Learning Forum

[Leonacn]

Hi everyone, I am actually on my way to judge the Ansys Workbench compared to Creo simulation for my future workplace. I installed Ansys 2019 R2 and all went okay. then dragged "Structural Mech." in workspace and imported geometry file...but when I double-click the "Model" which launches ANSYS Mechanical module, it says error in attach of design object (see picture)...I really cannot solve this issue myself...and is left with the feeling of trying Creo Simulation first. Hope some kind sole can help me out  

[peteroznewman]

The ANSYS Student license Terms of Use, which you agreed to when you downloaded the software, are copied below.

Terms of Use

By selecting “AGREE & DOWNLOAD” below, you agree that: (1) The software license you are downloading is an Educational License and will be used solely by you for personal educational purposes; (2) The analysis work performed with the program(s) must be non-proprietary work; (3) The program(s) may not be used for competitive analysis (such as benchmarking) or for any commercial activity, including consulting; (4) The license does not include any Technical Enhancements or Technical Support beyond the self-guided support material provided on the Support Resources webpage; (5) U.S. export laws apply to this software and you are responsible for complying with those laws; (6) The Click Wrap Software License Agreement that will appear during installation of the software will govern this and any subsequent licenses downloaded through this student web page.

Reread part (3), it prohibits competitive analysis (such as benchmarking).  That is what you are proposing.  You should not be doing that with the Student license.

If your future employer is a company, an authorized company representative should contact ANSYS and request Product Sales Support.

A serious evaluation would not be done on a Macintosh running a Windows emulator like Parallels since that is not a supported platform for ANSYS.

[Leonacn]

Fair enough, but it is in my thesis project I am using this FEA for calculating torsion limits in an object. My contract for the company first starts on 01.02.2020. Since I was selling Ansys very good to my future workplace, my leader there are in fact in the consideration of buying a license for Ansys to me. But he suggested if I could give Creo Simulation a try also, since Creo is their one and only 3D-partner as of today. So i see that I am closing in on the part (3) in the terms from Ansys, but honest I see it more like a personal preference opinion like you would do with many other applications from time to time before deciding which is the best for your own taste  

[peteroznewman]

So do your thesis with the ANSYS Student license and learn how to use it. Then in January 2020, when you are working at the company, request a commercial trial of ANSYS.  The commercial trial would include the ANSYS CAD interface to Creo that lets you import Creo files into the Geometry cell. Then you can use parameters in the Creo file in Workbench to explore the design using Creo to generate the geometric shapes.  You can't do that with the Student license.

Before you start at the company, ask them to provide you with an appropriate computer for ANSYS. That means a minimum of 4 cores, a 3.4 GHz clock, 64 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD for storage and a tested graphics card.

While you are on the ANSYS Student license for the next six weeks doing your thesis, don't use Import Geometry in Workbench, it doesn't work. First open SpaceClaim, then use that to open most other CAD files including Creo.  That will be a one-time import of the geometry and will not import any parameters.  You can recreate parameters inside SpaceClaim if needed.  Once imported into SpaceClaim, the geometry will be transferred to Mechanical for model building.