TransientAnalysisofaCantileverBeam

Introduction
ThistutorialwascreatedusingANSYS7.0Thepurposeofthistutorialistoshowthestepsinvolvedto
performasimpletransientanalysis.

Transientdynamicanalysisisatechniqueusedtodeterminethedynamicresponseofastructureunder
atimevaryingload.
Thetimeframeforthistypeofanalysisissuchthatinertiaordampingeffectsofthestructureare
consideredtobeimportant.Caseswheresucheffectsplayamajorroleare
understeporimpulseloadingconditions,forexample,wherethereisasharploadchangeinafraction
oftime.
Ifinertiaeffectsarenegligiblefortheloadingconditionsbeingconsidered,astaticanalysismaybe
usedinstead.
Forourcase,wewillimpacttheendofthebeamwithanimpulseforceandviewtheresponseatthe
locationofimpact.

Sinceanidealimpulseforceexcitesallmodesofastructure,theresponseofthebeamshouldcontain
allmodefrequencies.However,wecannotproduceanidealimpulseforcenumerically.Wehaveto
applyaloadoveradiscreteamountoftimedt.

Aftertheapplicationoftheload,wetracktheresponseofthebeamatdiscretetimepointsforaslong
aswelike(dependingonwhatitisthatwearelookingforintheresponse).
Thesizeofthetimestepisgovernedbythemaximummodefrequencyofthestructurewewishto
capture.Thesmallerthetimestep,thehigherthemodefrequencywewillcapture.Theruleofthumb
inANSYSis
time_step=1/20f

wherefisthehighestmodefrequencywewishtocapture.Inotherwords,wemustresolveourstep
sizesuchthatwewillhave20discretepointsperperiodofthehighestmodefrequency.
Itshouldbenotedthatatransientanalysisismoreinvolvedthanastaticorharmonicanalysis.It
requiresagoodunderstandingofthedynamicbehaviorofastructure.Therefore,amodal
analysisofthestructureshouldbeinitiallyperformedtoprovideinformationaboutthe
structure'sdynamicbehavior.
InANSYS,transientdynamicanalysiscanbecarriedoutusing3methods.
TheFullMethod:Thisistheeasiestmethodtouse.Alltypesofnonlinearitiesareallowed.Itis
howeververyCPUintensivetogothisrouteasfullsystemmatricesareused.

TheReducedMethod:ThismethodreducesthesystemmatricestoonlyconsidertheMaster
DegreesofFreedom(MDOFs).Becauseofthereducedsizeofthematrices,thecalculationsare
muchquicker.However,thismethodhandlesonlylinearproblems(suchasourcantilevercase).
TheModeSuperpositionMethod:Thismethodrequiresapreliminarymodalanalysis,as
factoredmodeshapesaresummedtocalculatethestructure'sresponse.Itisthequickestofthe
threemethods,butitrequiresagooddealofunderstandingoftheproblemathand.
WewillusetheReducedMethodforconductingourtransientanalysis.Usuallyoneneednotgo
furtherthanReviewingtheReducedResults.However,ifstressesandforcesareofinterestthan,we
wouldhavetoExpandtheReducedSolution.

Preprocessing:DefiningtheProblem
ThesimplecantileverbeamisusedinalloftheDynamicAnalysisTutorials.Ifyouhaven'tcreatedthe
modelinANSYS,pleaseusethelinksbelow.BoththecommandlinecodesandtheGUI
commandsareshownintherespectivelinks.

Solution:AssigningLoadsandSolving
1. DefineAnalysisType
SelectSolution>AnalysisType>NewAnalysis>Transient
Thefollowingwindowwillappear.Select'Reduced'asshown.

2. DefineMasterDOFs
SelectSolution>MasterDOFs>UserSelected>Define
Selectallnodesexcepttheleftmostnode(atx=0).
Thefollowingwindowwillopen,chooseUYasthefirstdofinthiswindow

ForanexplanationonMasterDOFs,seethesectiononUsingtheReducedMethodfor
modalanalysis.
3. ConstraintheBeam
SolutionMenu>DefineLoads>Apply>Structural>Displacement>Onnodes
Fixtheleftmostnode(constrainallDOFs).
4. ApplyLoads
WewilldefineourimpulseloadusingLoadSteps.Thefollowingtimehistorycurveshowsour
loadstepsandtimesteps.Notethatforthereducedmethod,aconstanttimestepisrequired
throughoutthetimerange.

Wecandefineeachloadstep(loadandtimeattheendofloadsegment)andsavetheminafile
forfuturesolutionpurposes.Thisishighlyrecommendedespeciallywhenwehavemanyload
stepsandwewishtorerunoursolution.
Wecanalsosolveforeachloadstepafterwedefineit.Wewillgoaheadandsaveeachloadstep
inafileforlateruse,atthesametimesolveforeachloadstepafterwearedonedefiningit.
a. LoadStep1InitialConditions
i. DefineLoadStep

Weneedtoestablishinitialconditions(theconditionatTime=0).Sincethe
equationsforatransientdynamicanalysisareofsecondorder,twosetsofinitial
conditionsarerequiredinitialdisplacementandinitialvelocity.However,both
defaulttozero.Therefore,forthisexamplewecanskipthisstep.
ii. SpecifyTimeandTimeStepOptions
SelectSolution>LoadStepOpts>Time/Frequenc>TimeTimeStep..
setatimeof0fortheendoftheloadstep(asshownbelow).
set[DELTIM]to0.001.Thiswillspecifyatimestepsizeof0.001
secondstobeusedforthisloadstep.

iii. WriteLoadStepFile
SelectSolution>LoadStepOpts>WriteLSFile
Thefollowingwindowwillappear

EnterLSNUM=1asshownaboveandclick'OK'
Theloadstepwillbesavedinafilejobname.s01
b. LoadStep2
i. DefineLoadStep
SelectSolution>DefineLoads>Apply>Structural>Force/Moment>
OnNodesandselecttherightmostnode(atx=1).Enteraforcein
theFYdirectionofvalue100N.
ii. SpecifyTimeandTimeStepOptions
SelectSolution>LoadStepOpts>Time/Frequenc>TimeTimeStep
..andsetatimeof0.001fortheendoftheloadstep
iii. WriteLoadStepFile
Solution>LoadStepOpts>WriteLSFile
EnterLSNUM=2
c. LoadStep3
i. DefineLoadStep
SelectSolution>DefineLoads>Delete>Structural>Force/Moment>
OnNodesanddeletetheloadatx=1.
ii. SpecifyTimeandTimeStepOptions
SelectSolution>LoadStepOpts>Time/Frequenc>TimeTimeStep
..andsetatimeof1fortheendoftheloadstep
iii. WriteLoadStepFile
Solution>LoadStepOpts>WriteLSFile
EnterLSNUM=3
5. SolvetheSystem

SelectSolution>Solve>FromLSFiles
Thefollowingwindowwillappear.

CompletethewindowasshownabovetosolveusingLSfiles1to3.

Postprocessing:ViewingtheResults
Toviewtheresponseofnode2(UY)withtimewemustusetheTimeHistPostProcessor(POST26).
1. DefineVariables
Inherewehavetodefinevariablesthatwewanttoseeplotted.Bydefault,Variable1is
assignedeitherTimeorFrequency.InourcaseitisassignedFrequency.Wewanttoseethe
displacementUYatthenodeatx=1,whichisnode#2.(Togetalistofnodesandtheir
attributes,selectUtilityMenu>List>nodes).
SelectTimeHistPostpro>VariableViewer...andthefollowingwindowshouldpopup.

SelectAdd(thegreen'+'signintheupperleftcorner)fromthiswindowandthefollowing
windowshouldappear

WeareinterestedintheNodalSolution>DOFSolution>YComponentof
displacement.ClickOK.
Graphicallyselectnode2whenpromptedandclickOK.The'TimeHistoryVariables'
windowshouldnowlookasfollows

2. ListStoredVariables
Inthe'TimeHistoryVariables'windowclickthe'List'button,3buttonstotheleftof'Add'
Thefollowingwindowwillappearlistingthedata:

3. PlotUYvs.frequency
Inthe'TimeHistoryVariables'windowclickthe'Plot'button,2buttonstotheleftof'Add'
ThefollowinggraphshouldbeplottedinthemainANSYSwindow.

Afewthingstonoteintheresponsecurve
Thereareapproximately8cyclesinonesecond.Thisisthefirstmodeofthe
cantileverbeamandwehavebeenabletocaptureit.
Wealsoseeanotherresponseatahigherfrequency.Wemayhavecapturedsome
responseatthesecondmodeat52Hzofthebeam.
Notethattheresponsedoesnotdecayasitshouldnot.Wedidnotspecifydamping
foroursystem.

ExpandtheSolution
Formostproblems,oneneednotgofurtherthanReviewingtheReducedResultsastheresponse
ofthestructureisofutmostinterestintransientdynamicanalysis.
However,ifstressesandforcesareofinterest,wewouldhavetoexpandthereducedsolution.
Let'ssayweareinterestedinthebeam'sbehaviouratpeakresponses.Weshouldthenexpanda
feworallsolutionsaroundonepeak(ordip).Wewillexpand10solutionswithintherangeof
0.08and0.11seconds.
1. Expandthesolution
SelectFinishintheANSYSMainMenu
SelectSolution>AnalysisType>ExpansionPass...andswitchittoONinthewindow
thatpopsopen.
SelectSolution>LoadStepOpts>ExpansionPass>SingleExpand>RangeofSolu's

Completethewindowasshownbelow.Thiswillexpand10solutionswithingtherangeof
0.08and0.11seconds

2. SolvetheSystem
Solution>Solve>CurrentLS
SOLVE

3. ReviewtheresultsinPOST1
ReviewtheresultsusingeitherGeneralPostprocessing(POST1)orTimeHist
Postprocessing(POST26).Forthiscase,wecanviewthedeformedshapeateachofthe10
solutionsweexpanded.

DampedResponseoftheCantileverBeam
Wedidnotspecifydampinginourtransientanalysisofthebeam.Wespecifydampingatthesame
timewespecifyourtime&timestepsforeachloadstep.
Wewillnowrerunourtransientanalysis,butnowwewillconsiderdamping.Hereiswheretheuseof
loadstepfilescomesinhandy.Wecaneasilychangeafewvaluesinthesefilesandrerunourwhole
solutionfromtheseloadcasefiles.
Openupthefirstloadstepfile(Dynamic.s01)foreditingUtilityMenu>File>List>Other>
Dynamic.s01.Thefileshouldlooklikethefollowing..
/COM,ANSYSRELEASE5.7.1UP2001041814:44:0208/20/2001
/NOPR
/TITLE,DynamicAnalysis
_LSNUM=1
ANTYPE,4
TRNOPT,REDU,,DAMP
BFUNIF,TEMP,_TINY
DELTIM,1.000000000E03
TIME,0.00000000
TREF,0.00000000
ALPHAD,0.00000000
BETAD,0.00000000

DMPRAT,0.00000000
TINTP,R5.0,5.000000000E03,,,
TINTP,R5.0,1.00000000,0.500000000,1.00000000
NCNV,1,0.00000000,0,0.00000000,0.00000000
ERESX,DEFA
ACEL,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000
OMEGA,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000,0
DOMEGA,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000
CGLOC,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000
CGOMEGA,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000
DCGOMG,0.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000
D,1,UX,0.00000000,0.00000000
D,1,UY,0.00000000,0.00000000
D,1,ROTZ,0.00000000,0.00000000
/GOPR

ChangethedampingvalueBETADfrom0to0.01inallthreeloadstepfiles.
Wewillhavetorerunthejobforthenewloadstepfiles.SelectUtilityMenu>file>Clear
andStartNew.
RepeatthestepsshownaboveuptothepointwhereweselectMDOFs.AfterselectingMDOFs,
simplygotoSolution>(Solve)FromLSfiles...andinthewindowthatopensupselectfiles
from1to3instepsof1.
Aftertheresultshavebeencalculated,plotuptheresponseatnode2inPOST26.Thedamped
responseshouldlooklikethefollowing

CommandFileModeofSolution

TheaboveexamplewassolvedusingamixtureoftheGraphicalUserInterface(orGUI)andthe
commandlanguageinterfaceofANSYS.ThisproblemhasalsobeensolvedusingtheANSYS
commandlanguageinterfacethatyoumaywanttobrowse.Openthe.HTMLversion,copyandpaste
thecodeintoNotepadorasimilartexteditorandsaveittoyourcomputer.Nowgoto'File>Read
inputfrom...'andselectthefile.A.PDFversionisalsoavailableforprinting.