CAD

1
CAD Parameters

• Chapter Nine

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Chapter Overview

• In this chapter, interoperability with CAD
  software as well as parameters will be discussed.
• The following will be covered
• CAD Interoperability
• Multiple Design Studies
• DesignXplorer (Parameter Manager)
• The capabilities described in this section are
  generally applicable to all ANSYS licenses.
  However, some CAD functionality are specific to
  certain CAD software, so these will be designated
  accordingly.
• Not all CAD software have the same features, so
  there are some differences in CAD-related
  functionality which is supported in Simulation

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A. CAD Interoperability

• As noted in Chapter 1, the following Geometry
  Interfaces are supported in Simulation
• The Geometry Interface license can be run in
  reader mode for all licenses. The Geometry
  Interface can be run in plug-in mode for the CAD
  software listed under Associative
• Detailed CAD support listing in Simulation online
  help
• IGES Geometry Interface reader is free

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DesignModeler CAD

• DesignModeler is a Workbench module allowing
  users to create or prepare models for use in
  Simulation

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CAD Interoperability

• There are various items which can be brought in
  from supported CAD systems when models are
  attached
• Geometry import
• Spot weld import
• Parameter import
• Material property import
• Coordinate system import
• Named selection import
• Motion loads import
• CAD attribute processing
• There are three ways of setting import
  preferences when attaching CAD geometry.
• Three methods one through the Workbench
  Projects page, another in Simulation Geometry
  branch, the third in Options box will be
  discussed next.

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Controlling CAD Settings

• When importing models in Workbench Project page,
  the left side controls various CAD-related
  settings
• These settings only affect the existing model

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Controlling CAD Settings

• On the other hand, after a model is already
  imported into Simulation, CAD-related settings
  can be changed under the Geometry branch
• These settings only affect the existing model

Model shown is from a sample Inventor assembly.
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Controlling CAD Settings

• To change default behavior, go to Tools menu gt
  Common Settings Geometry Import to change
  default behavior
• Options dialog box also accessible from
  Workbench Start page in lower-left corner.

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Geometry Import

• For CAD-related settings, importing solid,
  surface, or line bodies is available
• One cannot import a part with mixed solids and
  surfaces.
• Assemblies with mixed solids and surfaces are
  OK.
• In other situations, users may wish only
  toimport a particular entity type to ignore
  unnecessary or construction geometry present in
  the model
• Hence, toggling import of solids, surfaces,
  and/or line bodies is possible

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Geometry Import (Solid Bodies)

• Import of solid bodies is supported for all CAD
  systems
• Contact regions will automatically be detected
  between parts in an assembly.
• Note that the CAD mating relationship information
  is not used
• Slider controls contact detection tolerance (in
  ANSYS Professional licenses and above, user can
  specify value in length units)

Model shown is from a sample SolidWorks assembly.
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Geometry Import (Solid Bodies)

• DesignModeler has concept of multi-body parts
• A multi-body part is a group of solid bodies.
  Instead of using different mesh and contact
  regions between solid bodies, the bodies within a
  part will share nodes at common interfaces

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Geometry Import (2D Solid Bodies)

• Before importing 2D geometry you must specify
  Analysis Type is 2D in the Advanced Geometry
  options

Once imported, the 2D details can be specified
from the Part branch. Plane stress, plane strain
or axisymmetric
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Geometry Import (Surface Bodies)

• Simulation also supports import of surface bodies
  from most CAD systems
• For ANSYS Professional licenses and above,
  surface body contact is available from the
  Contact branch
• Spot weld definitions can also be used for
  surface assemblies

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Geometry Import (Surface Bodies)

• In DesignModeler, joints can be used to merge
  surface bodies together to a part
• Instead of using spot welds or edge contact,
  joints in DesignModeler can ensure that surface
  bodies share nodes
• Surfaces that share edges can also form a part to
  share nodes

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Geometry Import (Line Bodies)

• Line bodies can be imported from DesignModeler
  only
• Line bodies require cross-section definition and
  orientation, which only DesignModeler supplies
• Line bodies are meshed with beam/link elements
• Line bodies can be used in conjunction with
  surface bodies

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CAD Associativity

• CAD associativity allows updating the CAD
  geometry in Simulation without redefining
  material properties, loads, supports, etc.
• Turning off CAD associativity will make import
  faster but will not allow updating the CAD
  geometry if changes are made

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Save Updated Model (Reader Mode)

• When a model is attached in Simulation without
  opening the geometry in the CAD system, this is
  referred to as Reader Mode
• For Unigraphics, if the part is updated in reader
  mode, the updated file can be saved

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Do Smart Update

• Smart Update speeds assembly updates since only
  modified components of the assembly are updated
• Currently, only Inventor and Unigraphics support
  Smart Update feature

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Attach File via Temp File

• Attach File Via Temp File
• For extremely large models the geometry can be
  read to a temporary file which reducing RAM
  memory demands
• If set to Yes a location for the temporary
  directory can be specified by the user

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Spot Weld Import

• Spot welds can be used for surface assemblies
• Although Simulation has some limited spot weld
  definition capabilities (at vertices only), spot
  welds can be defined more easily in DesignModeler
  and Unigraphics and then imported into Simulation.

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Parameter Import

• Dimensions of CAD features can beimported into
  Simulation
• When On (default), any dimension name which
  contains the personal parameter key (default is
  DS) will be imported into Simulation as a
  parameter
• CAD parameters will appear in the Details view
  for the Model
• The use of CAD parameters will be covered in the
  next section

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Parameter Import

• Each CAD software has different ways to change
  the dimension name, so please refer to the CAD
  documentation
• DesignModeler checkmark the dimension, provide
  Parameter name
• Pro/ENGINEER select dimension, right-click
  Properties
• Unigraphics select dimension and Edit
• SolidWorks select dimension, right-click
  Properties
• Inventor select dimension, right-click
  Dimension Properties
• Solid Edge select dimension, right-click Edit
  Formula, change name
• Mechanical Desktop Part gt Design Variables and
  define parameter name. Then change dimension to
  parameter via Edit Dimensions

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Material Property Import

• If Material Properties Transfer is
  enabled,material properties, if defined, will be
  imported from supported CAD systems
• The following properties will be imported
• Note that Simulation will not import UG
  properties in table form (such as
  temperature-dependent data)
• If the material type is changed in CAD, this will
  be reflected in an update. However, if the
  values of the material property change in CAD,
  this will not update to prevent overwriting of
  user-defined values in Simulation.

Not all CAD software support all material
property definition which Simulation
supports. Materials imported from CAD will appear
in Engineering Data branch and will be assigned
correctly to parts.
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Material Property Import

• Each CAD system has different ways to define and
  assign materials, so please refer to the CAD
  documentation
• DesignModeler will import materials from ProE,
  UG, Inventor, but user cannot define material
  properties inside of DM directly
• Pro/ENGINEER Edit gt Setup Material gt
  Define/Assign
• Unigraphics Tools gt Material Properties
• Inventor (to define materials) Format gt
  MaterialsInventor (to assign) right-click part
  Properties Physical tab

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Coordinate System Import

• Coordinate systems allow users to define the
  orientation for direction-dependent loads or
  contour results
• Simulation supports importing local coordinate
  systems from some CAD systems
• User-defined CS on part or assembly levelwill be
  imported
• Modified/added CS are updated with model

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Coordinate System Import

• Each CAD system has different ways to define
  coordinate systems, so please refer to the CAD
  documentation
• DesignModeler create Plane, Details view Export
  CS
• Pro/ENGINEER Insert gt Model Datum gt Coordinate
  System
• SolidWorks Insert gt Reference Geometry gt
  Coordinate System

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Named Selections Import

• If groups are defined in the CAD package,these
  can be imported to Simulation asNamed
  Selections.
• Named selections import is enabledin the
  geometry preferences
• Groups from the CAD model which contain the
  specified prefix (default is NS), are imported
  in the Named Selection branch of Simulation

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Named Selections Import

• Named Selection processing features are related
  to CAD API functionality.
• Since different CAD systems provide different
  levels of API support, the capabilities for Named
  Selection processing will vary

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Named Selections Import

• Each CAD system has different ways to rename
  geometric entities, so please refer to the CAD
  documentation
• DesignModeler Tools gt Named Selections
• Pro/ENGINEER Edit gt Setup Name gt Other
• Unigraphics select entities, right-click
  Properties

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CAD Attribute Import

• The CAD Attribute Import capability canbe used
  to import attribute information from CAD
  software, including motion loads
• For example, if a CAD system uses a supported
  kinematics program, the motionloads can be
  imported into Simulation for subsequent stress
  analyses
• If this feature is turned on, the prefix can be
  specified. Only attributes with the given prefix
  (default is SDFEA or DDM) will be imported
  into Simulation.

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B. Multiple Design Studies

• Copying branches in the Outline Tree allow users
  to easily compare different Environments or even
  different Models

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Multiple Design Studies

• Set up multiple design studies by duplicating a
  branch
• Duplicate the Environment to solve multiple load
  cases or different types of analyses (static,
  modal, etc.)
• Duplicate the Model branch to compare different
  material properties, geometry configurations,
  contact conditions, mesh densities, etc.
• After duplicating the appropriate branch make the
  necessary changes and then resolve the model

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Multiple Design Studies

• The HTML Report can contain all the cases solved

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Updating Geometry

• When dealing with multiple geometry
  configurations and you wish to retain each
  version
• After modifying the CAD geometry select the
  desired Geometry branch, then choose Geometry gt
  Update Use Geometry Parameter Values from the
  Context toolbar
• the geometry for the selected branch will be
  updated while other branches will not

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Updating Geometry Example

• Example geometry changes were made in the CAD
  software.
• The Model branch was duplicated to Model 2
• Model 2 was selected and the new geometry was
  updated
• All material assignment, mesh controls, (contact
  regions), and loads and supports were updated
  without manual intervention

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Sending Parameters and Updating

• Another way of updating the geometry from within
  Simulation, is by importing CAD parameters,
  modifying them and choosing Update gt Update Use
  Simulation Parameter Values
• Simulation sends the parameters to the CAD
  software, regenerates the new model and sends it
  back to Simulation
• Note
• changes in dimensions must be such that valid
  geometry can be created or the update will fail
• Topology changes can require some entity
  assignments (e.g., loading on a surface) to be
  redefined since the original item (such as a
  surface) is redefined

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Updating Geometry Notes

• The magnitude of loads will remain constant
• If force was applied on a surface and the surface
  area increased, the force magnitude remains the
  same but the force per unit area decreases
• If pressure was applied on a surface and the
  surface area increased, the pressure value
  remains the same but the resulting force being
  applied on the surface will increase
• The orientation of loads will not change
• For structural loads, if a direction is specified
  using existing geometry, the direction of the
  load will not change even though the geometry
  used for load orientation has changed

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Multiple Design Studies

• To solve multiple branches at once, go to the
  parent branch and click on the Solve button
• For example, if a user wants to only solve a
  single Environment, select that Environment
  branch from the Outline Tree and click on the
  Solve button
• To solve all Environment or Model branches,
  select the parent branch and click on the Solve
  button.
• To solve multiple Environment or Model branches,
  Ctrl-select the branches of interest, then click
  on the Solve button.

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C. DesignXplorer

• Beginning with Workbench Simulation release 10.0
  the use of the Parameter Manager to control
  design studies has been replaced with the
  DesignXplorer application
• Although available in release 10.0, the Parameter
  Manager feature will be removed in future
  releases of Simulation

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D. Parameter Manager

• Performing multiple design studies by duplicating
  the Model or Environment branch is an easy way to
  compare results
• In the case of multiple Model branches, the
  Simulation database can become large because the
  mesh and results for each Model branch will be
  stored
• For many cases, this may be a tedious, manual
  method
• In some situations where many cases are being
  examined, the use of DesignXplorer may be
  warranted
• DesignXplorer displays the effect changes of
  input values have on various output quantities in
  tabular and graphical form

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Understanding Parameters

• In Simulation, input and output parameters are
  managed using the DesignXplorer application
• If a field in the Details view has a square next
  to it, it can be toggled on/off to be used as a
  parameter
• White fields indicate input parameter
• Gray fields indicate output parameter
• Click in the square and a blue P will appear,
  indicating that this quantity can now be used
  with DesignXplorer

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Using DesignXplorer

• To utilize DesignXplorer
• Browse through the Outline tree and activate any
  input parameters which will be used (add blue
  P)
• Browse through the Solution branch and activate
  any output parameters to be used (add blue P)
• Use of Results Scoping (covered in Chapter 8)
  allows the user to query the local results. For
  example, by scoping results on selected surfaces,
  the max equivalent stress on the surfaces can be
  used as an output parameter
• Return to the Project page and choose New
  DesignXplorer Parameter Manager

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Using DesignXplorer

• When DX opens, the current input parameters will
  be displayed
• To build what if studies enter new input values
  and choose Insert a new What-If design point

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Using DesignXplorer

• Each new scenario becomes a design point
• When all design points are entered choose to Run
  gt Process Design Points

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Using DesignXplorer

• When all solutions are complete they can be
  viewed as a table
• To view individual design points use the shift
  and control keys to highlight the scenarios of
  interest

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Using DesignXplorer

• What-If Charts allow users to configure and plot
  input vs output in XY plots

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E. Workshop 9 DesignXplorer Parameter Mgr.

• Workshop 9 DesignXplorer Parameter Manager
• Goal
• Use the DesignXplorer Parameter Manager to
  specify changes to the load magnitude and
  material properties of the model shown below and
  solve all scenarios at one time.

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