Automated Design Variations with ANSYS Workbench
One of the pillars of today's virtual product development is the use of FEM simulation to analyze different design configurations, load conditions, or scattering influences in terms of material properties, measured loads, and many others. ANSYS Workbench provides a continuous parametrization and organization of input and output parameters, which can be managed on the project page.
Parameter Management
By entering the parameter set, one can clearly see all classes of used parameters. These parameters can be defined in the CAD system as an ANSYS Mechanical APDL parameter, a meshing size parameter, or a material property. Moreover, parameters can be imported from an Excel sheet or defined within the simulation environment concerning boundary conditions or result objects.
Example: Flange Bracket
The following example focuses on a flange bracket based on a welded structure, which enables the use of different sheet metal thicknesses. When installed, it will be mounted with two walls supported by a neighboring structure. Therefore, a fixed support and a frictionless support are defined. The load is represented by a force directed perpendicularly to the cylindrical lug. The design goal is to minimize weight by varying geometry parameters, while ensuring the maximum deformation does not exceed 1.5 mm to meet tight tolerances.
Process of Parameterization
- Define four geometrical parameters, which can be activated in the CAD system, in this case, the ANSYS Design Modeler.
- One parameter should control the angle of the web, and the other three control the thickness of the sheet metals: the upper flange, the bottom flange, and the web.
- Add a checkmark at the parameter box next to every dimension to be used as an input parameter.
- A parameter set becomes available on the project page, indicated by an arrow showing that input parameters will affect simulation results.
Static Structural Analysis
- Activate the output parameter for mass and maximum deformation.
- Additional parameters, such as material density or equivalent stress, are available.
Design Points and What-If Studies
Returning to the project page and entering the parameter set provides an overview of all defined parameters, grouped into input and output parameters. On the right side, the table of design points shows only the current design point. This can be easily complemented, for instance, by inserting a prepared table from an Excel sheet. This kind of design point table is also called a "what-if study."
Selected design points may be exported into single or multiple designs. Each graph of the design point is transported into a single ANSYS Workbench project, facilitating design review. Now, only one mouse click is needed to start the automatic process of calculating all design points. Options for the updating process in terms of remote solving or data management are also available.
Design Optimization
After solving, one can choose the most suitable design. Additionally, tools in ANSYS Workbench, such as Design Exploration, enable efficient sampling and scanning of the design space. The result of a "design of experiment" serves as the basis for professional design optimization.
Summary
ANSYS Workbench offers continuous parametrization of input and output parameters. The availability of various sources for input parameters and a well-organized overview within a design point table allows for a fast understanding of parameter influences, often leading to design improvements. Combined with the automated process of computing design points, users can conveniently and efficiently carry out the design process. Now, it's up to you to gain more knowledge of your design by using parameters in ANSYS Workbench.
One of the pillars of today's virtual product development is the use of FEM simulation to analyze different design configurations, load conditions, or scattering influences in terms of material properties, measured loads, and many others.
ANSYS Workbench provides continuous parametrization and organization of input parameters and output parameters, which can be handled on the project page. Upon entering the parameter set, one can clearly see all classes of used parameters.
They can be defined in the CAD system as an ANSYS Mechanical APDL parameter, a meshing size parameter, or a material property. Moreover, parameters can be imported from an Excel sheet or defined within the simulation environment with respect to boundary conditions or result objects.
The following example focuses on a flange bracket. It is based on a welded structure, which enables the use of different sheet metal thicknesses. When installed, it will be mounted with two walls supported by a bored structure. Therefore, a fixed support and a frictionless support are defined.
The load is represented by a force directing perpendicularly to the cylindrical lug. The design goal is to minimize the weight by varying geometry parameters, while the maximum deformation should not exceed 1.5 mm.
To meet tight tolerances, we define four geometrical parameters, which can be activated on the CAD system, in this case, ANSYS Design Modeler. One of them should control the angle of the web.
The three others control respectively the thickness of the used sheet metals, that means the upper flange, the bottom flange, and the web. Therefore, we add a checkmark at the parameter box next to every dimension, which should later be used as an input parameter.
After that, we can see that a parameter set is now available on the project page. The arrow indicates that input parameters will have an effect on the simulation results. In the static structural analysis, we want to activate the output parameter for the mass and the appearing maximum deformation.
Many more parameters would be available, such as material density or equivalent stress. Returning to the project page and entering the parameter set gives an overview of all defined parameters. They are grouped in input and output parameters.
On the right side, the table of design points shows only the current design point. It can be complemented easily, for instance, by inserting a prepared table from an Excel sheet. This kind of design point table is also called a what-if study.
Selected design points may be exported into single or multiple designs. Each graph of the design point is transported into a single ANSYS Workbench project, which facilitates design review. Now, only one mouse click is needed to start the automatic process of calculating all design points.
Options for the updating process in terms of remote solving or data management are also available. After solving, one can choose the most suitable design.
But let's keep in mind that there are also tools in ANSYS Workbench available, such as Design Exploration, which enable an efficient sampling and scanning the design space. The result of a so-called design of experiment is then the basis for professional design optimization.
To summarize, ANSYS Workbench offers a continuous parametrization of input and output parameters. Many different sources of input parameters and a well-organized overview within a design point table allow a fast understanding of the influence of parameters and, in most cases, a design improvement.
Combined with the automated process of computing design points, the user carries out conveniently and efficiently the design process. Now it's up to you to gain more knowledge of your design by using parameters in ANSYS Workbench.
