Prof.

Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

o
ANSYS Practical work N 1
A cantilever beam

Consider the beam in the figure below. It is clamped on the left side and has a point force
of 8kN acting downward on the right end of the beam. The beam has a length of 4
meters, width of 0.346 meters and height of 0.346 meters (cross-section is a square).
Additionally, the beam is composed of a special material called Cornellium which has a
Young's Modulus of 2.8x10^10 Pa. Using ANSYS, calculate the following:
1. Deformation of the beam
2. Maximum bending stress along the beam
3. Bending moment along the beam

Pre-Analysis & Start-Up

Calculate the Maximum Bending Stress
The maximum bending stress is calculated using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory.

Please calculate the Total Deformation at x=4m

1
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Open ANSYS Workbench

Click on the Start button, then click on All Programs. Depending on where you are attempting
to access ANSYS, it may be under ANSYS 13.0, ANSYS, or Class. Once you locate ANSYS
click on the the workbench button, . It may take some time for ANSYS to open.
Once ANSYS opens your computer monitor should look comparable to the image below.

.
Step 1. Static Structural Analysis
The problem at hand is a static structural problem, so click and hold down the mouse button
on the Static Structural (ANSYS) button, , and drag it over to the project
schematic window. When you begin to drag the Static Structural (ANSYS) button over to the
Project Schematic window a green dashed box should appear as seen in the image below.

Drag the Static Structural (ANSYS) button into the green box until it turns red and has the text
"Create standalone system" within it, then release the mouse button.

Change the name of the project to Cantilever and your workbench window should look similar
to the image below.

2
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Engineering Data
The specific properties of the material Cornellian needs to be inputted into ANSYS. Start by
right clicking on Engineering Data and then clicking on Edit.. as seen below.

At this point a new window will open. Under Outline of Schematic A2: Engineering Data
there will be a box with text inside that says "Click here to add a new material". Click on that
box and type in Cornellian and then press enter.

Now, expand the Linear Elastic tab on the right and double click on Isotropic Elasticity.

3
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Now, the properties of "Cornellian need to be inputted in to the Table of Properties Row 2:
Isotropic Elasticity window. Set the temperature to 25 degrees C., set Young's Modulus to
2.8x10^(10) Pascals and set Poisson's Ratio to 0.4. Note that the formulation of this model is
independent of the Poisson's Ratio. Hence the solution will not change if a different number is
used.

At this point the project can be returned to. Click on the Return to Project button,
.
Saving
It would be of best interest, to save the project at this point. Click on the "Save As.." button,
, which is located on the top of the Workbench window. Save the project as
"Cantilever". When you save in ANSYS a file and a folder will be created. For instance if you
save as "Cantilever", a "cantilever.wbpj" file and a folder called "cantilever_files" will appear. In
order to reopen the ANSYS files in the future you will need both the ".wbpj" file and the folder.
If you do not have BOTH, you will not be able to access your project.
Step 2. Create the geometry
Initial settings
In order to make sure the geometry data gets transferred to the Model a couple of steps must
be taken; First, right click on Geometry then click on Properties. Under Properties of
Schematic A3: Geometry expand Basic Geometry Options and check the box to the
right of Line Bodies as seen below.

4
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Double-click on the geometry button, ; in the Project Schematic area, which should
launch the Design Modeler in ANSYS. A window should pop up asking for units. Units are in
meters, so select Meters and press Ok. A folder called A: Static Structural (ANSYS)
should be expanded in the tree outline of the Design Modeler; If it is not expanded, then
expand it now.

Proper Orientation
Click once on the XYPlane button, ; Next, click once on the royal blue Z vector
(displayed below) which should be in the bottom right section of the Design Modeler window.

Now, you should be looking directly at the XY plane and the axes in the bottom right corner
should be oriented as they are in the image below.

5
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam
Line Sketching
First instinct is to make a rectangular solid as a model for our cantilever; While this would
work, it would make the mesh more complex than it needs to be. This is a one-dimensional
problem, so all we really need at our base is a one-dimensional figure: a line; (We still need to
tell ANSYS it has volume, though.)

Click once on the Sketching tab, , which appears at the bottom of the Tree Outline.
Click once on the Line button, , in the Draw tab, , that automatically appears.
Then place the mouse cursor directly over the origin of the XY plane unit a P appears.

Once the P appears then click once on the mouse. Next, move the mouse over to the right so
it lies somewhere on the positive x axis; Prior, to clicking again make sure that a C appears.

You should now have a line that starts at the origin and terminates somewhere on the positive
axis.
At this point, the dimension of the line needs to be specified, so click once on the
Dimensions tab, . Then, click once on the Horizontal button, . The
next step is to click somewhere on the y axis and then click on the endpoint of the line (the
point that lies upon the positive x axis). Now, raise the cursor (which should now be a
horizontal line and a pencil) above the line and click once; You should see a dimension labeled
H1 above the horizontal line as shown below.

Now, the length of the line will be manually edited. Underneath the Sketching Toolboxes
there will be a column called Details View. In Details View there is a subcategory called
Dimensions: 1. Change the numerical value of H1 to 4 meters and press enter.

Line Body
The next step is to turn the line that was drawn into a line body. In order to do this click on
Concept which will be on top of the Design Modeler window, then click on Lines from
Sketches, as can be seen in the following picture.
6
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Next, click on the blue horizontal line that you drew. The blue horizontal line should have
changed from blue to yellow as can be seen below.

In the Details View column a yellow box to the right of Base Objects should be highlighted
in yellow. Click on the yellow box and then click apply. Then, click on the Generate button
; it is located on the top left portion of the Design Modeler.
Cross Section
Now, a cross section will be given to the line body; First go to Concept then click on Cross
Section then finally click on Rectangular, as shown below.

Now, the width and height of the cross section need to be defined; Under "Details View" set B
to 0.346 meters and set H to 0.346 meters, as can be seen below;

7
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Then click on the Generate button, .

move dimensions
You can right click on the dimension and select Move Dimensions and move the
dimensions closer to the cross section. The cross section will be easier to see if you
click on the zoom to fit tool .

Assign the Cross Section with the Line Body

Now the defined cross section will be "merged" with the line body; First, expand "1 Part, 1
Body" which is located in the Tree Outline. Next, click on Line Body, and there should be a
yellow box to the right of Cross Section under the Details of Line Body. Click on the yellow
box and select rect1 as seen below. ANSYS will calculate the moment of inertia along the line
body rather than the rectangular model.

Verify Geometry
At this point the specified geometry can be checked in order to make sure all has gone well;
Click on View > Cross Section Solids, as shown below;

8
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

If you click on the 1 Cross Section, , in the Tree Outline and then
click on the light blue dot, , you should now see a three dimensionally rendered beam in
an isometric view;

At this point, the Design Modeler window can be closed. Don't worry - your work will be saved.
Step 3. Mesh
Open the Model
Right click on model button, , in the Workbench window then click on Edit... as
shown below.

Expand "Model (A4)", , if it is not already expanded.

Assign Cornellium to The Beam
The material Cornellium that was created earlier needs to be applied to the beam. In order to
do so, expand Geometry, . Next, click once on Line Body, ,

9
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam
which will appear underneath Geometry. Then expand Material which is located under
Details of Line Body. Then click on the arrow on the far right and change the specified
material to Cornellium as shown below.

Specify the Element Size

Begin by clicking once on mesh, . Next, expand sizing under Details of "Mesh" if it is
not already expanded. Finally, change the element size to 2 meters and click enter. The total
length of the bar is 4 meters, and the element size was set to 2 m, thus the mesh will be
composed of two elements.

We will need more elements to generate a more accurate result. Set the element size to
4m/10=0.4m. Then, click on Update, . At this point you should see, a similar image
to the one above. The beam is now composed of ten elements.

The mesh has now been set.

Note
Although the mesh is created on the rectangular beam, what ANSYS really solves is just the
line body. To view the line body, click on View and uncheck Thick Shells and Beams.

Step 4. Setup (Physics) - Apply the Boundary Conditions

Fix The Left Side of The Beam
First, click on the box in the Outline Window. Next, click on the vertex
pointer option, , which is on the top of the Setup window. Next, click on the left edge of
the line body. A green box should appear on the left end of the line body as seen below.

10
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam
Now, right click on the Static Structural folder, then click Insert and then select Fixed
Support as shown in the image below.

Apply a Point Force to The Right Side of The Beam

Once again, click on the vertex pointer option, , but now click the right edge of the line
body. A green box should now appear on the right side of the line body as seen below.

Right click on the Static Structural folder again, then click Insert and this time select Force
as shown below.

11
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

At this point, there should be a Details of "Force" window in the lower left corner of the
Setup window. Expand Definition if it is not already expanded and then change Define by
to Components as seen below.

Now, click on the box to the right of Y Component without clicking the Y component button and
change the force to -8000N. That is, you should NOT check the box to the left of Y Component.
Your Details of "Force" window should now look very similar to the following image.

You should also see the following downward facing red arrow on the right side of the line body.

The fixed end and the point force have now been applied. Leave the Setup window open for
the next step.
Step 5. Solution
Choosing Results

12
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam
First, click on the solution button, , in the workbench window. Next, right click on the
Solution (A6) folder, then click insert, then click Beam Tool and finally click Beam Tool
as shown in the image below.
Then, right click on the Beam Tool folder that you have just added, then click on Insert,
then click on Beam Tool > Deformation > Total as displayed below.

Next, right click on the Beam Tool folder, then click on Insert, then click on Beam Tool >
Stress > Maximum Bending Stress as shown below.

Bending Moment along the Beam

Now, we will set up a solution for the bending moment along the beam. We will do this by
setting up a path along the line body. To set up a path, click on in the
Outline window. This will launch the Model toolbar in the Menu Bar. In the Model toolbar,
press which will bring up the Construction Geometry Tool bar, then
press to create a path.
In the Details window, notice that the default path type is Two Points. We need to change
that to Edge. Next, using the Edge Selection filter select the line body in the
Graphics window. Back in the Details of "Path" window, select Geometry > Accept.
Rename it "neutral axis".
Now that we have created the path, we need to create the solver for the bending moment
along the beam. Click on in the Outline window to bring up the solution menu, then
select Beam Results > Bending Moment. Now that we created the solution, we need to
change the parameters so it solves along the path we created. In the Details of "Total
Bending Moment" window, change Scoping Method to Path. Next, define the Path
parameter to neutral axis (the path we created).
13
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

Directional Bending Moment

We would also like to look at the bending moment in a specific direction. Repeat the above
step to setup another bending moment solution. In the detail window the new bending
moment, change the type to Directional Bending Moment instead of the default Total
Bending Moment. Change the orientation to Z axis.

Solve

In order to solve click on the solve button, , which is located near the top of the
Setup window. This process may take some time depending on the quality of the computer
you are working with, so please be patient.
Step 6. Results
Total Deformation
First, examine the total deformation by clicking on the Total Deformation button,
. If you have used only two elements, you should see the output shown below.

14
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam

If you have chosen to use 10 elements for your mesh, you should see the following output for
the total deformation.

The beam deformation can be animated by clicking on the play button, , which is located
underneath the beam deformation results.
Maximum Bending Stress
For this static structural problem, the maximum bending stress is of interest. In order to
examine the maximum bending stress first expand the Beam Tool folder, ,
which is located under "Solution(A6)". Next, click on the Maximum Bending Stress button,
. If you have used only two elements, you should obtain the following
output.

By default, ANSYS averages the stress values over the length of the beam. Using only two
elements, this yields a minimum value of 2.3176e6 Pa for the maximum bending stress. This is
an error created by the small number of elements used. The minimum value of bending stress
should be zero because there is no moment where the force is applied. However, because
ANSYS is displaying the maximum bending stress, and we are using such a small number of
elements, it will not display the zero stress at the end. Next, we will verify that ANSYS is
calculating the correct bending stress at the end. by displaying the bending moment. If the
bending moment is zero at the application of force, then the bending stress is zero as well.
Bending Moment

15
Prof. Nguyen Manh Cuong Static analysis of cantilever beam
To view the bending moment along the beam, click Total Bending Moment in the Outline
window. You should see the following in the graphics window.
Also notice that the values were plotted in a graph in the Graph window.

In each of the above, pay close attention to maximum and minimum values of the bending
moment. At the wall, the bending moment is 32000 Nm; as the calculation for moment is

Which checks out. We also notice that the minimum moment 1.1278E-10 Nm. Because this
value is over 1E-14 smaller that the largest value. It can be assumed to be zero. Also, knowing
that the calculation for the bending stress is:

We can have some confidence in our simulation.

Directional Bending Moment
To view the directional bending moment along the beam, click Directional Bending
Moment in the Outline window. You should see the following in the graphics window.

16