Applying a pure torque to a circular shaft should produce torsional deformation without bending. However, a finite element model may show an unexpected bending component even when the geometry, loading direction, and boundary conditions appear correct. This article uses a simple circular shaft to demonstrate how an automatically generated mesh can introduce a small unbalanced … Continue reading When a Pure Torque Causes Bending: The Limitation of Automatic Meshing in SolidWorks Simulation and a Comparison with Ansys Mechanical
Solid elements
Thermo-structural Simulation: An Example of Laser Welding Process
Laser welding is a highly localized heat input process in which a moving heat source induces steep thermal gradients. These gradients lead to thermal expansion and contraction generating residual stresses. They may also cause material softening or phase changes in the heat-affected zone. From a modelling perspective, laser welding process is a sequentially coupled problem … Continue reading Thermo-structural Simulation: An Example of Laser Welding Process
Layered Composite Modeling using Ansys ACP – A Wind Turbine Blade
A wind turbine blade is a long, hollow structural component made of composite material. Due to its slender nature, it is important to conduct a buckling design test to prevent such failure in service. This post illustrates how to use Ansys ACP to set up composite materials and apply them to wind turbine blade buckling … Continue reading Layered Composite Modeling using Ansys ACP – A Wind Turbine Blade
Analysis of the strength of rotor punching under centrifugal force
Rotor core punching Rotating machinery can withstand significant centrifugal force during operation. Therefore, the strength of a rotor punching should be analyzed. This problem was solved using Workbench. Considering the periodicity of the rotor punching and load, a 1/8 model was created and cyclic symmetric boundaries were defined. The model consists of a rotor punching … Continue reading Analysis of the strength of rotor punching under centrifugal force
Orthotropic Material-Modelling a Wood Pallet Using SolidWorks Simulation
The post provides a detailed walkthrough of modeling a wood pallet using SolidWorks Simulation, including material properties, coordinate systems, contact areas, and result interpretation.
A comparison between ANSYS Mechanical and Simulation in SolidWorks
A Comparison between ANSYS Mechanical and SolidWorks Simulation
The large deformation analysis of a hyperelastic tensile test sample
This example shows the static analysis of a tensile test sample made of rubber. The dimensions of the sample are shown in the following figure. The thickness of the sample is 1.5mm. Using the symmetry, only 1/8 of the sample is analyzed. After solving the 1/8 model, the results of the full model can be … Continue reading The large deformation analysis of a hyperelastic tensile test sample
The application of contact elements: A bolted beam-column connection
In this post, we are going to explore the application of CONTA174 (i.e. 3D 8-node face-face contact element). CONTA174 is used to represent contact and sliding between 3D target surfaces and a deformable surface defined by this element. It can be used for both pair-based contact and general contact. In the case of pair-based contact, … Continue reading The application of contact elements: A bolted beam-column connection
The application of MACRO and *DOWHILE
In this post, I will show an example of using MACRO and *DOWHILE. The APDL is developed to model an experiment as shown below. Essentially it is a clamped-clamped cracked beam carrying a body. An important feature of the body is that its mass distributes far away from its centroid, hence the rotary inertia would … Continue reading The application of MACRO and *DOWHILE
Contact analysis: a bolted flange connection
A typical bolted flange connection (see Fig.1) is modeled in this example. Fig.1. The geometry of the model. Only the 1/4 model is created due to symmetry. The challenges in this example are as follows: Complicated geometry. Applying pretension to bolts. Multiple load steps. Modeling contact. It is worth mentioning that a special element Prentension179 … Continue reading Contact analysis: a bolted flange connection
Xutao Sun 