In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by Sean Katsarelis form Polycharge for a discussion on how they leverage the ANSYS Startup Program and simulation tools to disrupt the world of capacitor technology.
Listen as they discuss the various capabilities and applications best suited for this market, along with updates on the worlds of PADT and ANSYS.
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
So you have results for a job that took several hours to run, or several days, and now you realize that you need to use a post-processing command snippet. In the past, prior to version 14.5, this would be a huge problem, because just adding the command snippet in the Solution branch would trigger a resolve. So, in those cases, we would usually just jump over to MAPDL to do the post-processing. In version 14.5, however, ANSYS allowed you to add the snippet to the Solution branch without triggering a resolve.
When you hit “Evaluate All Results”, Mechanical will copy the files to a scratch directory and start a separate MAPDL session. This leads to a secondary problem. Often you need to select nodes or elements to use during your snippet. This is usually done with a Named Selection, or a material ID that you saved to a parameter in a Geometry command snippet. The problem is that the Named Selections, or components in MAPDL, are not saved in the RST file, neither are parameters. They are stored in the DB file. If you thought ahead, then in the Analysis Settings, you set the ‘Save DB file’ option to ‘Yes’ before you solved. In your post-processing command snippet you could then use the RESUME command to bring the database back to the state that it was just before the solve – having all your Named Selections and parameters. But since the default is to not save the DB file, odds are that you don’t have it. It’s okay, though. There are still some options.
The first thing I
recommend is that you save the solved project, and then do a ‘Save As’ to make
a copy from which to work, just in case something goes wrong.
Method 1:
When you hit
the Solve button in Mechanical, it writes out a ‘ds.dat’ file that then gets
run in a batch MAPDL run.
If you have all of your needed Named Selections
setup prior to the Solve, then you can open an MAPDL session and use the
File>Read Input From… command to read in the ds.dat file. In
interactive mode, the file stops just before the Solve command, so you can then
save the database file at that point. You
then need to right-click on the Solution branch in Mechanical and hit “Open
Solution Directory”, in to which you need to copy the new “file.db” file.
Then you can resume the file.db in your post-processing command snippet.
If you need to add a new Named Selection, you can add a new one, even in
14.5, without triggering a resolve, but then you will have to write out a new
input file. To do this, highlight the Solution branch in the tree, go to
Tools>Write Input File…, and then follow the procedure above.
Method
2:
If you are using version 17.1 or later, you have another option. You can Right-click on a Name Selection and choose “Create a Nodal Named Selection”. Then right-click that new nodal named selection and hit “Export Selections to CDB File”. You can select several Nodal Named Selections to export, and the export will all go to one file. Include that text in your snippet.
Method 3:
In R19.2, the
Named Selections are now stored in the RST file. If you don’t need to add a new
Named Selection, then can you access the Named Selections that were created
prior to the solution run. After a SET
command in your snippet, you can just use the name in the NSEL command, as I
did in the picture above, with no need to include the CMBLOCK from the CDB
file. If you need a new Named Selection,
however, then you have to use Methods 1 or 2 above.
Pitfalls:
Now that all
sounds somewhat difficult, and it actually gets worse. With Method 1, you have
to know at least enough MAPDL to open it and read in the input file, and then
save the database file.
With Method 2
and 3, the parameters are still not saved in the RST file. So if you need
parameters that were created in earlier command snippets, then you have to go
back to Method 1.
But there’s
hope!!
Method
4: Oh, Joy!!!
There is one other thing that you can
do, and this is my favorite method. (Probably because I wrote it. J)
There is now a new free ACT extension in the ANSYS App store. It is
called SAVE_DB, and was written because yours truly got tired of dealing with
the other three methods above. SAVE_DB
allows you to save the MAPDL database file without having to solve the
Mechanical model, or cause a resolve. SAVE_DB will automatically change the
Analysis Settings > Analysis Data Management > Save MAPDL DB value to
“Yes” so that future resolves are also saved. MAPDL will be run in
the background on the same version as the Workbench project, and the “file.db”
will be saved to the Solver Files Directory.
Now any new Named Selections that you add will be ready at the push of a
button. This one:
This is the
first of many helpful tools planned for a PADT_Toolkit. I will post another
plug, I mean ‘blog’, when I get more tools added and the PADT_Toolkit uploaded
to the APP Store. Until then enjoy
SAVE_DB!
PADT’s Simulation Support Manager, Ted Harris for a discussion on what updates have been made available in the 2019 R1 version on ANSYS Mechanical. Listen as they discuss the various capabilities and applications for this new release, along with what makes these updates so significant.
Want to learn more about what to expect in ANSYS Mechanical 2019 R1? Check out PADT’s webinar covering everything you need to know about the tool’s latest update.
Watch here: https://bit.ly/2SSntmd
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
From designers and occasional users looking for quick, easy, and accurate results, to experts looking to model complex materials, large assemblies, and nonlinear behavior, ANSYS Mechanical enables engineers of all levels to get answers fast and with confidence.
With applications for everything form strength analysis to topology optimization, it’s no wonder this comprehensive suite of tools continues to serve as the flagship mechanical engineering software solution.
Impressive performance just got even faster with ANSYS Mechanical’s ability to run models with large contact areas up to 2X faster.
Join PADT’s Simulation Support Manager, Ted Harris for a look at this update along with what other new capabilities are available for ANSYS Mechanical, in the latest version; 2019 R1.
This presentation will feature exploration into updates regarding:
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In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by Sina Ghods from the Simulation Support Team and Judd Kaiser of ANSYS Inc. for a discussion on the latest offering from ANSYS: ANSYS Cloud; a tool that allows you to take advantage of the speed and computing power of ANSYS simulation products, all without the need for expensive hardware. Listen as they discuss the various capabilities and applications for this new tool and share their excitement about what impact this will have on the world of engineering.
Want to learn more about what to expect in ANSYS Cloud? Check out PADT’s webinar covering everything you need to know about the tool’s latest update.
Watch here: https://bit.ly/2U7blzj
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
Engineering simulation has long been constrained by fixed computing resources available on a desktop or cluster. Today, however, cloud computing can deliver the on-demand, high performance computing (HPC) capacity required for faster high-fidelity results offering greater performance insight.
ANSYS Cloud delivers the speed, power and compute capacity of cloud computing directly to your desktop — when and where you need it. You can run larger, more complex and more accurate simulations to gain more insight into your product — or you can evaluate more design variations to find the optimal design without long hardware/software procurement and deployment delays.
Join PADT’s Application & Simulation Support Engineer Sina Ghods for a look at how ANSYS is working to drive adoption by providing users a ready to use cloud service that offers:
If this is your first time registering for one of our Bright Talk webinars, simply click the link and fill out the attached form. We promise that the information you provide will only be shared with those promoting the event (PADT).
You will only have to do this once! For all future webinars, you can simply click the link, add the reminder to your calendar and you’re good to go!
In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by Sina Ghods, and Tom Chadwick from the Simulation Support Team for a discussion on their favorite updates available in the latest release of ANSYS Fluent so far, followed by an update on news and upcoming events pertaining to PADT and ANSYS Simulation.
Want to learn more about what to expect in ANSYS Fluent 2019 R1? Check out PADT’s webinar covering everything you need to know about the tool’s latest update.
Watch here: https://bit.ly/2SJBFC4
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
I was on the gondola up at Keystone for night-skiing a week ago, after a long day at Beaver Creek, because the last thing I am going to do at 3:00 pm is try to make it back to Denver, as everyone knows it’s hardly more than a parking lot at that point. As it gets later, there’s nothing like a solo gondola ride, however, a solo ride would stop this story right about now.
On the gondola, I overheard a conversation where one gentleman was discussing how he was unable to open the hatch of his vehicle when his skis are in his roof rack. That’s fair, I know older WRX wagons with the spoiler would not be able to open with skis on the roof no matter what, so I figured that was the case. It turns out, that was NOT the case. The reason his hatch would not open was that he orients the skis with the tails forward because it is ‘more aerodynamic’ that way… I was skeptical, but held my tongue, knowing that I had the tools at my disposal to investigate!
I decided to make a model that would allow me to simulate various conditions to get to the bottom of this. My initial hypothesis is that the addition of the ski rack and crossbars is what has the largest effect on aerodynamics, and orientation of the skis probably has a negligible effect after that. As a side note, I am solely concerned with aerodynamics in this case, and am not worrying about the amount of the ski’s base material that is exposed for a given orientation. I am of the mindset that tree trunks and hidden rocks on the mountain are more of a danger to your bases than small rocks on the highway anyway. If you are waiting to comment, “Just get a roof box!”, I understand as I own both a box and a rack at this point, and they both have their advantages, and I will not be exploring the aerodynamics of a box…
…yet…
I was able to start by finding some faceted geometry of a Subaru Forester online (I’m from Colorado, can you tell?) and was able to import that into ANSYS Spaceclaim. Once in Spaceclaim, I was able to edit the faceted geometry to get nice exterior panel surfaces, which I then combined to get a single clean faceted exterior for the car.
Faceted Forester Geometry (Equipped with factory side rails)
After that, I used Spaceclaim to generate the remainder of the rack and skis, including crossbars, a ski rack, and a pair of skis (Complete with the most detailed bindings you have ever seen!). I made a combined part of the crossbars, rack, and skis for each one of my orientations, as this allows me to report the forces on each combined part during the simulation.
Added CAD geometry for the crossbars, ski rack, and a pair of skis
For the simulation, I used ANSYS Discovery Live, the newest tool from ANSYS that allows for instant and interactive design exploration. This tool lets me actively add my CAD geometry and shows results in realtime. I was able to start with just the car and then add and swap my ski/rack geometry with simple button clicks. With traditional simulation tools, I would have needed to create a mesh for each one of these cases, analyze them one at a time, and the post-process and compare results after the fact. After launching Discover Live, it’s as easy as selecting the type on analysis I want to run.
The various types of solutions that can be done in ANSYS Discovery Live. For the purpose of this blog, I am using ‘Wind Tunnel’
Once I have selected ‘Wind Tunnel’ for my solution, I can select my geometry, and then am prompted for the direction of flow, as well as selecting the ‘floor’ of my domain. Once that is done, results show up on the screen instantly. I only needed to modify the flow velocity to ~65 mph. I am most interested in the force on the faces of the combined crossbars, rack, and skis in each orientation, so I created Calculations for each one, which is done by simply selecting the part and using the popup toolbar to create the graph.
Popup toolbar allows for the quick creation of solution calculations
I was already off and running. I ran each one of the cases until the force plot had become steady.
Car Only
Skis Tips Forward Orientation
Skis Tails Forward Orientation
Seeing that the force results for the Tips Forward vs. Tails Forward cases were very similar, I decided I should also run a ‘Bases Up’ Orientation, even though I STRONGLY advise against this, as UV wrecks the base material of your skis/snowboard.
Ski Bases Up and Tips Forward Orientation
In addition to the contour plot shown in the images above, you can also use emitters to show streamlines and particle flow, which also give some pretty neat visualizations.
Streamlines shown on the Tips Forward orientation
Particle Emitter shown on the Tips Forward orientation
The graph plots show values for the Total Y Force for Tips Foward, Tails Forward, and Bases Up orientations to be 37.7 N, 39.1 N, and 37.1 N, respectively. Using Discovery Live, I was able to quickly run all 3 of these simulations, showing that there is not a major difference in the forces on the ski rack between the three orientations. So, put the skis on the roof in the direction that makes life easiest for you, and keep those bad boys paired to protect your bases from the sun, because splitting them isn’t going to help with aerodynamics anyway!
Next steps would be taking a specific case and running in 2D, then 3D, in ANSYS Fluent.
Over time Ziad Melham, one of PADT’s support engineers, has developed a variety of tips and tricks for ANSYS Mechanical that he shares with users when providing them with support. In this video, Ziad shares that same information with all users.
Users of ANSYS mechanical, both new and experienced, will find them helpful in making their simulation pre- and post-processing more efficient. Please enjoy and do not hesitate to share with your co-workers.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a tool with amazing flexibility, accuracy and breadth of application. Serious CFD, the kind that provides insights to help you optimize your designs, could be out of reach unless you choose your software carefully.
Experienced engineers need to go further and faster with well-validated CFD results across a wide range of applications, and with ANSYS Fluent users are to do just that; delivering reliable and accurate results.
Join Padt’s CFD Team Lead Engineer, Clinton Smith for a look at what new capabilities are available for the latest version of Fluent, in ANSYS 2019 R1.
This presentation will be focused on eight main sections, including:
User Interface
Preprocessing
Workflow Enhancements
Solver Enhancements
Transient Enhancements
Applications
Physics
Optimization
Learn how Fluent is the most effective tool for simulating fluid flow, various types of erosion, and much more.
If this is your first time registering for one of our Bright Talk webinars, simply click the link and fill out the attached form. We promise that the information you provide will only be shared with those promoting the event (PADT).
You will only have to do this once! For all future webinars, you can simply click the link, add the reminder to your calendar and you’re good to go!
PADT is excited to announce the release of ANSYS 2019 R1, the first group of updates for the suite of ANSYS simulation software this year. The release features updates for a wide variety of applications, including simulation for fluids, structures, electronics, 3D design, and much more.
We will be hosting a series of live webinars over the course of 2019 that will allow you to learn about what’s new in this release, from PADT’s team of expert support engineers.
Take a look at the following upcoming product update webinars for 2019 R1 and register by clicking the links below.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a tool with amazing flexibility, accuracy and breadth of application. Serious CFD, the kind that provides insights to help you optimize your designs, could be out of reach unless you choose your software carefully. Experienced engineers need to go further and faster with well-validated CFD results across a wide range of applications, and with ANSYS Fluent users are able to do just that; delivering reliable and accurate results.
Join Padt’s CFD Team Lead Engineer, Clinton Smith for a look at what new capabilities are available for the latest version of Fluent, in ANSYS 2019 R1.
From designers and occasional users looking for quick, easy, and accurate results, to experts looking to model complex materials, large assemblies, and nonlinear behavior, ANSYS Mechanical enables engineers of all levels to get answers fast and with confidence. With applications for everything form strength analysis to topology optimization, it’s no wonder this comprehensive suite of tools continues to serve as the flagship mechanical engineering software solution.
Join PADT’s Simulation Support Manager, Ted Harris for a look at what new capabilities are available for ANSYS Mechanical, in the latest version; 2019 R1.
In today’s world of high performance electronics and advanced electrification systems, the effects of electromagnetic fields on circuits and systems cannot be ignored. ANSYS software can uniquely simulate electromagnetic performance across component, circuit and system design, evaluating temperature, vibration and other critical mechanical effects.
Join PADT’s Electrical Engineer, Michael Griesi for a look at what new capabilities are available with regards to High Frequency Electromagnetics, in the latest version of ANSYS; 2019 R1
The ANSYS 3D Design family of products enables CAD modeling and simulation for all design engineers. Since the demands on today’s design engineer to build optimized, lighter and smarter products are greater than ever, using the appropriate design tools is more important than ever.
Join PADT’s Simulation Support Manager, Ted Harris for a look at what exciting new features are available for design engineers in both Discovery Live and AIM, in ANSYS 2019 R1.
If this is your first time registering for one of our Bright Talk webinars, simply click the link and fill out the attached form. We promise that the information you provide will only be shared with those promoting the event (PADT).
You will only have to do this once! For all future webinars, you can simply click the link, add the reminder to your calendar and you’re good to go!
In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by some very special guests, to discuss how their company makes use of ANSYS IcePak, followed by PADT’s thoughts on the information delivered at this year’s ANSYS Sales Kickoff.
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
PADT is excited to announce the agenda for our 2019 Tucson ANSYS User Conference. This single day event brings together ANSYS users, partners, and industry experts for networking, learning, and sharing of innovative ideas.
Join us after work at Brother John’s BBQ from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm to explore the role ANSYS simulation plays right here in Tucson Arizona.
This free event will feature PADT’s Simulation Support Manager discussing ANSYS offerings in the realm of additive manufacturing, as well as talks from the founders of Tucson based companies, such as:
Food and drink will be provided.
Check out the full agenda below for more information on the presenters & their talks:
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to connect with other ANSYS users who call the city of Tucson Arizona their home. Secure your spot today.
In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by PADT’s Simulation Support Manager Ted Harris, and Specialist Mechanical Engineer Joe Woodward, for a discussion on their predictions for ANSYS in 2019, and a look back at our predictions from 2018.
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
Eric Miller, Tom Chadwick, Joe Woodward, & Ahmed Fayad
Description:
In this episode your host and Co-Founder of PADT, Eric Miller is joined by PADT’s Simulation Support Team, including Tom Chadwick, Joe Woodward, and Ahmed Fayad for a round-table discussion of their favorite ANSYS features released in 2018, along with news regarding the PADT and ANSYS worlds.
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to suggest a topic for the next episode, shoot us an email at podcast@padtinc.com we would love to hear from you!
