Learning Forum

[Nanda Veralla]

Hello iprestes,

If I were you, I would not add 36 time steps. Instead I would do it in 1 step, but add 36 substeps in all of initial, min and max substeps options. This will divide my load into 36 fractions and apply the load slowly. For example if you have 36N of force acting, ansys will apply 1N load in each substep and increments each substep by 1N load. So, in 1st substep your model will experience 1N load, in 2nd substep your model will experience 2N load.

Whereas, if you give 36 timesteps, and you don't have a proper tabular data. Ansys will give 36N load in 1st step and repeat the same for next 35 steps. Additional timesteps are only required when we have multiple types of loads. Let's imagine 2 metal plates, assembled with a bolted joint. The joint has some pretension, and one of plates is being pulled by an external force. We are interested in effect of self-weight too. For a complex case like this, I would take 3 time steps. Apply only gravity in 1st step. In 2nd step, I would apply pretension to the bolt. In the 3rd, lock the pretension and apply the external force to one of the plate. 

I hope this gave you a better understading. Let us know if you face any difficulties.

Best,

Nanda