Design Modeler Evaluation Guide A Quick Tutorial Ansys, Inc.

March, 2005

2005 ANSYS, Inc.

Last modification: May, 26th - PTH ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Agenda

Introduction Overview of the GUI Parametric Modeling Defeaturing and parametrizing an imported geometry Handling thin models Mid-Surfacing Slicing Internal volumes Enclosure

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Introduction

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Purpose of this tutorial

This tutorial will guide you through the basics of Design Modeler. It is not meant to be an in-depth training. You will learn how to:
Model a parametric geometry Defeature an existing geometry before simulating Slice models to get specific mesh properties Handle thin models Create internal volumes Enclosures

You need about 4 hours to go through the entire tutorial. You might skip one part or the other, since they are independent. However, if you would like to have a broader understanding of the functionalities, we strongly encourage you to follow the full tutorial, especially the Parametric Modeling part.

Make sure you read the GUI overview since it defines a few required notions that will allow you to understand the explanations of each section.
All examples can be done with DesignModeler 9.0 except the mid-surface one (version 10.0)

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Overview of the GUI

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

GUI Overview
GUI Layout:

Two Basic Modes of Operation Sketching tab (2D)

Modeling tab (3D)

The menus and toolbars accept user input and commands Tool bars can be docked and re-sized to meet users preference

Mode Tabs

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

GUI Overview
Menus, Toolbars, Pull-down Lists Tree Pane

GRAPHICS (Model View)

Mode Tabs Details Pane

Display Triad

Status/Info Bar
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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Main Menu
Main menu:

File: basic file operations Create: 3D creation and modification tools Concept: Tools to create line and surface bodies Tools: global modeling operations, parameter management, program customization View: modify display settings. Help: access documentation

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Toolbars

File management

Sketching Only

Selection filters/tools

Plane/Sketch Controls

Graphics controls

3D geometry tools

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Documentation

On-Line Help Copyright and Support Info

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Accessing Help Topics

Search Tab

Contents Tab

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Basic Mouse Functionality

Basic mouse control (3 button mouse assumed):
LMB
Geometry selection <CTRL> + LMB adds/removes selected entities Hold LMB and sweep cursor = continuous selection

MMB
Free Rotation (shortcut)

RMB
Box Zoom (shortcut) Open context menus

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Selecting

Selection Filters
Model features are identified by graphically picking them (selecting) using the left mouse button Feature selection is done by activating one of the selection filters (also from RMB)

New Selection Single/Box Selection 2D Points, PF Faces 2D Edges, Model Points, 3D Edges, Line Edges Vertices

Extension Options Solid Bodies, Surface Bodies, Line Bodies

Adjacent/Flood Select In select mode the cursor changes to reflect current selection filter (it will match the icon). Adjacent Select, selects surfaces or edges adjacent to the current selection. Adjacent Select will pick all model surfaces within a tangent tolerance of that surface or edge.

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Selecting

Selection Filters
Selection filters can also be set via RMB on the Model View:
In Sketching Mode:

In Modeling Mode:

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Selecting

Mouse Selection

Ctrl +

Add to or remove from current selection set

Depends on current selection filter (lines, surfaces, etc.)

+
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Paint Select - hold left mouse button then move (paint) mouse over entities to be selected

Hold

Depends on current selection filter (lines, surfaces, etc.)

Note: To un-select all, click once in a blank area of the geometry window
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Selecting

Selection Panes
Selection Panes allow selecting hidden geometry (lines, surfaces, etc.) after initial pick
Panes are color coded to match part colors (for assemblies) Multi-select techniques apply to selection panes as well

Initial mouse click Note, each plane represents an entity (surface, edge, etc) that an imaginary line would pass through starting from the initial mouse click location and proceeding into the screen in the normal viewing direction.
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Selecting

Box Selection
The Selection Toolbar includes a Select Mode button allowing users to select items via Single Select or Box Select
Selection based on currently active filter Type of selection based on dragging direction:
Drag from left to right: items completely enclosed in the box are selected Drag from right to left: items completely and partially enclosed in the box are selected

Left to Right

Right to Left

Note the difference in the hash marks along the edges of the box to help you determine which box selection type will be performed.

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Graphics Controls
Rotate Behavior (LMB): Cursor near center of graphics
screen = free rotations.

Cursor outside center = rotation about Z view.

Cursor near top or side edge of graphics screen = rotations about X (top/bottom) or Y (left/right) axes.

Note: the cursor will change style depending on window location/action

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Graphics Controls
Panning Zoom in/out Box Zoom Fit model to graphics screen Look At: select model feature (surface, line, etc.) then Look At. Model automatically orients normal to feature, centered at pick point.

Additional Mouse Controls While in select mode:

Center mouse button = free rotations. Right mouse button = box zoom. Shift + Center mouse button = zoom.

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Graphics Controls
While in Rotate, Pan, or Zoom mode:
Left click on model temporarily resets center of view and rotation at cursor location (identified by red dot). Left click in open area re-centers model and rotation center to centroid.

Temporary rotational center

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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Context Menus
RMB Context Sensitive Menus appear:
Tree Object

Model View

Print Preview

Tree

Note: to delete a feature: highlight it on Tree, RMB >Delete, or <Delete> using keyboard

Sketch Dimensioning
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GUI - Graphical User Interface

Cursor Modes

Mouse Cursor is context sensitive

Indicates chosen operation
Viewing, Rotation Selecting Sketch AutoConstraints System Status busy, wait

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Parametric Modeling

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Workshop Overview In this workshop, the assembly shown on right will be enhanced. Basic DesignModeler functionality will be covered. The final design is shown on the right

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Open DesignModeler File

Launch Workbench via Start Menu > Programs > ANSYS 9.0 > ANSYS Workbench
In the Start page, select the Geometry icon. Then select the [Browse] button. You will be prompted to select a DesignModeler database to open In the Open dialog box, select the DMQuickIntroModeling.agdb file and click on [Open].

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Create New Plane for 6th Arm

The DesignModeler geometry will be opened and displayed, as shown on the right.

Select ArmCopyPlane5 from the Tree. Select the New Plane icon to create a new plane based on the selected plane
In DesignModeler, new planes for creating sketches can be defined in a number of ways. In this example, the five arms have been created by copying and rotating previous planes by 60, then copying the arm sketch onto the planes.

Change Transform 1 (RMB) to Rotate about Y with the FD1, Value 1 as 60.
The newly-created plane will be renamed to ArmCopyPlane6 and rotated 60 degrees, as noted above.

Click on the Generate icon

when done.

After completing each action, use the Generate icon to have DesignModeler check and execute the new geometric definitions.

In the Details view of the newly-created plane, change the Plane name to ArmCopyPlane6.

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Copy Sketch Instance for 6th Arm

Right-click on ArmCopyPlane6 and select Insert > Sketch Instance
A sketch instance can be thought of as a copy of another sketch. Sketch instances may not be modified directly, but they can be used as a way of using exact copies of other sketches for other features, and these sketch instances will automatically be updated if changes are made to the original sketch

DesignModeler will prompt for a Base Sketch to be used. Select ArmSketch from the Tree, under XYPlane. Click on Apply for Base Sketch to finish the selection.
As noted earlier, sketch instances cannot be modified directly. However, they can be translated, rotated, and scaled by changing definitions FD1 through FD6 in the Details view. For this exercise, no reorientation or rescaling of the sketch instance is necessary.

Click on Generate to apply the new definition. In the Details view, rename Sketch Instance to ArmSketchCopy6.

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Revolve Sketch to Generate 6th Arm

Click on the Revolve button In the Details view, select Base Object, then select ArmSketchCopy6 from the Tree. Click on Apply.
This will provide the profile (sketch instance) to be revolved

In the Details view, select Axis, then select the axis of rotation of the sketch which is parallel to the Global Y-Axis. Click on Apply. Then, change FD1, Angle (>0) to 30.
This provides the axis of revolution, and the amount of rotation is specified to be 30 degrees.

Click on Generate to complete the changes. In the Details view, change the Revolve name to ArmRevolve6

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Freeze the TopBase Body

Freeze the body by selecting Tools menu > Freeze
Freezing and unfreezing bodies are common operations when creating multibody assemblies.
In DesignModeler, there is no distinction between parts and assemblies as in CAD software, and separate files are not used to keep track of parts vs. assemblies. In fact, DesignModeler has a different concept, which is called multi-body parts, where bodies in a part will share coincident nodes on adjacent surfaces when meshed in Workbench Simulation (instead of using contact elements to define the interaction between parts).

Because all parts are created in one database, freezing operations allow the user to specify whether resulting operations will be merged to the current geometry or created separately. Frozen bodies cannot be manipulated, so any further operations will result in new bodies being created. In the next steps, the bottom plate will be created from an extrusion of a sketch. To prevent the bottom and top plates from being merged into one body, the top plate will be frozen to prevent any further manipulation to it, and only the bottom plate will be an active body. Frozen bodies will be shown as translucent, although this can be toggled on/off under View menu > Show Frozen Bodies in Transparent Mode

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Create Plane for Second Body

Rotate the model with the middle-mouse button such that the bottom face is in view Select the bottom face (shown on right) and select the New Plane icon
Note that, depending on the location of the bottom face selected, the origin will be positioned differently. This is because Use Arc Centers for Origin? is set to Yes by default, so the center of whichever arc is closest to the selection point will be used for the origin of the new plane. Make sure that the origin at the center of the model will be used for the plane origin by choosing Base Face in the Details view, then selecting the inner or outer edges of the selected face (this will cause the selection to be near the inner or outer rings, so their center will be used for the origin).

In the Details view, click on Apply for Base Face, if needed.

Additional transformations may be applied, as was done earlier when ArmCopyPlane6 was rotated 60. However, for this plane, no further manipulation of the plane is necessary.

Click on Generate when done. In Details view, rename Plane to BaseBottomPlane.

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Create Sketch for Second Body

Add a new sketch by selecting the New Sketch icon in the toolbar. In the Details view, rename the Sketch to BaseBottomSketch. Select the Sketching tab from the Tree to enter Sketch mode.
In Sketching mode, select Draw: Circle and create a circle with the outer radius equal to the plane boundary.
When doing this, note that when the cursor is near the center of the plane, the letter P will be displayed. This is an auto-constraint which will allow the user to easily set constraints when creating sketches. Make sure that the center is constrained to the origin of the plane (P=coincident Point constraint), then move the cursor to the outside diameter of the plane. Note that the T letter will be shown when the cursor is near the outer diameter. Click again to set the radius with an autoconstraint equal to the outer radius (T=Tangent to outer diameter).

Create another circle with a small radius

Ensure that the center is coincident with the origin of the plane (with the P auto-constraint). Create the outer radius to be somewhere as shown on right. Note that the color of the line is teal underconstrained lines are shown in teal whereas fully-constrained lines (like the outer radius) is shown in blue.

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Create Sketch for Second Body (contd)

Select Dimensions: General and click on the teal inner circle sketch. Specify the dimension location with another left-mouse click.
The Dimensions section allows users to specify various types of dimensions. The General and Semi-Automatic are the most common options the former allows generic specification of distance, length, or radius dimensions whereas the latter tries to select all underconstrained aspects of the sketch.

Use the Dimensions: Edit and select the newlycreated dimension. In the Details view, rename the Diameter to INNERDIAM.
Renaming the sketch dimensions is not required, but it makes parameter or dimension assignment (shown later) much easier, if the items have descriptive names.

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Extrude to Create Second Body

Return to modeling mode by choosing the Modeling tab beneath the Tree. Select the Extrude icon on the toolbar
In the Details view, ensure that Base Object is set to BaseBottomSketch, the newly defined sketch. If not, the sketch can be reassigned by selecting the item next to Base Object, selecting the BaseBottomSketch from the Tree, then selecting Apply. The extrude Direction should be set to Normal, then set the FD1, Depth (>0) to 1 inch.
Since the extrusion Type defaults to Fixed, this creates an extrusion in the planes normal direction at a fixed distance of 1 inch. Note that, in the Graphics window, a preview outline of the new extrusion will be shown.

Click on Generate to create the Extrusion. In the Details view, rename the Extrude name to BaseBottomExtrude

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Provide Dimensional Assignment

In this step, the inner diameter of the bottom body will be set to twice the value of the inner radius of the top body

Select XYPlane: BaseProfile sketch. Turn off the solid geometry and view normal to the sketch.
The BaseProfile sketch, used to create the top body, will be shown. Note that it is a cross-section sketch which was revolved about the Y-Axis. There is a dimension called INNERRADIUS that defines the inner radius of the center hole.

Turn the solid geometry display back on and select the Parameters icon from the toolbar. In the Parameter/Dimensions Assignment tab, type
BaseBottomPlane.INNERDIAM=2*XYPlane.INNERRADIUS in the

window. Select the Check tab, then the Close tab.

The dimension assignment is done by specifying the Parent name, then the dimension name. In this case, INNERRADIUS is from XYPLANE, and INNERDIAM is from the BaseBottomPlane. Hence, to make the diameter of one equal to twice the radius of the other, the above expression is entered in the Parameter window.

Click on the Generate icon.

Notice that, now, the center hole of the bottom body is the same diameter (3 inches) as the center hole of the top body. Because a dimensional assignment is made, if the radius of the top body hole changes, so will the hole in the bottom body.

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Cut Holes in Second Body

From the Tree, expand HoleCut and select the HoleProfile sketch. Then click on Extrude.
The same sketch used to create the holes in the upper body can also be used to modify the lower body. A sketch is not limited for use for a single part/body.

In the Details view, change the Extrude name to BaseBottomHoleCut. Change Operation to Cut Material and ensure that the Direction is set to Normal
Although considered an extrusion, the type of extrusion can be changed between adding or removing material. Adding a frozen body is also possible, as well as imprinting faces. The direction is selected as Normal, but it can be changed to be a given vector based on the normal of a selected surface or by vectors defined by selected edges or vertices.

Select To Surface for the Type of cut. For the target face, select the bottom-most face, as shown highlighted on the right.
Extrusions can be performed by specifying a distance or, in this example, by selecting a surface. If a surface is selected, this allows the cut to always be a certain depth, even if the thickness of the second body is changed.

Click on Generate when done.

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Create Top Cut in LowerBase

Expand the 2 Parts, 2 Bodies branch in the Tree. Rename the second Body to LowerBase. Right-click on the LowerBase branch and select Hide Body.
Renaming bodies makes it easier to differentiate bodies when brought into Workbench Simulation. An inner surface needs to be selected, so temporarily hiding the second body makes this easier.

Select the inner cut, as shown in the figure on the right (highlighted surface, indicated with an arrow). Select the New Plane button from the Toolbar. In the Details view, change the Plane name to BottomCutPlane1. Change Transform 1 (RMB) to Offset Z.
A new plane based on a selected surface will be created. This is an outline plane, similar to the one created earlier for the main extrusion of the LowerBase body

Click on Generate when done.

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Create Top Cut in LowerBase (contd)

Select Parameters from the Toolbar. Under the Parameter/Dimension Assignments tab, add BottomCutPlane1.FD1=XYPlane.CUTDEPTH and click on the Check then Close tab.
The BottomCutPlane1 Z-offset was left at zero earlier. By adding a dimension assignment, the z-offset was made to always be equal to the bottom of the surface.

Click on Generate when complete.

Unhide the LowerBase body by right-clicking the item in the Tree and selecting Show Body With BottomCutPlane1 selected in the Tree, click on the Extrude icon from the Toolbar. Change the Extrude name to BaseBottomCut1. Change Operation to Cut Material with a Direction of Normal. FD1, Depth (>0) should be changed to 0.5 inches. Click on Generate when done.
Instead of using a sketch to create a cut, a plane (outline plane) created earlier was used. This outline plane is based on a surface, so, if the surface changes, the outline plane will be updated accordingly.

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Create Bottom Cut for LowerBase

Select the bottom face of LowerBase body, then create a New Plane. Rename the Plane to BottomCutPlane2. If needed, select Base Face and adjust the origin to be at the center of the model, as shown on the right. Then click on Generate.
Recall that, with Use Arc Center for Origin? set to Yes, the origin of the new plane will be defined using the closest arc where the plane was selected. Using Base Face, the user can reselect the face near the centermost circle to use the center as the origin for the new plane.

Enter sketching mode by selecting the Sketching tab in the Tree. Create a circle coincident with the origin (P autoconstraint symbol should be shown), then dimension the circle with a 7 inch diameter.
Entering sketch mode will automatically create a new sketch (if not previously defined) on the selected base plane (or surfaces). Creating and dimensioning a circle uses the same steps as done earlier in creating the main extrusion of LowerBase. If the P coincident-point auto-constraint is hard to differentiate with the C coincident-line auto-constraint, turn off the line select filter from the toolbar (circled on right). Then, only points (i.e., the origin) will be selectable, and the P auto-constraint will be easily generated.

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Create Bottom Cut for LowerBase (contd)

Re-enter Modeling mode by selecting the appropriate tab from the Tree. In the Details view, rename the sketch to BottomCutSketch2.

Select the Extrude icon from the toolbar. In the Details view, rename the Extrude to BaseBottomCut2. Change Operation to Cut Material. Respecify the Direction to Reversed, with a fixed distance (FD1, Depth (>0)) of 0.3 inches. Click on Generate when done.

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Create First Bolt Head

Select the top face of the TopBase body, as illustrated on the right. Create a New Plane. In the Details view, rename the Plane to BoltHeadPlane and change the Base Face such that the origin is at the center of one of the holes. Click on Generate when completed.

Select the Sketching tab to enter sketch mode. Create a circle with a P auto-constraint at the origin of the newly created BoltHeadPlane. Dimension this to make the diameter equal to 1.2 inches.
Recall that if the P auto-constraint symbol does not readily appear, change the selection filter to points only. This makes it easier to have the coincident point P autoconstraint, as only existing points are now selectable.

Re-enter Modeling mode, and rename the sketch to BoltHeadSketch.

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Create First Bolt Head (contd)

Select the Extrude icon. In the Details view, rename the Extrude to BoltHead with a fixed depth of 0.2 inches in the normal direction. Click on Generate when done to create the bolt head.
Note that a new body is created since TopBase is a frozen body.

Hide the solid model geometry by toggling off the Display Model icon from the toolbar Select BoltHeadPlane and create a New Sketch. Rename this Sketch to BoltShaftSketch.
A new sketch to define the bolt shaft will be created

Enter Sketching mode by selecting the tab below the Tree.

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Create First Bolt Head (contd)

Create a similar circle as done earlier for the bolt head with Draw: Circle and a P auto-constraint at the plane origin. Dimension the diameter with Dimensions: General. Rename the dimension with Dimensions: Edit, and enter BOLTSHAFTDIAM for the Diameter in the Details view.

Open the Parameters window from the toolbar. Under Parameters/Dimension Assignments, enter

BoltHeadPlane.BOLTSHAFTDIAM=TopBasePlane.CUTDIAM ETER-0.1 to specify the bolt diameter to have a 0.1 inch

clearance compared with the hole. Click on the Check tab to verify the result of the dimension assignment, then click on the Close tab.
After specifying the dimension assignment, the BOLTSHAFTDIAM parameter will have a D next to it in the Details view, indicating that it is a driven dimension.

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Create First Bolt Head (contd)

Re-enter Modeling mode by selecting the tab below the Tree. With BoltShaftSketch selected, click on the Extrude icon from the toolbar. In the Details view, change Extrude to BoltShaft. Specify the extrusion Direction as Reversed. For Type, change to To Surface. For the Target Face, select the bottom-most surface of LowerBase, as shown on the right. Click on Generate when done.
In this case, instead of creating an extrusion of a fixed distance, existing geometry is used as a reference point for the extrusion depth. In this way, if the depth of the TopBase or LowerBase bodies change, so, too, will the bolt shaft.

To copy the bolt, select Create menu > Body Operation In the Details view, change Type to Copy. For Bodies, select the newly-created bolt body. For Source Plane, select ArmCopyPlane1 from the Tree. For Target Plane, select ArmCopyPlane2. Click on Generate to create the new copy of the bolt.
Although ArmCopyPlane1 and ArmCopyPlane2 may not lie on the same plane as the bolt body, these two planes are rotated 60 from each other along the same axis of revolution. Hence, these two planes can be used as a way of copying the bolt body 60 to another hole location.

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Copy Bolt Bodies

Rename the Body Operation to Bolt Copy 2 Copy the two bolts again by selecting Create menu > Body Operation. Specify BoltCopy34 as the Body Operation name. Change Type to Copy, and for Bodies, select both bolt bodies. The Source Plane should be ArmCopyPlane1, but specify the Target Plane as ArmCopyPlane3. Click on Generate to create bolts #3 and #4.
In the previous step, ArmCopyPlane1 and ArmCopyPlane2 were used. In this case, because a copy of both bolts are done, a rotation of 120 needs to be specified, so ArmCopyPlane3 is used instead for the target plane.

Repeat the above step to create bolts #5 and #6.

This is done in a similar manner as above, although the specified bodies will now be the newly-copied bolts #3 and #4.

In the Tree, expand the 8 Parts, 8 Bodies menu and rename the bolts as Bolt1 through Bolt6
The resulting assembly should be similar to the one shown on right, with all bodies named accordingly

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Defeaturing and parameterizing

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The model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroDefeaturing.agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroDefeaturing.agdb Click Open Click Generate to refresh the model

This assembly is a Autodesk Inventor part which was attached in Design Modeler.

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We will perform many operations on this part: Body Delete Face Delete Fill Bodies merging Face imprint 46

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Model Import
We now explain how the model was imported in ANSYS Workbench This is just an information, not a step you have to perform.

Starting from the CAD system (Autodesk Inventor in this case), the user just goes to ANSYS 9.0 menu item and select Workbench
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Model import (contd)

This dialog appears. Select Empty project

The geometry is shown under the Link to active CAD geometry item. Click on the file name

Finally create a New geometry based on the CAD part. Once Design Modeler has started, select the appropriate length unit and click the Generate button to import your model.

Note: if you start from a non-associative format (parasolid, sat, Catia), the starting point would be a Link to geometry file (dashed pink ellipse above) instead of the active CAD file. The next steps remain unchanged.
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Steps to be performed 1. Remove body with Body operation 2. Remove holes with Face Delete 3. Remove fillets or chamfers with Face Delete 4. Move bodies with Body operation 5. Create a parametric feature with sketch and extrusion

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Removing unwanted bodies

Select Create->Body Operation Click on the four bodies marked with a cross on this picture (hold CTRL to select multiple bodies at the same time) Make sure the type option of the tool is set to Delete

Click Generate

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Removing holes Face delete

Freeze the full assembly (Tools -> Freeze). We will now remove the holes of the leftmost plate Unfreeze the left plate (Tools>Unfreeze then select left plate) Click Generate

Choose Create->Face Delete Select the inner holes faces as shown right (green highlighted) Click Apply in the tools options. Click Generate to get this

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Removing fillets and chamfers

Freeze the full assembly (Tools -> Freeze). We will now remove the fillets and chamfers out of the circled part

Unfreeze the circled part (Tools->Unfreeze then select part)

Click Generate Pick one face of the part and press RMB. Select Hide all other bodies Choose Create->Face Delete Select the two fillets faces and the chamfer at the bottom Click Apply in the tools options. Click Generate to get this Finally click RMB and select Show all bodies

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Merging objects Partial unfreeze

Another interesting feature of DM concerns the ability to merge parts that have coincident surfaces. Lets try on the yellow parts shown on the right Unfreeze the two parts (Tools>Unfreeze then select both parts Hold CTRL key for multiple parts selection) Make sure the Freeze others is set to yes

Click Generate
Both parts are now merged into a single one

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Adding a parametric feature

We will now add a circular imprint to the model, whose diameter will be parameterized. This kind of imprint is useful to apply load on a specific area that does not belong to the original CAD model First select the face as shown on the picture, then choose Sketching under the tree view (the face contour now appears as a black dotted line) Click the look at sketch icon to get a correct view of the working plane

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Adding a parametric feature (contd)

Draw a circle on the surface as shown here. Go to dimensions, click on General then pick the circle. It automatically adds a diameter dimension to the model.

You can edit the value of the diameter in the option window.
Using horizontal and vertical dimensions let you parameterize the location of the circle based on the sketch main axis. The dimensions can then be changed as we did for the diameter.

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Adding a parametric feature (contd)

Click the Extrude icon Set the options as shown. Make sure you select only the concerned body. Click generate. The top surface now has the imprint on it If you click on Sketch 2 under the Extrude object in the tree, the dimensions are shown in the options dialog. You can change the value of the dimensions and then update your model by clicking Generate

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Handling thin models

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The model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroThinModels.agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroThinModels.agdb Click Open

This assembly is a Autodesk Inventor part which was attached in Design Modeler.

We will transform this solid model into a thin model.

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Model thicknesses

13mm

5mm

6.5mm 10mm
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Understanding the basics of Thin/Surface feature

Lets take a single thin body with 6.5mm thickness and go through various options to get a single surface out of the solid We consider here that the green face is one face we would like to keep (this could be the opposite one as well)
One face kept and translated inward by half the thickness

One face kept and translated outward by half the thickness

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Thin/Surface feature This feature can be used :

to thicken a surface in order to create a volume to hollow a body

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Extracting surface bodies

Freeze the model (Tools>Freeze) Unfreeze the 3 plates with 6.5mm thickness (shown in solid on the picture) Pick one face of each solid Select the thin/surface Feature and set the options as shown Click generate

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Extracting surface bodies (contd)

Freeze the model (Tools>Freeze) Unfreeze the tube with 5mm thickness (shown in solid on the picture) Pick the internal or external faces (you can pick one face and use the Extend Selection tools with Extend to limits)

Select the thin/surface Feature and set the options as shown

Click generate

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Extracting surface bodies (contd)

Repeat the previous operations with the last two solid bodies to get the model shown below

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Extending surfaces
We will now extend the surfaces to touch. Select the Surface Extension tool (Tools->Surface extension)
Target face

Pick the edge of the surface you want to extend as shown on the picture
Select the face to extend to (you could also specify a distance) Click generate
Select the edge to extend

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Extending surfaces (contd)

You can also select multiple edges and multiple surfaces in a single operation. Select the Surface Extension tool (Tools->Surface extension) Pick the edges as shown here
Select the 5 faces of the tube (planes and fillets)

Select the faces of the tube

Click generate

Select the three lines for each blade

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Extending surfaces (contd)

You can also extend the tube to the largest surface. The final result is shown here

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Joining surfaces
If we stop at this stage and mesh the resulting surfaces, we get a mesh similar to the one shown on the right. There is no connection of any kind between the surfaces so all parts are mesh totally independent from each other. Using the Joint feature of Design Modeler will help solve this issue.

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Joining surfaces (contd)

Select the Joint Tool (Tools->Joint) Select the tube, the largest surface and the bottom one then click Apply in the tool options. Make sure Share Topology is set to Yes. Click Generate Clicking on the joint feature just created in the construction tree shows green lines wherever a connection between surfaces exists. The surfaces have now imprints corresponding to their intersections. We will also form a new part with these 3 surfaces, so that they share common nodes at the created intersections. Select Form new part from the Tools menu, pick the three bodies and generate. The bodies are grouped under a Part in the tree

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Joining surfaces (contd)

The mesh now shows the common boundaries (in green on the picture)
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Automated Mid Surfacing (available from DesignModeler 10.0)

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The model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroMidSurface.agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroMidSurface.agdb Click Open

This assembly is a Autodesk Inventor part which was attached in Design Modeler.

We will transform this solid model into a thin model using the mid surfacing tool.

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Extracting surface bodies

Select the Mid Surface tool (Tools>Mid-Surface) In the tool options, select Automatic for the selection method

Set minimum threshold to 0.1mm and maximum threshold to 15 mm (doing this, you set the extreme values for detecting face pairs in other words, the minimum and maximum sheet thickness to work with)
Then select Yes for Find face pairs now

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Face pairs identification

The 20 face pairs found are shown in blue. Now click on generate to extract the mid surfaces
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First result

This extraction also returns a few non desired faces corresponding to the holes

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Removing face pairs

In the tree, click the RMB on Midsurf item and select Edit selections. This reactivates the options Click on Face pairs In the main window, click RMB then Remove face pairs

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Removing face pairs contd

Click each of the fillets near to the holes You have to remove 7 pairs (5 are shown here, the two missing are near the green circled one) Click Apply in the options then the Generate button
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Final extraction

The undesired faces are now removed. If you go over the surface bodies in the tree, you will see that the thickness has automatically been affected to each of the bodies.
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Surface extension and joining You now can extend and join the surfaces as shown in the previous tutorial. Instructions are not repeated here. Click on this link to get back to the previous tutorial

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Slicing

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The Model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroSlicing.agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroSlicing.agdb Click Open

The goal of this tutorial is to show you how to use slicing in order to get a swept mesh of this part. The default mesh obtained on such a part is a tetra mesh as shown.

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Slicing: what does it mean?

Slicing is an operation that will allow you to split a solid into smaller parts. The purpose of slicing can be meshing with hexa (swept) elements but also affecting multiple materials in various areas of the model Three type of slicing are available: Slice Off Faces: a set of faces is selected and a slice will be generated to create a solid from these faces Slice by plane: a plane is chosen and the part is sliced by this plane Slice by sketch: you can use sketches to draw an arbitrary shape that will be used for slicing (using extrusion or revolve features). This last type is not addressed in this tutorial.

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Slicing Off faces

We start slicing the part using the faces of the rightmost feature
Any slice operation can only be performed on frozen bodies. So we freeze everything (Tools->Freeze) Select all the faces of the feature as shown Select Create->Slice and Apply to use the previously selected faces Click generate: your model has now two parts. Since we want to keep a unique body, we will form a new part: select Tools->Form new part, pick all bodies, click Apply and Generate The construction tree should look as indicated Now, if we mesh this new part, we have the result shown to the right. This is a mix of tetra and hexa elements.

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Slicing by plane
Now, the part will be sliced parallel to the XY plane, at two altitudes shown by the green faces on the top left picture. We will also slice it along the third green face perpendicular to the two first. To slice the part at this level, we need creating a plane corresponding to these faces. To do this, pick one of the face, then the Plane icon, then click Generate. The planes look like the right top picture. Once the three planes have been created, select the Slice tool (Create->Slice), set the options to Slice by plane. Select one of the plane as cutting plane. To do this, click on Base Plane, then choose the plane name in the construction tree then click Apply. Finally, Generate.

Repeat the previous step for the 2 other planes.

You now have 8 bodies that you can group into a new part. We still have one solid in the part that is not swept.

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Slicing by plane (contd)

To finalize the model, we will use two additional slices, based upon the two green faces shown on the right. Create the planes corresponding to these two faces and slice the part.

You now have 10 bodies that you can group into a new part. And the mesh is totally swept!

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Internal volumes

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The Model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroInternalVolume. agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroInternalVolu me.agdb Click Open

The goal of this tutorial is to show you how to create the internal volume of an hollow body.

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Filling a part
Select the Fill Tool (Tools->Fill).
Select all the internal faces of the body as shown here in green and click Apply. You must have 10 faces selected

Click Generate
You now have 2 bodies: the original one and the internal volume. You can delete the outer body (Create->Body Operation) Note that the outer body needs be frozen before creating the internal one.

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Enclosures

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The Model
Load the Design Modeler file DMQuickIntroIEnclosure.agdb
Start ANSYS Workbench Choose Empty Project Select Browse under Link to Geometry file Browse to DMQuickIntroEnclosure.agdb Click Open

The goal of this tutorial is to show you how to create an enclosure around this model. In this case, the goal is to create the air surrounding the motor for a electromagnetic simulation.

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Creating the enclosure

Select the Enclosure Tool (Tools->Enclosure)
Set the options as shown here (note that you can choose other enclosure shapes) Click Generate If we cut the enclosure, we can see that it really fills all the gaps between the various solids of the original model.

Internal view of the enclosure

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