Explicit Dynamics Analysis Settings

Chapter 8
Explicit Dynamics:
Analysis Settings
ANSYS Explicit Dynamics
ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

© 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. 8-1 Inventory #002665
Explicit Dynamics: Analysis Settings
Analysis Settings Training Manual
• Analysis Settings are grouped in six categories

– Step Controls
– Solver Controls
– Damping Controls
– Erosion Controls
– Output Controls
– Analysis Data Management

• Specifies directory where project data will be stored
• End Time is the only required input

– All other options have defaults

Step Controls Training Manual
• Solve Initiation
– Resume From Cycle
• Specifies the cycle (time step) from which to start the Solve.
– Default (cycle 0) is to start at the beginning (time zero).
• When resuming a simulation, changes to analysis settings will be
respected where possible.
– e.g. you often wish to resume a simulation with an extended End Time.
• Changes to any other features in the model (geometry
suppression, connections, loads, etc….) will not be respected.
• List of cycles from which to resume will only be populated if a
previous solve has been executed and restart files generated.
• Solve Termination
– Maximum Number of Cycles
• Specifies the maximum number of cycles (time increments)
allowed for the simulation.
– The simulation will stop once the specified value is reached.
– Enter a large number (default) to ensure simulation runs to the End
Time.
– End Time (no default)

• Defines the timescale that you want the simulation to run.
• Enter a reasonable estimate for this parameter since it controls the
length of time the simulation will take to run.
• Used in other pre-processing objects (such as tabular loads) and
also to define the scale for Chart output of results objects.

• Maximum Energy Error
– Solution stops if the energy error exceeds the Maximum

Energy Error (expressed as a fraction)
Reference Energy = Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy
Current Energy = Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy
Work Done = Work done by constraints

+ Work done by loads
+ Work done by body forces
+ Energy removed from system by element erosion
+ Work done by contact penalty forces
• Reference Energy Cycle
– Defines the cycle at which the solver calculates the

reference energy
• Usually the start cycle (default)

• Example energy conservation graph for model with symmetry plane and erosion

• Time Step Controls

– Initial Time Step
• If left on Program Controlled (recommended), the initial time step
will be automatically set to ½ the smallest initial element stability
time step
– Minimum Time Step

• If the time drops below this value the simulation will stop
• If left on Program Controlled (recommended), the value will be
set to 1/10th the Initial Time Step
– Maximum Time Step

• Solver will use the minimum of this value or the computed
stability time step
• Program Controlled is recommended
– Time Step Safety Factor

• Safety factor is applied to the computed stability time step
– Default (0.9) should work for most simulations

• Automatic Mass Scaling

– Masses in smaller elements are scaled up to increase the
time step used in the simulation
– Additional input is required for this option
• Minimum CFL Time Step
– Minimum CFL time step to be obtain with mass scaling
• Should be larger that the observed CFL time step
• Maximum Element Scaling.

– Limits the ratio of scaled mass / physical mass that can be applied to
each element in the model.
• If this ratio is exceeded, the simulation will stop with an error message.
• Maximum Part Scaling

– Limits the ratio of scaled mass / physical mass that can be applied to
an individual body.
• If this ratio is exceeded, the simulation will stop with an error message.
• Update Frequency
– The frequency (in cycles) that mass scaling is performed.
• A value of zero (default) means mass scaling is only done once, at the start of
the simulation
• Caution! Mass scaling introduces additional mass into the

system to increase the CFL time step. Introducing too much
mass can lead to unphysical result.
• Automatic Mass Scaling
Standard Timestep 2.0e-5 Mass scale timestep 1.0e-4
5x Increase in DT
0.02% Increase in mass
Mass scaling summary is in the Print file (.prt)

Solver Controls Training Manual
• Solve Units
– The units the solver will use for the simulation
• For accuracy, only (mm, mg, ms) are allowed
• Different units can be used to set up problems and
view results.
• Beam Solution Type

– Bending (default, most accurate)
– Truss
• Beam Time Step Safety Factor
• Hex Integration Type

– Exact (default, most accurate)
– 1pt Gauss (faster)
• Shell Sublayers
– Used to compute Stress Resultants and Bending
Moments
– Default (3) usually provides sufficient accuracy

• Shell Shear Correction Factor
• Shell BWC Warp Correction
• Shell Thickness Update

– Nodal
– Elemental
• Tet Pressure Integration

– Average Nodal
– Constant
• Shell Inertia Update

– Recompute (default, most accurate)
– Rotate (faster)
• Density Update
– Program Controlled (default, recommended)
– Incremental
– Total

• Minimum Velocity
– Computed nodal velocities below the
Minimum Velocity will be set zero
• Eliminates small velocities cause by noise
• Default is usually OK
• Maximum Velocity
– Computed nodal velocities above the
Maximum Velocity will be set equal to
the Maximum Velocity
• Can increase time step by eliminating
high velocities that are not influencing the
required solution
• Default is very large
• Radius Cutoff
– Nodes with the Radius Cutoff of a
symmetry plane will be snapped onto the
symmetry plane
Damping Controls Training Manual
• Three types of damping can be applied and

controlled for Explicit Dynamic Analyses
– Artificial Viscosity
• Introduced to prohibit instabilities developing
from shock formation / propagation
– Hourglass Damping
• Introduced to prohibit “hourglass” deformation
modes developing in solid hex elements and
quad shell elements
– Static Damping
• Applied to allow a static equilibrium solution to
be obtained from an Explicit Dynamic analysis

Artificial Viscosity Training Manual
• Shock discontinuities are generally not stable

• Usually, the diffusion inherent in numerical solutions is sufficient to keep
them stable, but solutions can be noisy
• Artificial Viscosity is used to
– Ensure stability by smearing shock discontinuities into rapidly varying, but
continuous, transition regions
– Reduce noise
• Two terms are used to apply Artificial Viscosity
– Quadratic (stabilizes the solution)
– Linear (reduces noise)
⎡⎛ ⎛ V& ⎞ ⎞
2
⎛ V& ⎞⎤ V&
q= ρ ⎢ ⎜⎜ CQ d ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎟⎟ −C L c⎜⎜ ⎟⎟⎥ for <0
⎢⎝ ⎝V ⎠⎠ ⎝ V ⎠⎥⎦ V
⎣
V&
=0 for >0
V
CQ is the Quadratic Artificial Viscosity coefficient
CL is the Linear Artificial Viscosity coefficient
• Both terms impose further restrictions on the time step

– Not usually very significant
• Default Values are recommended
– Use carefully to avoid over-diffusion of real solution

Artificial Viscosity Training Manual
Quadratic Viscosity ensures stability Linear Viscosity reduces noise

Hourglass Damping Training Manual
• Two formulations are available for the corrective forces used to

resist hourglass deformation modes of hexahedral elements.
– AUTODYN Standard (default, most efficient)
• Generates hourglass forces proportional to nodal velocity differences.
• Often referred to as a viscous formulation.
* f KF (X& )
2
FH = C H ρcV 3
Where FH is a vector of the hourglass forces at each node of the element,

CH is the Viscous Coefficient, ρ is the material density, c is the material
sound speed, V is the material volume and f (X& ) is a vector function of
element nodal velocities aligned with the hourglass shape vector
– Flanagan Belytschko
• Invariant under rigid body rotation (i.e. hourglass forces sum to zero)
• Recommended for simulations in which large rotations of hexahedral
elements are expected.
* f FB (X& )
2
FH = C H ρcV 3
• Vector function of element nodal velocities is orthogonal to both linear

velocity field and rigid body field.
– Viscous Coefficient usually varies between 0.05 and 0.15. The

default value is 0.1.

Hourglass Damping Training Manual
• The sum of the hourglass forces applied to an element is normally zero.

– Momentum of the system is unaffected by hourglass forces.
• Energy associated with hourglass forces is

– stored locally in the specific internal energy of the element
– recorded globally over the entire model

Static Damping Training Manual
• Explicit Dynamics is primarily designed for solving transient

dynamic events.
• Using the static damping option, a static equilibrium solution can
also be obtained.
– Introduces a damping force proportional to the nodal velocities,
aimed to critically damp the lowest mode of oscillation of the static
system.
– Solution is computed dynamically until it converges to an equilibrium
state.
– Need to judge when the equilibrium state is achieved.
• Value of Static Damping (Rd) for critical damping of the lowest

mode of vibration is
2 ∆t T
Rd =
1 + 2 π ∆t T
where T is the period of the lowest mode of vibration of the system
(or close approximation).
– Expect solution to converge to static equilibrium in roughly 3T if

critical damping is applied.
– If T is not known accurately, over-estimates it, rather than
underestimate it.
– Approximate values of ∆t and T can be obtained by first performing
a dynamic analysis without static damping.
Erosion Controls Training Manual
• Erosion is a numerical mechanism for the automatic removal

(deletion) of elements during a simulation.
Defaults
– Removes very distorted elements before they become inverted
(degenerate).
– Ensures time step remains reasonably large.
– Ensures solutions can continue to the End Time.
– Can be used to allow simulation of material fracture, cutting and
penetration.
• There are three options available to initiate erosion of elements.
• On Geometric Strain
– An element erodes when its Effective (geometric) strain exceeds the

Geometric Strain Limit.
• Typical values range from 0.5 to 2.0. The default value of 1.5 can be used
in most cases.
– Effective strain is calculated from the principal strain components as
[( ) (
ε eff = ε 1 +ε 2 +ε 3 − (ε 1ε 2 +ε 2 ε 3 +ε 3ε 1 )+3 ε 122 +ε 232 +ε 312
2 2 2 2
3
)]12
– Custom result EFF_STN can be used to review effective strain.

• On Material Failure
Defaults
– An element erodes immediately upon material failure.
• Elements using damage models will erode if the damage value reaches
1.0.
• On Minimum Element Time Step

– An element erodes when its local element time step, multiplied by
the time step safety factor falls below the Minimum Element Time
Step.
– Custom result TIMESTEP can be used to review local element time
steps.
• Erosion options can be used in any combination.

– Elements will erode if any of the criteria are met.
• Retain Inertia of Eroded Material

– If this option is selected, and all elements connected to a node in the
mesh erode, the inertia of the resulting free node is retained. i.e. the
free node continues to transfer momentum in subsequent impacts.
– If not selected, all free nodes are removed from the simulation.

• Examples – Erosion
Penetration of Multi-layered Target
Damage Plots for Glass Targets
Never use only the eroded regions shown in

material plots to determine the extent of damage
Always use Failure / Damage plots to see the full
extent of the damage (particularly when
comparing results with experiments)
Bird Strike
Output Controls Training Manual
• Results
Defaults
– Results files contain data used for the main post-processing
operations in Explicit Dynamics (Contour Results, Probe Results,
etc…).
– Save Results on
• Equally Spaced Time Points (specify Number of points)
• Cycles (specify Cycles frequency)
• Time (specify Time frequency)
– By default, 20 results files are generated for a Solve which

terminates at the specified End Time.
• Restart files
– Restart files contain all information required by the solver to run
(or restart) the simulation.
– Save Restart Files on

• Equally Spaced Time Points (specify Number of points)
– By default, 5 restart files are generated for a Solve which

terminates at the specified End Time.

Output Controls Training Manual
• Result Tracker data

Defaults
– Result Tracker files contains time history data for probes
– Save Result Tracker Data on
– By default result tracker data is recorded every cycle.
• Frequency may need to be reduced for long running
simulations.
• Solution Output
– Solution Output contains general data for the overall
solution (momentum and energy summaries, energy
conservation, e.t.c.)
– Save Solution Output Data on
– By default, solution output data is recorded every 100
cycles.
• Frequency may need to be reduced for long running
simulations.
Workshop 6 – Oblique Projectile Impact Training Manual
Goal:
Perform oblique impact / penetration analysis (with erosion)
Procedure:
Create an Explicit Dynamics (ANSYS) Analysis System Project
Select the units system and define the materials
Import and mesh the armour geometry
Define analysis settings (including erosion), initial conditions, boundary conditions
and body interactions
Initiate the solution (AUTODYN - STR) and review the results

Workshop 7 – Add mass scaling to Can Crush Training Manual
Goal:
Add mass scaling to previous aluminum soda can crushing simulation
Procedure:
Duplicate the existing Explicit Dynamics (ANSYS) Analysis System Project
Review the results from the prior run without mass scaling
Identify elements that are reducing the time increment size
Turn on mass scaling and re-run the simulation
Compare the settings and results from the two simulations
Peak Mass
Addition

Explicit Dynamics Analysis Settings

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Explicit Dynamics Analysis Settings

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Chapter 8

ANSYS Explicit Dynamics

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Analysis Settings are grouped in six categories

– Analysis Data Management

• End Time is the only required input

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

– End Time (no default)

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Maximum Energy Error

– Solution stops if the energy error exceeds the Maximum

Reference Energy = Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy

Current Energy = Internal Energy + Kinetic Energy + Hourglass Energy

Work Done = Work done by constraints

• Reference Energy Cycle

– Defines the cycle at which the solver calculates the

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Time Step Controls

– Minimum Time Step

– Maximum Time Step

– Time Step Safety Factor

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Automatic Mass Scaling

• Maximum Element Scaling.

• Maximum Part Scaling

• Caution! Mass scaling introduces additional mass into the

• Automatic Mass Scaling

Standard Timestep 2.0e-5 Mass scale timestep 1.0e-4

Mass scaling summary is in the Print file (.prt)

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Beam Solution Type

• Beam Time Step Safety Factor

• Hex Integration Type

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Shell Shear Correction Factor

• Shell BWC Warp Correction

• Shell Thickness Update

• Tet Pressure Integration

• Shell Inertia Update

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Three types of damping can be applied and

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Shock discontinuities are generally not stable

• Both terms impose further restrictions on the time step

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

Quadratic Viscosity ensures stability Linear Viscosity reduces noise

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Two formulations are available for the corrective forces used to

Where FH is a vector of the hourglass forces at each node of the element,

• Vector function of element nodal velocities is orthogonal to both linear

– Viscous Coefficient usually varies between 0.05 and 0.15. The

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• The sum of the hourglass forces applied to an element is normally zero.

• Energy associated with hourglass forces is

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009

• Explicit Dynamics is primarily designed for solving transient

• Value of Static Damping (Rd) for critical damping of the lowest

– Expect solution to converge to static equilibrium in roughly 3T if

• Erosion is a numerical mechanism for the automatic removal

• There are three options available to initiate erosion of elements.

– An element erodes when its Effective (geometric) strain exceeds the

– Custom result EFF_STN can be used to review effective strain.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary February 27, 2009