Learning Forum

[avgJoe]

I am trying to explore the relationship between between different cross-section geometries of cantilever beams and their total deformation given a set of specific load cases. Hence, I generated several thousand beams with different geometries, and would like to perform the exact same analysis (e.g. load cases, constraints, meshing, etc.) on each of them automatically, and then save the results in a file.

 

1) Is this possible in the student version?

2) Is this possible in the full version of ANSYS multiphysics?

If it is possible, how is it done? I was unable to find documentation on how to do this kind of automation.

 

The process would consist of loading a cantilever beam froma .STEP file, apply a constraint to one end, and a load/force to another, and then save the resulting total-deformation in a text file.

 

(I attached an example STEP file)

[peteroznewman]

Here is the cross section of your sample body.  It looks pretty random to me but I am familiar with Random Design methodology.

Are there some parametric variables that describe how this shape changes from sample to sample?

How does the shape change in relation to the global XY origin? Are all the load cases end forces and moments?

ANSYS has a lot of capability to parameterize shapes and automatically analyze them. Review this Tutorial. Consider creating one parametric version of the beam and have that change shape as different parametric values are fed to the geometry engine. This would be easier to automate running large number of analyses.

If your goal is to optimize the shape to achieve some goal and comply with some constraints, ANSYS has built in Design Exploration tools and Optimization engines.  These tools are available in the Student license.  The limitation in the Student license is the number of nodes in the mesh, it must be < 32,000.

 

[avgJoe]

Dear peteroznewman,

 

Your tutorial is very helpful. I think, I may be able to use this as a workaround.

 

To give you more context. I am generating data for a machine learning experiment and thus already have thousands of beams with random cross-sections. So ideally, I would like to work with those. However, if that is more difficult, I would be happy to generate both the data and the analysis using the ANSYS toolbox.

 

After defining the study, e.g. load a beam, define design parameters, apply constraints and loads would there be a way for me to

a) programatically fill out the table of design points (or load a csv or similar)?

b) save each beam as a CAD file (e.g. STEP or similar)?

c) run all of the above from the same script so the whole pipeline is automated?

 

I know that it is not possible to execute the commands you executed in Space Claim or Mechnical directly from the Workbench Script, but rather one needs to call on a JScript macro for the respective program. Is there a tutorial that shows how to do the entire workflow from code alone? (Especially a sample of the JScript file)