Ansys Design Modeler 14.5 Tips and Tricks

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• User Problem – It can take many clicks of

a mouse to achieve the desired function

• The following will show recent usability

enhancements to significantly speed up

operations in Design Modeler

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View Options can be accessed

via toolbar

• Rotate

• Pan

• Zoom

• Much quicker is Middle Mouse

Button (MMB) with key changes

– Rotate

– Shift + MMB : Zoom

– Ctrl + MMB : Pan

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• Often it is useful to use Box Select to lasso lots of

entities quickly

• User may wish to then use Single Select to add or

remove a few entities while holding down Control key

• There is a “quick toggle” option to move between these

modes more quickly without having to navigate the

toolbar

• Hold down RMB and click and release LMB while still holding RMB

to switch between modes

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• Escape: equivalent to New Selection (if button is not grayed out); also accessible via the Selection Toolbar

• Ctrl+A: selects three Body Types: Solid, Surface, and Line • Ctrl+B: equivalent to Selection Filter: Bodies (also

accessible via the Selection Toolbar)

• Ctrl+C: equivalent to Copy (Sketching mode only; also accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

• Ctrl+E: equivalent to Selection Filter: Edges (also

• Ctrl+F: equivalent to Selection Filter: Faces (also

• Ctrl+N: equivalent to Start Over option (also accessible via the File Menu)

• Ctrl+O: equivalent to Load DesignModeler Database option (also accessible via the File Menu)

• Ctrl+P: equivalent to Selection Filter: Points (also

• Ctrl+S: equivalent to Save Project option (also accessible via the File Menu)

• Ctrl+V: equivalent to Paste (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

• Ctrl+X: equivalent to Cut (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the Modify Toolbox)

• Ctrl+Y: equivalent to Redo (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the toolbar)

• Ctrl+Z: equivalent to Undo (Sketching Mode only; also accessible via the toolbar)

• F1: ANSYS Inc. online help with DesignModeler highlighted; for more information, see Help Menu

• F2: Install help

• F3: Apply (during feature creation; for more information, see Apply/Cancel in Plane)

• F4: Cancel (during feature creation; for more information, see Apply/Cancel in Plane)

• F5: equivalent to Generate (also accessible via the 3D

Features toolbar)

• F6: equivalent to Shaded Exterior and Edges, Shaded

Exterior, and Wireframe model appearance controls (toggle between three; also accessible via the View Menu)

• F7: equivalent to Zoom to Fit (also accessible via the

Rotation Modes Toolbar toolbar)

• Ctrl++: Expand selection

• Ctrl+-: Shrink selection

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• Useer Problem – Requirements to

visualise more easily areas of the

geometry and understand issues quickly

• The following will show recent usability

enhancements to improve visualisation

capability in Design Modeler

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Entity Selection Mode • New Selection • Single Select • Box Select • Select Points • Select Edges • Select Faces • Select Bodies

• Extend Selection for multiple

entities –

Toolbars: Selection Tools

Shrink Expand

Hotkeys

Ctrl+: Expand selection Ctrl-: Shrink selection

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• User Problem - Early versions of Design

Modeler did not have the capability to

find overlapping bodies

• The following will show usability

enhancements to find overlaps

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Enabling Beta Features

• To activate “Beta Options”, go to Workbench Schematic Page

– Go to Tools  Options

– Select “Appearance” from tree – Scroll down and enable the check

box of “Beta Options”

• This will activate beta features available in the Design Modeler such as “Body Clash Detection” and “Solid Extension”

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Identifying Body Interferences

•

Switch to Wireframe view for better viewing of clash

•

[Main menu] View  Wireframe

•

Locate various clashes in the geometry as shown

•

In this e.g. both cases involve a compressor casing

•

Adjusting/moving casing may solve problem

Interference between compressor casing & center housing

Interference between compressor blades and casing

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• Tools  Options  Design Modeler  Toolbars to add the most used options to your GUI layout

Toolbar Customization

• Add common operations to your toolbar to speed up feature

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Working on Areas of the Geometry

RMB

• Reduce the display to work effectively on smaller areas using Hide/Expand

options

Or use Hotkey Ctrl-+

RMB

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ToolsOptionsDMGraphics

Default Highlight

Selection = Single Side only “fills” surface in direction of surface vector when chosen

Switching to “Both Sides” is recommended for CFD where inner surfaces are often

required. This option will show the selected face as “filled” from both directions.

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Handling of Multi-Body Parts

• A regular support question is how to

get conformal meshes from DM/AM

•

In DM, where Shared Topology is set to Automatic (default)

– Faces in contact imprinted & fused to form a single face shared between the two

bodies

– Results in Conformal mesh in Ansys Meshing – Common face acts as ‘Interior’ zone in

Fluent

Geometry Configuration – Multi-Body Parts

Common Shared Face DM Part

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Handling of Multiple Parts

•

When multiple parts are attached to a Meshing session a ‘Contact Region’ is automatically created between those parts

•

2 Faces at Contact Region

•

Each part meshed independently

– Results in a non-conformal interface

between the two parts (mesh nodes

on bodies do not line up and are not connected)

– Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in CFX can be defined for the faces at the contact region

Geometry Configuration – Multiple Parts

Contact Region

Independent Faces

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Handling of Multi-Body Parts

•

In DM, where Shared Topology is set to Imprints

– The boundaries of the faces at contact region are imprinted on each other resulting in ‘like’ faces – Contact Region is automatically

created at ‘like’ faces

– Results in Non-conformal interface – Grid Interface in Fluent or GGI in

CFX can be defined for the faces at the contact region

– To create identical mesh on the ‘like’ faces use ‘Match Control’ option (mesh will remain

unconnected)

Geometry Configuration – Multi-body

Parts

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Simplification Tools for Fluid

Extraction

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Simplification Tools for Fluid Extraction

Do you import solid parts with gaps between them ?

Closing those gaps is a necessity before using fluid extraction tools.

The following slides and demo will show you tools that can be used to create contacts between parts in order to extract the fluid.

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Partial contact only, a small cavity would be created

Simplification Tools

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Surface body created from external faces

(visible by red color edge)

Simplification Tools

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Normal extrusion of the surface body to close gap along the hole surface

Simplification Tools

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Partial contact only, small cavities would be created and sharp angle would result from extraction

Simplification Tools

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Details removed

Simplification Tools

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Surface must be created to close gap between 2 pipes Shape and topology are different (number of vertex)

Simplification Tools

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Vertices are projected to split edges in order to get identical topology

Simplification Tools

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A surface is created from the 2 edge loops using Create / Skin Loft

Simplification Tools

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All solid bodies are in contact or intersecting

Fluid Extraction Tools

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Cap surfaces created using Surfaces From Edges to limit the fluid domain

Fluid Extraction Tools

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Fluid Extracted

Fluid Extraction Tools

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Do you work from imported or created CAD with multiple bodies and want to get a conformal mesh (node

matching) ?

Creating a multibody part with automatic option will connect the bodies using a generalized Boolean during transfer to ANSYS Meshing.

The Share Topology command enables you to visualize the result in Design Modeler.

The following slides will show some tools that can help you verify that the result is as expected

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Edge Display Options

• Free Edges - 0 face - Blue

• Single Edges - 1 face - Red

• Double Edges - 2 faces - Black • Triple Edges - 3 faces - Pink • Multiple Edges (>3) - Yellow

• Display Edge Direction • Display Vertices

Toolbars: Display Controls

Note user can use Share Topology option in DM to check connectivity before

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Share Topology Example

Case 1 : Perfectly Aligned Cylinders

Black edges :

- Edges connected to 2 surfaces only - 2 internal surfaces

- Contact in ANSYS Meshing - Non-conformal mesh

Before Share Topology After Share Topology

Purple edges :

- Edges connected to 3 surfaces - Single shared surface

- No contact detected in AM - Conformal mesh

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Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders

Black and Purple edges :

- Sliver surfaces were created

After Share Topology

Hard to visualize on industrial model

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Sliver surfaces generated by Share Topology can be found using Small Entity Search Analysis Tools

Share Topology Example

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To help visualization of problems it is possible to change visibility of edges depending on connection

- Hide

- Thicken

Share Topology Example

Case 2 : Non Coaxial Cylinders

Triple edge hidden,

double edge now visible => problem

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Sometime edges are so close they can’t be seen properly, selection by box enables you to check their number (check at the bottom of the window)

Share Topology Example

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Share Topology Example

Case 3 : Intersecting Cylinders

Multiple Purple edges

- Intersecting body created

After Share Topology

Check the number of bodies, and click on Share Topology in the Tree Outline to highlight them

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Share Topo - Example

Double and triple connected edges at same position; hard to flag visually

Small Entity Search used post Share Topology automatically flags this spike

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Since 14.5 default option for CAD import is Workbench so the geometry is not converted to Parasolid

There is an impact on face faceting quality, even with Facet Quality = 10 the rendering is poor

Workaround : convert curved parts to parasolid

Face faceting

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If you need to generate a model when you open it in DM, check that the option

below is on Partial and not None

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In Win7 Options are saved here :

C:\Users\fmeslay\AppData\Roaming\Ansys\v150\en-us globalPreferences.xml : Workbench

agPreferences.xml : Design Modeler

dsPreferences.xml : Meshing / Mechanical

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How to parameterize creation via patterns?

Do you need to easily create a large number of similar entities on your model, and modify them consistently?

Reproducing entities can typically be achieved by creating patterns of geometric objects. This is consistent with later body operations (e.g. Boolean operations), and can be parameterized.

The hole creation is then followed by a patch generation, provided by a semi-automatic repair tool on boundary faces.

The following slides and demo will show you the capabilities of the pattern tool, and how the multi-entity creation and modification can be

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Multi-Holes Creation

The pattern tools works for three kinds of repetition :

- linear (one direction). - circular (around an axis). - rectangular (two directions).

Several patterns can be performed on the same geometry.

Pattern can be defined from cut out geometry.

Once defined, the number of repetition can be set as a Workbench parameter.

linear pattern

circular pattern

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Repair tool is designed to find and repair 3D and 2D holes

•

3D : fill hole

•

2D : edge delete / surface patch / edge connect If one wants to create surface patches quickly for the

geometry shown (and not close the holes), it can be done by simply creating surface bodies from surfaces and apply repair tool to those surface bodies only.

Multi-Holes Closing

Concept / Surface from face

(thickness 0)

Tools / Repair / Repair Hole

(RMB Select in All Below to

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By default only 50 problems are listed in repair tool. Limit can be changed in Tool / Option / Design Modeler

/Miscellaneous.

After patch creation the 2 extra surfaces can be deleted with Create / Thin Surface / Surface to Remove

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Surface is created from Sketch

Then Pattern is applied to the surface body