Ansys Mechanical is a best-in-class finite element solver with structural, thermal, acoustics, transient and nonlinear capabilities to improve your modeling.
Ansys Mechanical enables you to solve complex structural engineering problems and make better, faster design decisions. With the finite element analysis (FEA) solvers available in the suite, you can customize and automate solutions for your structural mechanics problems and parameterize them to analyze multiple design scenarios. Ansys Mechanical is a dynamic tool that has a complete range of analysis tools.
Ansys Mechanical offers a dynamic environment with a complete range of analysis tools, from preparing geometry for analysis to connecting additional physics for even greater fidelity. The intuitive and customizable user interface enables engineers of all levels to get answers fast and with confidence.
January 2023
Efficiently modify a CAD model without losing the associativity of the model’s features after setup with the Scoping Wizard that detects and re-establishes scoping.
Gain insight into the computational resources required to solve a simulation using the AI/ML powered Resource Prediction feature, including expected solve time and memory usage.
Improve simulation accuracy when solving complex models and parts with geometry preserving adaptivity that automatically refines a mesh for better resolution of stresses and strains on intricate features. Mesh adaptivity is done on the initial CAD geometry, eliminates the need for an over-refined initial mesh, and takes out the guesswork on mesh sizing for durability studies.
Optimization of frame and shell structures are performed using a new topography optimization method that improves the structural durability of the component while minimizing mass.
Efficiently set up contacts for complex models between adhesives and metal sheet components common in Body in White (BIW) durability models with an improved and simplified setup method. This new method removes the need for duplicate contact setup and bookkeeping of top/bottom faces of sheet bodies, drastically reducing setup time.
Generate a higher-quality mesh that meets your criteria the first time. Improvements include tetrahedral meshes for drop test simulations and feature suppression, swept hexahedral meshes and meshes for welds and shells, and general usability.
"Ansys Mechanical provides the ability to model the realistic and complex details of injection molded plastics, like the orientation of fibers and the presence of injection stresses in the parts, which significantly increases the accuracy of our engineering developments."
—Francesco Fiorini, structural and durability engineer at thysssenkrupp Presta AG
All products have an environmental impact, a fact customers are increasingly aware of as they take an interest in their carbon footprints. In the automotive industry, there is a global push to reach zero vehicle emissions by 2050 to satisfy consumer demand and increasingly stricter environmental laws. To do so, leading vehicle manufactures and their partners are embracing lightweighting and electrification. Composite materials are key to making vehicles lighter so they can use smaller engines that consume less energy and produce fewer emissions. For the high-volume production models (body panels, frames, housings), an increasingly adopted technique is the manufacturing of critical components through injection molding with short-fiber reinforced plastics.
Thyssenkrupp Presta is leveraging its longstanding competencies in materials, components and systems to lead automotive digital transformation processes. Ansys Mechanical’s short fiber reinforced composite workflow helped thyssenkrupp Presta reach the targeted 50% weight reduction with respect to the original metal part to meet mechanical performance and OEMs requirements. The adoption of an innovative and lightweight plastic housing for its steering system supports both the ecological and economical goals of thyssenkrupp Presta and helps the company lead the evolution of the steering systems for the automotive market of tomorrow.
Ansys Mechanical creates an integrated platform that uses finite element analysis (FEA) for structural analysis. Mechanical is a dynamic environment that has a complete range of analysis tools, from preparing geometry for analysis to connecting additional physics for even greater fidelity. The intuitive and customizable user interface enables engineers of all levels to get answers fast and with confidence.
Ansys Workbench enables robust connection to commercial CAD tools, providing click button design point updates. Seamlessly integrated multiphysics capabilities are available with fluids and electrical solvers.
Experience dynamic analysis and embrace advanced solver options across a variety of materials and functions
Carry out acoustics simulations to understand the vibroacoustic behavior of systems, with or without structural pre-loading. Including pre-loading adds more fidelity and means that self-weighted, bolted assemblies — or even squealing brakes — can be simulated.
Nonlinear simulation also takes into account contact and large deflection of parts moving around relative to each other, either with or without friction.
It can simulate everything from a bonded contact that treats joints between parts as if they are glued or welded together to contact interfaces that allow parts to move apart and together with or without frictional effects. Being able to simulate contact correctly means that you can simulate the change in load paths when parts deform and confidently predict how assemblies will behave in the real world.
Any model in Ansys Mechanical can be used to drive a parametric optimization. Shape and topology optimization capabilities allow creation of efficient geometries, which can be taken back to CAD for production or further simulation work. Additive manufacturing, lightweighting and robust design are excellent use cases for this technology.
With Ansys Mechanical, you can read in power losses or calculated temperatures from other analysis systems or files, which means that CFD or electromagnetic simulations can be a starting point for thermal analysis. It is also possible to account for fluid flow through pipes and heat generated from friction between parts. All these capabilities give you more accurate simulations and better results.
You can also add user-defined material models, if needed. Granta Materials Data for Simulation provides instant, clickable access to the materials property data you need, eliminating data search time and input errors. Material Designer can easily create representative volume elements (RVE’s) based around lattice, fiber, weave or user-created geometries to facilitate multiscale modeling of complex material structures.
Ansys Mechanical includes capabilities to model layered composites through the connection with Ansys PrepPost (ACP) and short fiber composites through the connection with upstream manufacturing simulation tools and the material behavior obtained from Material Designer, the Ansys tool for multiscale homogenization of materials microstructures.
You can generate composite models for implicit and explicit structural, thermal and fluid simulations. Ansys Composite PrepPost (ACP) is the Ansys dedicated tool for modeling composite layups and failure analysis. ACP provides efficient layup and best-in-class solid element modeling capabilities and a platform that offers many ways to exchange model information. It supports the vendor-independent HDF5 composite CAE file format for communication with third-party tools, many of them dedicated and related to composites manufacturing. Beyond the modeling of composite structures, Ansys Composite Cure Simulation (ACCS), simulates curing during manufacturing processes. ACCS is an extension for Ansys Mechanical and it helps you to simulate the curing process of a part and predicts residual stresses and process-induced distortions for realizing compensation analyses.
These include SPARs, FPSOs, semi-submersibles, tension leg platforms, ships, renewable energy devices and breakwaters. Our product, Ansys Aqwa, has been used extensively in the oil and gas, renewable and general engineering sectors to model installation and use of equipment in open water as well as in harbors or sheltered locations.
One-way coupling solves the initial CFD or Ansys Mechanical simulation and automatically transfers and maps the data to the other system. In a two-way coupling simulation, the fluid and structural simulations are set up and solved at the same time and data is automatically transferred between two solvers to achieve robust and accurate results.
Journaling and scripting capabilities enable quick development and easy education of new scripts.
There are three licensing options available with Ansys Mechanical:
| Mechanical Pro | Mechanical Premium | Mechanical Enterprise | |
| Full thermal analysis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Modal analysis | |||
| Full contact | |||
| Non-linear geometry | |||
| Material plasticity | |||
| Structural optimization | |||
| Pre-stressed modal | |||
| 4 HPC Cores | |||
| Full linear dynamics | |||
| Element birth and death | |||
| Full material non-linearity | |||
| Coupled field elements | |||
| User materials |
MECHANICAL RESOURCES & EVENT
This webinar series focuses on our lightweighting capabilities, which will help solve your toughest A&D engineering problems.
Ansys has teamed up with various software vendors to provide a complete workflow for composite manufacturing, design and analysis. This webinar series focuses on reducing modeling uncertainties when designing with composites.
This webinar showcases the workflow from geometry to validation for all available topology optimization methods, empowering you to generate truly lightweight structures.
It's vital to Ansys that all users, including those with disabilities, can access our products. As such, we endeavor to follow accessibility requirements based on the US Access Board (Section 508), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and the current format of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT).
