Ansys Design Modeler 14.5 Tips and Tricks

Design Modeler Tips and Tricks

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Problem statement: Too Many Clicks! • User Problem – It can take many clicks of a mouse to achieve the desired function • The following will show recent usability enhancements to significantly speed up operations in Design Modeler

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Middle-Mouse Multi-Options View Options can be accessed via toolbar • Rotate • Pan • Zoom

• Much quicker is Middle Mouse Button (MMB) with key changes – Rotate – Shift + MMB : Zoom – Ctrl + MMB : Pan 3

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Quick Toggle Single/Box Select •

Often it is useful to use Box Select to lasso lots of entities quickly

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User may wish to then use Single Select to add or remove a few entities while holding down Control key

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There is a “quick toggle” option to move between these modes more quickly without having to navigate the toolbar • Hold down RMB and click and release LMB while still holding RMB to switch between modes

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Design Modeler Hot Keys • Escape: equivalent to New Selection (if button is not

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grayed out); also accessible via the Selection Toolbar Ctrl+A: selects three Body Types: Solid, Surface, and Line Ctrl+B: equivalent to Selection Filter: Bodies (also accessible via the Selection Toolbar) Ctrl+C: equivalent to Copy (Sketching mode only; also accessible via the Modify Toolbox) Ctrl+E: equivalent to Selection Filter: Edges (also accessible via the Selection Toolbar) Ctrl+F: equivalent to Selection Filter: Faces (also accessible via the Selection Toolbar) Ctrl+N: equivalent to Start Over option (also accessible via the File Menu) Ctrl+O: equivalent to Load DesignModeler Database option (also accessible via the File Menu) Ctrl+P: equivalent to Selection Filter: Points (also accessible via the Selection Toolbar) Ctrl+S: equivalent to Save Project option (also accessible via the File Menu) Ctrl+V: equivalent to Paste (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

• Ctrl+X: equivalent to Cut (Sketching Mode only; also • • • • • • • •

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accessible via the Modify Toolbox) Ctrl+Y: equivalent to Redo (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the toolbar) Ctrl+Z: equivalent to Undo (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the toolbar) F1: ANSYS Inc. online help with DesignModeler highlighted; for more information, see Help Menu F2: Install help F3: Apply (during feature creation; for more information, see Apply/Cancel in Plane) F4: Cancel (during feature creation; for more information, see Apply/Cancel in Plane) F5: equivalent to Generate (also accessible via the 3D Features toolbar) F6: equivalent to Shaded Exterior and Edges, Shaded Exterior, and Wireframe model appearance controls (toggle between three; also accessible via the View Menu) F7: equivalent to Zoom to Fit (also accessible via the Rotation Modes Toolbar toolbar) Ctrl++: Expand selection Ctrl+-: Shrink selection

Note: Hotkeys coming for Ansys Meshing at R15

Problem statement: Hard to See! • Useer Problem – Requirements to visualise more easily areas of the geometry and understand issues quickly • The following will show recent usability enhancements to improve visualisation capability in Design Modeler

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbars: Selection Tools Entity Selection Mode • • • • • • • •

Expand New Selection Single Select Box Select Select Points Select Edges Select Faces Select Bodies Extend Selection for multiple entities –

Shrink

Hotkeys Ctrl+: Expand selection Ctrl-: Shrink selection

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Problem statement: Finding Body Overlaps • User Problem - Early versions of Design Modeler did not have the capability to find overlapping bodies • The following will show usability enhancements to find overlaps

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Enabling Beta Features •

To activate “Beta Options”, go to Workbench Schematic Page – Go to Tools  Options – Select “Appearance” from tree – Scroll down and enable the check box of “Beta Options”

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This will activate beta features available in the Design Modeler such as “Body Clash Detection” and “Solid Extension”

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Identifying Body Interferences

• Switch to Wireframe view for • •

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Interference between compressor casing & center housing

better viewing of clash [Main menu] View  Wireframe Locate various clashes in the geometry as shown In this e.g. both cases involve a compressor casing Adjusting/moving casing may solve problem Interference between compressor blades and casing

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbar Customization • Add common operations to your toolbar to speed up feature creation

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Tools  Options  Design Modeler  Toolbars to add the most used options to your GUI layout

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Working on Areas of the Geometry • Reduce the display to work effectively on smaller areas using Hide/Expand options

RMB RMB

Switch off 12

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Or use Hotkey Ctrl-+

ToolsOptionsDMGraphics

Default Highlight Selection = Single Side only “fills” surface in direction of surface vector when chosen

Switching to “Both Sides” is recommended for CFD where inner surfaces are often required. This option will show the selected face as “filled” from both directions. 13

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Geometry Configuration – Multi-Body Parts Handling of Multi-Body Parts • A regular support question is how to get conformal meshes from DM/AM

• In DM, where Shared Topology is set to Automatic (default) – Faces in contact imprinted & fused to form a single face shared between the two bodies – Results in Conformal mesh in Ansys Meshing – Common face acts as ‘Interior’ zone in Fluent

DM Part Details

Common Shared Face

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Geometry Configuration – Multiple Parts Handling of Multiple Parts

• When multiple parts are attached to

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a Meshing session a ‘Contact Region’ is automatically created between those parts 2 Faces at Contact Region Each part meshed independently – Results in a non-conformal interface between the two parts (mesh nodes on bodies do not line up and are not connected) – Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in CFX can be defined for the faces at the contact region Independent Faces

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Contact Region

Geometry Configuration – Multi-body Parts Handling of Multi-Body Parts

• In DM, where Shared Topology is set to Imprints – The boundaries of the faces at contact region are imprinted on each other resulting in ‘like’ faces – Contact Region is automatically created at ‘like’ faces – Results in Non-conformal interface – Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in CFX can be defined for the faces at the contact region – To create identical mesh on the ‘like’ faces use ‘Match Control’ option (mesh will remain unconnected) 16

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Two Like Faces

Simplification Tools for Fluid Extraction

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools for Fluid Extraction Do you import solid parts with gaps between them ? Closing those gaps is a necessity before using fluid extraction tools.

The following slides and demo will show you tools that can be used to create contacts between parts in order to extract the fluid.

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Thin Surface – Body Only Partial contact only, a small cavity would be created

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Thin Surface – Body Only Surface body created from external faces (visible by red color edge)

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Thin Surface – Body Only Normal extrusion of the surface body to close gap along the hole surface

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Face Delete Partial contact only, small cavities would be created and sharp angle would result from extraction

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Face Delete Details removed

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Skin Loft Surface must be created to close gap between 2 pipes Shape and topology are different (number of vertex)

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Skin Loft Vertices are projected to split edges in order to get identical topology

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Simplification Tools Skin Loft A surface is created from the 2 edge loops using Create / Skin Loft

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools Fill by Caps All solid bodies are in contact or intersecting

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools Fill by Caps Cap surfaces created using Surfaces From Edges to limit the fluid domain

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Fluid Extraction Tools Fill by Caps Fluid Extracted

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology : How to Check Result ? Do you work from imported or created CAD with multiple bodies and want to get a conformal mesh (node matching) ? Creating a multibody part with automatic option will connect the bodies using a generalized Boolean during transfer to ANSYS Meshing. The Share Topology command enables you to visualize the result in Design Modeler. The following slides will show some tools that can help you verify that the result is as expected

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Toolbars: Display Controls Edge Display Options

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Free Edges - 0 face - Blue Single Edges - 1 face - Red Double Edges - 2 faces - Black Triple Edges - 3 faces - Pink Multiple Edges (>3) - Yellow Display Edge Direction Display Vertices

Note user can use Share Topology option in DM to check connectivity before proceeding to Meshing 32

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example Case 1 : Perfectly Aligned Cylinders Before Share Topology

Black edges : - Edges connected to 2 surfaces only - 2 internal surfaces - Contact in ANSYS Meshing - Non-conformal mesh 33

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

After Share Topology

Purple edges : - Edges connected to 3 surfaces - Single shared surface - No contact detected in AM - Conformal mesh

Share Topology Example Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders After Share Topology Hard to visualize on industrial model

Black and Purple edges : - Sliver surfaces were created

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders Sliver surfaces generated by Share Topology can be found using Small Entity Search Analysis Tools

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders To help visualization of problems it is possible to change visibility of edges depending on connection -

Hide

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Thicken

Triple edge hidden, double edge now visible => problem 36

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders Sometime edges are so close they can’t be seen properly, selection by box enables you to check their number (check at the bottom of the window)

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topology Example Case 3 : Intersecting Cylinders After Share Topology Check the number of bodies, and click on Share Topology in the Tree Outline to highlight them

Multiple Purple edges - Intersecting body created

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Share Topo - Example

Double and triple connected edges at same position; hard to flag visually

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Small Entity Search used post Share Topology automatically flags this spike

Face faceting Since 14.5 default option for CAD import is Workbench so the geometry is not converted to Parasolid There is an impact on face faceting quality, even with Facet Quality = 10 the rendering is poor Workaround : convert curved parts to parasolid

FQ = 10 - Parasolid 40

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

FQ = 10 - Workkbench

Generate needed at opening ? If you need to generate a model when you open it in DM, check that the option below is on Partial and not None

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Tool / Options In Win7 Options are saved here : C:\Users\fmeslay\AppData\Roaming\Ansys\v150\en-us globalPreferences.xml : Workbench agPreferences.xml : Design Modeler dsPreferences.xml : Meshing / Mechanical

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Pattern handling

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

How to parameterize creation via patterns? Do you need to easily create a large number of similar entities on your model, and modify them consistently? Reproducing entities can typically be achieved by creating patterns of geometric objects. This is consistent with later body operations (e.g. Boolean operations), and can be parameterized. The hole creation is then followed by a patch generation, provided by a semi-automatic repair tool on boundary faces. The following slides and demo will show you the capabilities of the pattern tool, and how the multi-entity creation and modification can be managed at a parametric level, whatever the shape of the geometry. 44

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Multi-Holes Creation The pattern tools works for three kinds of repetition : - linear (one direction). - circular (around an axis). - rectangular (two directions).

linear pattern

circular pattern

Several patterns can be performed on the same geometry.

Pattern can be defined from cut out geometry. Once defined, the number of repetition can be set as a Workbench parameter. 45

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

second pattern added

Multi-Holes Closing Repair tool is designed to find and repair 3D and 2D holes • 3D : fill hole • 2D : edge delete / surface patch / edge connect If one wants to create surface patches quickly for the geometry shown (and not close the holes), it can be done by simply creating surface bodies from surfaces and apply repair tool to those surface bodies only.

Concept / Surface from face (thickness 0) 46

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Tools / Repair / Repair Hole (RMB Select in All Below to apply method to all holes)

Surface patch created

Multi-Holes Closing By default only 50 problems are listed in repair tool. Limit can be changed in Tool / Option / Design Modeler /Miscellaneous.

After patch creation the 2 extra surfaces can be deleted with Create / Thin Surface / Surface to Remove 47

© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013

Pattern for 2D Surface is created from Sketch Then Pattern is applied to the surface body

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© 2011 ANSYS, Inc.

October 29, 2013