn how to use the Part Manager and how to assign correct characteristics to parts (Property, thickness etc.). In addition, you will get familiar with the powerful functionality of the Connection Manager tool, used for the automatic creation of connections for your model. Moving to the MESH menu you will create and examine the surface mesh of the assembly. Finally you will switch to the DECK menu to setup the FE-model case, where you will define loads, constraints and solution details.

Tutorial 3 describes the generation of tetrahedral or hexahedral volume mesh for solid parts. Although the subject is focused on the solid meshing, there is a lot of material describing the shaping of Macro Areas in order to achieve the desirable surface mesh results. There is a detailed description for the generation of a triangular only surface mesh (for the tetra volume mesh) and a pure quad map mesh (for the hexa volume mesh), including steps of quality control and improvement as well as information extraction related to the component and its mesh.

Tutorial 4 is useful for CFD analysis as it describes the creation of a hybrid volume mesh for external aerodynamics. It includes geometrical constructions, triangular variable density surface mesh creation and improvement, boundary layer generation connected to tetra volume mesh through conformal and non-conformal interfaces.

Tutorial 5 describes all the functionality and techniques that can be used in ANSA in order to extract the middle surface geometry of a solid part and mesh it with shell elements.

Tutorial 6 presents the powerful functionality of the Morphing Tool in ANSA in the context of an external aerodynamics model. The techniques described in it can, of course, also be used for a structural application as well, combined with other Morphing functions.

Introduction


Tutorial 7 presents the coupling of ANSA with optimization software and the use of the Morphing Tool in shape optimization.

For any queries related to this Tutorial Guide you can refer to Technical Support (e-mail: [email protected]).

Introduction


Intro.1.2.1. Annotations and Symbols

Throughout this guide the following text presentation conventions are followed to distinguish the various text interpretations.

Object - Action Presentation Example

ANSA buttons, functions All capitals CUT ANSA Entities First letter capital Face ANSA Windows Italics DECK Parameters window Text Window messages Italics Please select PART Files, variables, OS commands Courier New ANSA.defaults

Warning ! ! Do not cut Macros at locations

Due to the nature of the program a lot of graphical conventions are also used. Mouse and keyboard icons, arrows, cursors etc. are widely utilized. Some examples are presented below:

Cursor position in the ANSA display window where left mouse button is pressed

Click and drag with left mouse button movement

Cursor position over menus and entry cards

Keyboard for alphanumerical input

All ANSA buttons are displayed graphically as shown: Pressed button

Not-pressed button Activated flag button Not-activated flag button

As a function is referenced in the guide its button is presented in its not pressed

state, prior to selection. Some commands have sub-options displayed in the pull down menu that appears when the button is pressed. In the guide only the option of interest is presented for simplification. For example if the user selects the option NORMAL from the command PROJECT which belongs to the CONS group of the TOPO > menu, the button below is presented:

In addition in the text the command path is stated: TOPO>CONS>PROJECT [NORMAL]

Many times the root path (TOPO > in this case) is omitted, as it is apparent.

NORMAL

PROJECT

menu

group

command

option

TOPO > SHADOW MESH > HIDDEN

INSERT

Introduction


Intro.2.1. Getting Started

The following sections describe some key points about ANSA that the user should be familiar with, before performing the tutorials.

Intro.2.1.1. ANSA GUI

The main features of the Graphical User Interface are highlighted and described below:

1. Main pull down menu: menu that contains all the functions for data Input/Output, Resolution, Tolerances and other general settings. 2. On Line Help: Press the HELP button and then any function on the interface to access the relative instructions. Press ESC to exit. 3. Menu buttons: Switch between the menus of TOPO, MESH and DECK. The respective function groups appear on the right side of the interface. 4. Function Groups: The functions are arranged in Groups, depending on the Entity that they are applicable to. The number in parentheses next to the Group Name indicates the number of additional commands located in the buffer menu of each Group. The buffer menu can be accessed by pressing on the Group Name with the right mouse button. 5. Visibility Flags and View modes: These are flag buttons that control the visibility of different entities. In addition there are flags or toggle buttons that control the view mode like Colouring by ENT (Entity) or PID (Property ID), or SHADOW or WIRE mode etc. 6. Additional Groups: Depending on the active menu (TOPO, MESH or DECK) these appear as Geometry or Quality Criteria Groups. 7. Access to lists: Access to lists of Properties and Materials as well as the Part Manager is available through these functions. 8. Focus Group: This group contains all the functions that are used to isolate and control the visibility of selected entities in order to build a clear image of the working area of the model. 9. Text Window: Instructions and reporting of the program are printed in the Text Window.

1. Main pull down menu

9. Text Window

8. Focus Group

6. Additional Groups (Geometry or Quality)

2. Access toOn Line Help

7. Access to lists PID, MID and Parts

5. Visibility flags and view modes

3. Menu buttons for - TOPO - MESH - DECK

- MORPH - TOOLS

4. Group of Functions

buffer menu

Introduction


Intro.2.1.2. Basic terminology

In the TOPO menu the following entities appear:

Correspondingly, in the MESH and DECK menus:

For a more detailed description please refer to the ANSA Users Guide, sections 4.1 and 9.1.

Surface

3D Point 3D Curve

Face

Single CONS

Double CONS

Triple CONS

Weld Spot

Connecting Spot

FE-model elements

Hot Point

Cross hatch

Perimeter Segment

Perimeter Node Weld Spot

Connecting Spot

FE-model elements

Hot Point

MacroArea

Introduction


Intro.2.1.3. View Control

Basic view control can be achieved though the mouse:

Rotate With the Ctrl key pressed, rotate the model with the left mouse button.

Translate With the Ctrl key pressed, translate the model with the middle mouse button.

Zoom With the Ctrl button pressed, zoom in and out with both left and middle mouse buttons pressed. Moving left and down the view zooms in and moving right and up the view zooms out.

or the Function keys of the keyboard:

TOP FRONT LEFT BOTTOM BACK RIGHTZOOM

IN

ZOOM

OUT

ZOOM

ALL

Default

View

For a more detailed description you can refer to the ANSA Users Guide, sections 3.3 and 3.4.

Ctrl

Ctrl

Ctrl

F1 F4F2 F3 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10

Introduction


Intro.2.1.4. Most important key actions

The mouse buttons are mainly used to:

The left mouse button (1): - activate menu buttons - select or define entities

The middle mouse button (2): - confirm selections or processes

The right mouse button (3): - unselect previously selected items - reapply last action to other entities

The ESC key cancels operations, exits from functions and closes windows at any step of the process. So if in doubt, press ESC.

The Pause/Break key can be used to interrupt a function during running (for example aborts a SHADOW or Volume mesh operations during its calculation if this takes too long).

The F11 key gives access to the Presentation Parameters window, where the user can specify quality criteria definitions and threshold values, as well as other presentation attributes.

The F12 key gives access to the Deck Parameters window, from which the user can control the visibility status of different types of FE-model entities (line elements, shells, solids etc.).

Esc

Pause

Break

F11

F12

Introduction


ANSA v12.0.1 TutorialsEdition & DisclaimerMain Table of ContentsINTRODUCTIONIntro.1.1. About this Tutorial GuideIntro.1.2.1. Annotations and Symbols

Intro.2.1. Getting StartedIntro.2.1.1. ANSA GUIIntro.2.1.2. Basic terminologyIntro.2.1.3. View ControlIntro.2.1.4. Most important key actions

Documents

0 Introduction to ansa