Preface

Preface (UP19980818 )

Topics in This Manual

This manual, the ANSYS Modeling and Meshing Guide describes how to plan and build (or import) models and how to use coordinate systems and working planes. It also describes how to create coupled models and how to work with external programs such as CAD packages.

Topics in Other ANSYS Manuals

Several other manuals in the ANSYS documentation set explain how to use various capabilities of the ANSYS program:

The ANSYS Operations Guide discusses basic procedures for using the ANSYS product: how to start it and stop it, how to conduct an ANSYS session, hints and tips for using the product's graphical user interface (GUI), etc.
The ANSYS Advanced Analysis Techniques Guide describes procedures and topics commonly used by ANSYS users who have extensive experience in using the program, in complex analyses, or both. Among other topics, this document discusses how to optimize designs, how to use submodeling and substructuring to enhance analyses of problems that are large or require extensive computer resources, and how to use the ANSYS Parametric Design Language to create parameters and macros, and other items that simplify model building

Additional manuals in the documentation set explain how to perform analyses for various disciplines, describe theory and ANSYS implementation of it, and ANSYS command syntax.

Conventions This Manual Uses

This manual uses several conventions to help you identify various types of information:

Type style or text

Indicates

BOLD

Uppercase, bold text indicates command names (such as K, DDELE, etc.)

Bold>Bold

Bold text in mixed case indicates a menu path, which is a series of menu picks used to access a command from the GUI. One or more angle brackets (>) separate menu items in a menu path. Frequently in text, an ANSYS command is followed by its GUI equivalent in parentheses:
the *GET command (Utility Menu>Parameters>Get Scalar Data)

ITALICS

Uppercase italic letters indicate command arguments for numeric values (such as VALUE, INC, TIME). On some commands, non-numeric convenience labels (for example, ALL and P) can also be entered for these arguments.

Italics

Mixed case italic letters indicate command arguments for alphanumeric values (for example, Lab or Fname). The manual also uses italic text for emphasis.

TYPEWRITER

Typewriter font indicates command input listings, ANSYS output listings, and text that an ANSYS user enters.

Note-

This text introduces note paragraphs. A note contains information that supplements the main topic being discussed.

Caution:

Paragraphs that begin with the word "Caution" in bold warn you about actions or situations that potentially may cause problems or unexpected ANSYS behavior or results.

Warning:

Paragraphs that begin with the word "Warning" in bold warn you about actions or situations that can shut down the ANSYS program, can damage files, etc.

The ANSYS Product Family

In addition to ANSYS/Multiphysics, ANSYS, Inc. offers a variety of derived products (listed below) with features tailored for specific finite element analysis disciplines. Manuals in the ANSYS documentation set (particularly the ANSYS Commands Reference and ANSYS Elements Reference), frequently use two-character codes to indicate which ANSYS products can use a specific capability, command, element, etc. This information is important, because some command arguments and element KEYOPT settings have defaults in the derived products that differ from those in the ANSYS/Multiphysics product.

The "Product Restrictions" sections of the descriptions of the affected commands and elements clearly document such cases. If you plan to use a derived product input file in the ANSYS/Multiphysics product, explicitly input these settings in the derived product rather than using the default. Otherwise, your file will not behave as you expect. The following table summarizes the primary ANSYS derived products and their capabilities. (The Y indicates which capabilities each product offers.) The key preceding the capabilities table lists each ANSYS product code and its related ANSYS product.

Capabilities Offered by Each ANSYS Product

Code

Product

Code

Product

Code

Product

Mp

ANSYS/Multiphysics

Th

ANSYS/Thermal

PP

ANSYS/PrepPost

Me

ANSYS/Mechanical

FL

ANSYS/FLOTRAN

ED

ANSYS/ED

St

ANSYS/Structural

E3

ANSYS/Emag 3-D

Dy

ANSYS/LS-DYNA

LP

ANSYS/LinearPlus

E2

ANSYS/Emag 2-D

DP

ANSYS/LS-DYNA PrepPost

Capability

ANSYS Product Codes

Mp

Me

St

LP

Th

Fl

E3

E2

PP

ED

Dy

DP

Linear Stress:

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Structural Nonlinear:

Geometric

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Material

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Element

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Dynamic Analysis:

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Modal

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Spectrum

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Harmonic

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Random Vibration

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Structural Transient:

Linear

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Nonlinear

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Buckling:

Linear

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Nonlinear

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Substructuring:

Y

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Thermal:

Steady State

Y

Y

-

-

Y

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Transient

Y

Y

-

-

Y

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Conduction

Y

Y

-

-

Y

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Convection

Y

Y

-

-

Y

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Radiation

Y

Y

-

-

Y

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Phase Change

Y

Y

-

-

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

CFD:

Steady State

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Transient

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Incompressible

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Compressible

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Laminar

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Turbulent

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Natural Convection

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Forced Convection

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Conjugate Heat Transfer

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Multiple Species

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Electromagnetics:

Magnetostatics

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Low Frequency Transient

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Low Frequency AC Harmonic

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Electrostatics

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Current Conduction

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Circuit Coupled

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

High Frequency Modal

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Y

-

-

High Frequency AC Harmonic

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Y

-

-

Field and Coupled -Field:

Acoustics

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Acoustics-Structural

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Electric- Magnetic

Y

-

-

-

-

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Fluid- Structural

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Fluid-Thermal

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Magnetic- Fluid

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Magnetic-Structural

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Magnetic-Thermal

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Piezoelectrics

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Thermal-Electric

Y

Y

-

-

Y

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Thermal-Structural

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Electro-Magnetic-ThermalStruct

Y

Y

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

-

Solvers:

Frontal

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Sparse

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Iterative

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

Y

-

-

Explicit

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Y

-

Preprocessing:

IGES Geometry Transfer

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Solid Modeling

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Meshing

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Loads and Boundary Conditions

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Postprocessing:

Contour Displays

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Vector Displays

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Animation

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Results Listing

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Output (VRML, Postscript,TIFF)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Submodeling:

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

-

Optimization:

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

-

ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL):

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

See the ANSYS Basic Analysis Procedures Guide Preface for product information.

Type style or text	Indicates
BOLD	Uppercase, bold text indicates command names (such as K, DDELE, etc.)
Bold>Bold	Bold text in mixed case indicates a menu path, which is a series of menu picks used to access a command from the GUI. One or more angle brackets (>) separate menu items in a menu path. Frequently in text, an ANSYS command is followed by its GUI equivalent in parentheses: the GET command (Utility Menu>Parameters>Get Scalar Data*)
ITALICS	Uppercase italic letters indicate command arguments for numeric values (such as VALUE, INC, TIME). On some commands, non-numeric convenience labels (for example, ALL and P) can also be entered for these arguments.
Italics	Mixed case italic letters indicate command arguments for alphanumeric values (for example, Lab or Fname). The manual also uses italic text for emphasis.
`TYPEWRITER`	Typewriter font indicates command input listings, ANSYS output listings, and text that an ANSYS user enters.
Note-	This text introduces note paragraphs. A note contains information that supplements the main topic being discussed.
Caution:	Paragraphs that begin with the word "Caution" in bold warn you about actions or situations that potentially may cause problems or unexpected ANSYS behavior or results.
Warning:	Paragraphs that begin with the word "Warning" in bold warn you about actions or situations that can shut down the ANSYS program, can damage files, etc.

Code	Product	Code	Product	Code	Product
Mp	ANSYS/Multiphysics	Th	ANSYS/Thermal	PP	ANSYS/PrepPost
Me	ANSYS/Mechanical	FL	ANSYS/FLOTRAN	ED	ANSYS/ED
St	ANSYS/Structural	E3	ANSYS/Emag 3-D	Dy	ANSYS/LS-DYNA
LP	ANSYS/LinearPlus	E2	ANSYS/Emag 2-D	DP	ANSYS/LS-DYNA PrepPost