Prepare and export for FEA

There are four tasks to perform to prepare and export Dynamic Simulation data for FEA. They are:

Prepare for FEA

  1. On the ribbon, click Dynamic Simulation tab Manage panel Simulation Settings .
  2. On the Dynamic Simulation Settings dialog box, either click AIP Stress Analysis if you want to perform FEA with Inventor or click ANSYS Simulation if you want to prepare a data file for export to ANSYS.
  3. If you want to prepare a data file for export to ANSYS, either enter the file name, with complete path, in the file name text entry box or click save in to select an existing file or create a file for export.

    If you select an existing file, the software overwrites all data currently in the file.

    Note: With Workbench versions 10 (all service packs) and 11 (SP0), you must modify the text file generated by Dynamic Simulation before importation into Workbench. In the “Inertial State” section, the 2 lines labeled “Grounded” and the associated code “0” or “1” must be removed. See the following example.

    In the text file, locate the Inertial State section and make the following modification:

    Before modifying After modifying

    Inertial State

    Body

    pendulum:1

    Grounded:

    0

    ...

    Inertial State

    Body

    pendulum:1

    ...

  4. If you click save in, do the following in the Save in dialog box:
    • Browse to the directory where you want to save the file.
    • Enter a file name in the File name box.
    • Click Save.
  5. On the Dynamic Simulation Settings dialog box, click OK.
  6. Add all joints to the mechanism and add properties to the joints.

Select parts and faces

  1. On the ribbon, click Dynamic Simulation tab Results panel Output Grapher .
  2. In the Output Grapher toolbar click Export to FEA.
  3. On the Export to FEA dialog box, click the selection arrow to activate part selection, if necessary. You can also use the context menu entry Add Part.
  4. In the graphics window, select the parts for which you want a finite element analysis.

    If one or more of the selected parts has other than one face that can be used for FEA, the FEA load-bearing faces selection dialog box opens so that you can define the faces useful for FEA on the selected part.

    Note: Parts that are insufficiently defined have a warning icon to the left of the name.
  5. On the FEA load-bearing faces selection dialog box, select the load-bearing faces for FEA.
    • Click the first part of interest in the Parts Selected for FEA field.

      You can select a load-bearing face for only one part at a time.

      The names of all joints for the selected part appear in the Joints to complete: Load-bearing box.

      Note: Joints that are insufficiently defined have a warning icon to the left of the name.
    • Click the first joint of interest in the Joints to complete: Load-bearing box.
    • If you want the software to automatically select the load-bearing face for the selected joint on the selected part, leave the Automatic Face Selection box checked.

      Although Automatic Face Selection is checked by default, you can override the default by clearing this box.

    • If you want to manually select the load-bearing face for the selected part, uncheck the Automatic Face Selection box, click the selection arrow , and select one or more load-bearing faces for each joint in the selected part.
    • Repeat the above for all additional parts selected for FEA and click OK.
  6. Click run to simulate the motion.

Show Me how to select parts to export Dynamic Simulation data to Stress Analysis

Select time steps

  1. On the ribbon, click Dynamic Simulation tab Results panel Output Grapher .
  2. Click run to simulate the motion.
    Note: The time steps selection boxes are available only when you are in simulation mode.
  3. In the time steps pane of the Output Grapher, check the time steps for which you want FEA data.
    Note:
    • When you export data after an unknown force computation, the heading for the column on the left side of the Time steps pane in the Output Grapher changes to Step number, instead of Times. You can use Generate Series to select time steps for export to FEA.
    • If you export motion loads to Stress Analysis, the software exports the load information for only the first time step.
  4. If you want to select multiple time steps of interest, you can do the following:
    • Right-click FEA time step.
    • Select Generate Series.
    • On the Generate Time Steps dialog box, enter the total number of time steps you want in the Number of Steps box.
    • If you want to specify a contiguous range of time steps by defining the first and the last, click Between Time Steps and either specify the Start Time and the End Time or click the selection arrow to select the Start Time and the End Time in the time step panel.
    • If, alternatively, you want to specify time steps around an existing time step, click Surrounding Selected Time Step and either specify the time step that you want in the middle of the selected time steps or click the selection arrow to select the time step in the time step panel.
    • Click OK.

      You may want to use the Search max., Search min., or Search 0 commands on the context menu for the Values column to help you determine the time steps of most interest for FEA.

      The software instantaneously copies the selected data for the selected time steps to either the assembly file (if you selected Stress Analysis from the Dynamic Simulation settings dialog box) or the text file for export to ANSYS (if you selected ANSYS from the Dynamic Simulation settings dialog box).

  5. Close the Output Grapher.

    You have finished preparing data for FEA in AIP Stress Analysis or for export to ANSYS.

Note: Any action which is likely to modify the data exported to FEA (such as changing the time steps, different load-bearing faces, and so on) initiates the action of re-exporting the data automatically. For a comprehensive list see the FAQ topic Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Tip: To change the faces of interest, click the part name in the Output Grapher browser, under the FEA folder, to open the FEA load-bearing faces selection dialog box.

Show Me how to export time steps to Stress Analysis

Import into AIP Stress Analysis

To import into AIP Stress Analysis , complete the Export to FEA steps, then do the following:

  1. Click Finish Dynamic Simulation.
  2. On the ribbon, click Environments tab Begin panel Stress Analysis .
  3. On the Manage panel click Create Simulation.
  4. In the Simulation Properties dialog box, specify:
    • Simulation Name (optionally accept default)
    • Specify Design Objective.
    • In Simulation Type, specify Static Analysis.
    • Check the Motion Loads Analysis.Two controls enable.
    • In the Part list, select one of the parts you have exported to FEA.
    • In the Time Step list, select the time step you are interested in simulating. You can create multiple simulations each using a different time step.
      Note: The Detect and Eliminate Rigid Body Modes option is automatically checked. It allows solving the dynamic equilibrium given by the motion loads.
  5. Click OK to close the dialog box.

  6. In the graphics window, you see all components are excluded except the part you selected for the analysis. The mechanism assumes the position relative to the time step specified in the Simulation Properties. The browser populates with the motion loads data that was transferred with the part.

    Note: This option is only available with an assembly. “Motion Loads Analysis” is disabled for Part FEA, that is when you open an .ipt file and enter the stress analysis environment. The option is also disabled for in-place edit of a part within an assembly.
Parent topic: Export for FEA