Workbench User's Guide

ANSYS, Inc. Release 2024 R1

Southpointe January 2024
2600 Ansys Drive
Canonsburg, PA 15317 ANSYS, Inc. and
ansysinfo@ansys.com ANSYS Europe,
Ltd. are UL
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(F) 724-514-9494 companies.
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Table of Contents
Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 17
The Ansys Product Improvement Program ............................................................................................ 17
User Interface Overview ........................................................................................................................ 21
Tabs ............................................................................................................................................... 22
Panes ............................................................................................................................................. 23
Systems and Cells ........................................................................................................................... 23
Links .............................................................................................................................................. 23
Interacting with Project Objects ............................................................................................................ 24
Using Help ........................................................................................................................................... 24
Configuring Workbench ........................................................................................................................... 27
Configuring the Toolbox ....................................................................................................................... 27
Configuring Units in Workbench ........................................................................................................... 28
Configuring Panes ................................................................................................................................ 31
Opening and Closing Panes ............................................................................................................ 31
Hiding and Resizing Panes .............................................................................................................. 32
Floating and Docking Panes ............................................................................................................ 32
Resetting Panes .............................................................................................................................. 32
Configuring User Preferences ................................................................................................................ 33
Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench ............................................................................ 33
Configuring Samcef ........................................................................................................................ 33
The Samcef Result Storage Configuration File ............................................................................ 33
The Samcef Postprocessing Configuration File ........................................................................... 35
Configuring ABAQUS ...................................................................................................................... 40
The ABAQUS Result Storage Configuration File .......................................................................... 41
The ABAQUS Postprocessing Configuration File ......................................................................... 42
Customizing Workbench with Ansys ACT ............................................................................................... 47
Creating, Opening, and Importing Projects and Files .............................................................................. 49
Creating a New Project ......................................................................................................................... 50
Opening an Existing Project or File ........................................................................................................ 50
Importing Files ..................................................................................................................................... 51
Importing Legacy Databases ................................................................................................................. 53
Adding Systems to the Project Schematic ................................................................................................ 57
System Placement ................................................................................................................................ 57
Adding a System by Double-Clicking ..................................................................................................... 58
Adding a System using Drag-and-Drop ................................................................................................. 59
Adding a System using the Context Menu ............................................................................................. 60
Adding Multiple Independent Systems ................................................................................................. 61
Creating Connected Systems ................................................................................................................ 62
Link Types ...................................................................................................................................... 62
System Highlighting ....................................................................................................................... 63
Connecting Two Existing Systems ................................................................................................... 64
Creating a New Connecting System ................................................................................................ 64
Connecting a New System Using Drag-and-Drop ....................................................................... 65
Connecting a New System Using Transfer Data .......................................................................... 66
Deleting Links ................................................................................................................................ 67
Working Through a System ...................................................................................................................... 69
Understanding Data Flow ..................................................................................................................... 69
Defining your Simulation Geometry ...................................................................................................... 70
Basic Mechanical Analysis Workflow ...................................................................................................... 72

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User's Guide

Basic Fluid Flow Analysis Workflow ........................................................................................................ 73

Basic Fluid Flow Analysis, Starting from Geometry ........................................................................... 74
Basic Fluid Flow Analysis, Starting from an Imported Mesh ............................................................... 75
Basic Fluid Flow Analysis, Starting from an Imported Case File: Fluid Flow (Ansys CFX) System ........... 75
Basic Fluid Flow Analysis, Starting from an Imported Case File: Fluid Flow (Polyflow) System ............. 76
Analysis Systems ................................................................................................................................... 76
Ansys Electronics Systems ............................................................................................................... 77
Ansys Motion ................................................................................................................................. 78
Coupled Field Harmonic ................................................................................................................. 79
Coupled Field Modal ....................................................................................................................... 81
Coupled Field Static ........................................................................................................................ 82
Coupled Field Transient .................................................................................................................. 83
Eigenvalue Buckling ....................................................................................................................... 84
Electric ........................................................................................................................................... 85
Explicit Dynamics ........................................................................................................................... 86
Fluid Flow - Icing (CFX) .................................................................................................................... 86
Fluid Flow - Icing (FENSAP) .............................................................................................................. 86
Fluid Flow - Icing (Fluent) ................................................................................................................ 87
Fluid Flow (CFX) .............................................................................................................................. 87
Resuming a Failed Run .............................................................................................................. 88
Fluid Flow (Fluent) .......................................................................................................................... 89
Fluid Flow (Fluent with Fluent Meshing) .......................................................................................... 90
Fluid Flow (Polyflow) ....................................................................................................................... 91
SpaceClaim Meshing ................................................................................................................ 91
Harmonic Acoustics ........................................................................................................................ 92
Harmonic Response ........................................................................................................................ 94
Hydrodynamic Diffraction ............................................................................................................... 94
Hydrodynamic Response ................................................................................................................ 95
LS-DYNA ......................................................................................................................................... 95
LS-DYNA Restart ............................................................................................................................. 96
Magnetostatic ................................................................................................................................ 96
Modal Acoustics ............................................................................................................................. 96
Modal ............................................................................................................................................. 98
Random Vibration .......................................................................................................................... 98
Response Spectrum ........................................................................................................................ 99
Rigid Dynamics ............................................................................................................................. 100
Speos ........................................................................................................................................... 100
Static Acoustics ............................................................................................................................. 100
Static Structural ............................................................................................................................ 101
Steady-State Thermal .................................................................................................................... 101
Structural Optimization ................................................................................................................. 102
Substructure Generation ............................................................................................................... 102
Thermal-Electric ........................................................................................................................... 103
Throughflow and Throughflow (BladeGen) .................................................................................... 103
Transient Structural ....................................................................................................................... 104
Transient Thermal ......................................................................................................................... 104
Turbomachinery Fluid Flow ........................................................................................................... 105
Component Systems ........................................................................................................................... 105
ACP-Pre and ACP-Post ................................................................................................................... 106
Autodyn ....................................................................................................................................... 106
BladeGen ...................................................................................................................................... 108

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CFX .............................................................................................................................................. 109

Chemkin ....................................................................................................................................... 109
Discovery ..................................................................................................................................... 110
Engineering Data .......................................................................................................................... 111
EnSight (Forte) .............................................................................................................................. 111
External Data ................................................................................................................................ 112
Importing External Data .......................................................................................................... 113
Importing a Trace File .............................................................................................................. 118
Importing a CDB File as Input .................................................................................................. 119
Importing an Ansys External Data File as Input ........................................................................ 121
Importing Multiple Data Sets .................................................................................................. 122
Applying Source Point Analytical Transformations ................................................................... 127
Performing System Coupling Simulations Using External Data ................................................. 132
External Model ............................................................................................................................. 133
Creating and Configuring an External Model System ............................................................... 135
Transferring Data to Mechanical .............................................................................................. 140
Transferring Data to Engineering Data ..................................................................................... 141
MAPDL Material Commands ............................................................................................. 142
NASTRAN Supported Material Specifications ..................................................................... 142
ABAQUS Supported Materials Keywords ............................................................................ 144
Fluent ........................................................................................................................................... 145
Fluent (with Fluent Meshing) ......................................................................................................... 146
Forte ............................................................................................................................................ 147
Geometry ..................................................................................................................................... 147
Granta MI ..................................................................................................................................... 149
Granta Selector ............................................................................................................................. 149
ICEM CFD ..................................................................................................................................... 150
Elements of the ICEM CFD Component .................................................................................... 151
Creating an ICEM CFD Component .......................................................................................... 152
Updating ICEM CFD Projects ................................................................................................... 152
Interface Differences in the Data-Integrated ICEM CFD ............................................................. 155
Setting Parameters ................................................................................................................. 157
Setting Input Parameters .................................................................................................. 158
Setting Workbench Mesh Parameters for Parts ................................................................... 160
Setting Parameters for Prism Meshing ............................................................................... 161
Setting Output Parameters ............................................................................................... 162
Setting User-Defined Parameters ...................................................................................... 164
Deleting Parameters ......................................................................................................... 165
User-Defined Parameters Example .......................................................................................... 166
Transferring an ICEM CFD Project to Static Structural ............................................................... 169
Icepak .......................................................................................................................................... 169
Workbench Menu Options Overview for Icepak Projects .......................................................... 171
DesignModeler to Icepak ........................................................................................................ 174
Postprocessing Icepak Results ................................................................................................. 177
Thermal Results from Icepak to Mechanical ............................................................................. 178
Design Explorer to Icepak Coupling in Workbench ................................................................... 179
Ansoft to Icepak Coupling in Workbench ................................................................................. 183
Handling Coupling Iterations Between Ansoft and Icepak ........................................................ 191
Icepak and Workbench Integration Tutorial ............................................................................. 192
Injection Molding Data ................................................................................................................. 192
Supported Formats ................................................................................................................. 192

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User's Guide

Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 193

Material Designer ......................................................................................................................... 195
Mechanical APDL .......................................................................................................................... 196
Creating a Mechanical APDL Analysis ...................................................................................... 197
Mechanical APDL Context Menu Options ................................................................................ 199
Mechanical Model ........................................................................................................................ 201
Model-to-Model Connections ................................................................................................. 202
Solution-to-Model Connections .............................................................................................. 202
Controlling Node and Element Numbering when Model Cells Share Data ................................. 203
Preview Assembled Geometry ................................................................................................ 203
Mesh ............................................................................................................................................ 206
Mesh Context Menu Options ................................................................................................... 206
Mesh-to-Mesh Connections .................................................................................................... 207
Microsoft Office Excel ................................................................................................................... 210
Preparing the Excel File ........................................................................................................... 211
Setting Up the Excel Calculator ............................................................................................... 212
Support of Units ..................................................................................................................... 214
File Management and Modification of the Worksheet .............................................................. 215
Performance Map ......................................................................................................................... 215
Polyflow ....................................................................................................................................... 215
Results ......................................................................................................................................... 217
Sherlock Pre and Post .................................................................................................................... 217
System Coupling .......................................................................................................................... 224
Turbo Setup .................................................................................................................................. 226
TurboGrid ..................................................................................................................................... 226
Vista AFD ...................................................................................................................................... 226
Vista CCD and Vista CCD with CCM ................................................................................................ 227
Vista CPD ...................................................................................................................................... 227
Vista RTD ...................................................................................................................................... 228
Vista TF ......................................................................................................................................... 228
Custom Systems ................................................................................................................................. 228
AM DED Process ........................................................................................................................... 229
AM LPBF Inherent Strain ............................................................................................................... 229
AM LPBF Thermal-Structural .......................................................................................................... 230
FSI: Fluid Flow (Ansys CFX) > Static Structural ................................................................................. 230
FSI: Fluid Flow (Fluent) > Static Structural ....................................................................................... 231
Pre-Stress Modal ........................................................................................................................... 231
Random Vibration ......................................................................................................................... 232
Response Spectrum ...................................................................................................................... 232
Thermal-Stress .............................................................................................................................. 233
Creating a Custom System ............................................................................................................ 233
Design Exploration ............................................................................................................................. 234
Submitting Solutions .......................................................................................................................... 235
Opening Mechanical without a License (Read-Only Mode) ................................................................... 236
Updating Systems ................................................................................................................................... 239
Naming and Renaming Systems .......................................................................................................... 239
Naming Systems ........................................................................................................................... 239
Renaming Systems ....................................................................................................................... 241
Duplicating Systems ........................................................................................................................... 242
Duplicating a Single System .......................................................................................................... 242
Duplicating Multiple Systems ........................................................................................................ 244

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 User's Guide

Moving Systems ................................................................................................................................. 245

Deleting Systems ................................................................................................................................ 246
Deleting a Single System ............................................................................................................... 246
Deleting Multiple Systems ............................................................................................................ 246
Replacing Systems .............................................................................................................................. 247
Creating Project, System, and Cell Notes .............................................................................................. 247
Updating and Refreshing System Components .................................................................................... 248
Updating a Project ....................................................................................................................... 249
Updating a System ........................................................................................................................ 250
Updating a System Cell ................................................................................................................. 250
Updating Upstream Components .................................................................................................. 250
Interrupting an Update Process ..................................................................................................... 251
Refreshing System Components .................................................................................................... 251
Editing Shared Data ............................................................................................................................ 252
Clearing Generated Data ..................................................................................................................... 253
Resetting Data .................................................................................................................................... 254
Using Journals and Scripts ..................................................................................................................... 257
Setting Journaling Preferences ............................................................................................................ 257
Recording a Journal ............................................................................................................................ 258
Playing Back a Recorded Journal ......................................................................................................... 259
Using the Command Window ............................................................................................................. 259
Working with the Chart Pane .................................................................................................................. 261
Chart Types ........................................................................................................................................ 261
Setting Chart Properties ...................................................................................................................... 265
Changing the Display of a 3D Chart ..................................................................................................... 268
Using the Triad .................................................................................................................................... 268
Saving a Chart .................................................................................................................................... 268
Working with Project Reports ................................................................................................................ 271
Setting Project Report Options ............................................................................................................ 272
Including CFD-Post Data in the Project Report ..................................................................................... 272
Exporting a Project Report .................................................................................................................. 272
Editing Project Reports ....................................................................................................................... 273
Viewing Report Images ....................................................................................................................... 273
Saving and Managing Project Files ........................................................................................................ 275
Saving a Project File ............................................................................................................................ 275
Archiving a Project .............................................................................................................................. 276
Saving an Archive File ......................................................................................................................... 277
Exporting Systems to a New Project .................................................................................................... 278
Working in the Files Pane .................................................................................................................... 280
Workbench File Types ................................................................................................................... 280
Sorting and Filtering the Files List .................................................................................................. 281
Repairing or Removing Deleted Files ............................................................................................. 282
Opening the Folder Containing Project Files .................................................................................. 282
Copying Cell Text .......................................................................................................................... 283
Recovering Projects ............................................................................................................................ 283
Unlocking Project Files ........................................................................................................................ 284
Project Directories .............................................................................................................................. 284
dp0 Folder .................................................................................................................................... 284
dpn Subdirectories ....................................................................................................................... 285
user_files Folder ........................................................................................................................... 285
Example Project ............................................................................................................................ 286

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Understanding Project File Management ............................................................................................ 287

Working with Parameters and Design Points ......................................................................................... 289
Parametrization Basics ........................................................................................................................ 289
Parameterizing CAD Dimensions ................................................................................................... 290
Parameterizing Workbench Dimensions ........................................................................................ 291
Derived Parameters ...................................................................................................................... 294
Working with Parameters .................................................................................................................... 295
Expressions, Functions, Quantities, and Units ................................................................................. 297
Table Parameters and Design Points .............................................................................................. 304
Creating or Editing Parameters ...................................................................................................... 304
Chaining an Output Parameter to an Input Parameter .................................................................... 309
Working with Design Points ................................................................................................................ 309
Multiple Design Points Workflow ................................................................................................... 310
Adding a New Design Point by Duplicating an Existing Design Point .............................................. 311
Adding a New Design Point by Entering Values .............................................................................. 312
Updating Design Points ................................................................................................................ 313
Setting the Design Point Update Option .................................................................................. 314
Updating Only the Current Design Point .................................................................................. 315
Updating Selected Design Points ............................................................................................ 315
Update All Design Points ......................................................................................................... 316
Fixing an Interrupted Design Point Update .............................................................................. 316
Changing the Design Point Update Order ................................................................................ 316
Specifying the Initialization Conditions for a Design Point Update ............................................ 318
Setting Systems using CFD-Post to Update with Design Points ................................................. 319
Retaining Design Point Data .......................................................................................................... 319
Reviewing the Retained Data Column ........................................................................................... 319
Retaining Parameter Data for Solved Design Points with DesignXplorer ......................................... 321
Setting a Different Design Point as Current .................................................................................... 321
Copying Input Parameter Values to the Current Design Point ......................................................... 322
Exporting Design Points to New Projects ....................................................................................... 322
Exporting Design Point Parameter Values to a Comma-Separated Values File .................................. 323
Performing and Retaining Partial (Geometry-Only) Updates ........................................................... 324
Design Point States ....................................................................................................................... 324
Working with Ansys Remote Solve Manager .......................................................................................... 327
Specifying Credentials for Remote Solve Manager Job Submission ....................................................... 328
Submitting Solutions to Remote Solve Manager .................................................................................. 329
Submitting Workbench Project Updates to Remote Solve Manager ...................................................... 333
Submitting System Coupling Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ............................................................... 335
Submitting a Coupled Analysis Project Update to RSM ................................................................... 336
Submitting a Coupled Analysis Design Point Update to RSM .......................................................... 336
Distribution of Computing Resources Across System Coupling Participants .................................... 337
Restricting Solve Processes for System Coupling Updates .............................................................. 337
Monitoring System Coupling Solution Information ........................................................................ 338
Restarting an Interrupted Remote Update ..................................................................................... 338
Submitting Mechanical Application Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ..................................................... 339
Workbench/RSM Integration with the Mechanical Application ....................................................... 341
Submitting Mechanical APDL Jobs to Remote Solve Manager .............................................................. 343
Submitting Fluids Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ................................................................................ 344
Submitting CFX Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ............................................................................. 345
Submitting CFX Jobs with Design Points to Remote Solve Manager ......................................... 346
Submitting Polyflow Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ..................................................................... 346

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Submitting Fluent Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ......................................................................... 347

Solution Properties: Use Setup Launcher Settings .................................................................... 348
Submitting Icepak Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ......................................................................... 351
Submitting Forte Jobs to Remote Solve Manager ........................................................................... 354
Exiting a Project During a Remote Solve Manager Solution Cell Update .......................................... 355
Monitoring and Controlling Remote Solve Manager Jobs in Workbench ............................................... 356
Using the Taskbar Icon .................................................................................................................. 358
Viewing the Status of Jobs ............................................................................................................ 358
Controlling the Display of the Job List ........................................................................................... 358
Performing Job Actions ................................................................................................................. 359
Controlling the Display of Job Details ............................................................................................ 359
Updating Design Points in Remote Solve Manager .............................................................................. 360
Submitting Design Points to Remote Solve Manager ..................................................................... 361
Updating Geometry Locally Before Submitting to Remote Solve Manager ...................................... 364
Design Point License Sharing ........................................................................................................ 366
Tracking Licenses .......................................................................................................................... 366
Using Upfront License Checkouts for Design Point Updates ........................................................... 366
Aborting or Interrupting an RSM Design Point Update ................................................................... 368
Exiting a Project during an RSM Design Point Update .................................................................... 368
Suspending and Resuming Collection of RSM Design Point Results ................................................ 369
Product-Specific Limitations ......................................................................................................... 369
Working with Design Point Service ........................................................................................................ 371
Setting Up a Workbench Project to Use DPS ........................................................................................ 372
Submitting Design Point Updates to DPS ............................................................................................ 374
Submitting Project Updates to DPS ..................................................................................................... 374
Accessing the DPS Web App from a Workbench Project ....................................................................... 375
Importing DPS Design Points into a Workbench Project ....................................................................... 376
Evaluating Design Points or Project Updates in Multiple Process Steps ................................................. 378
Working with Ansys HPC Platform Services ........................................................................................... 381
Setting Up a Workbench Project to Use Ansys HPC Platform Services ................................................... 381
Submitting Design Point Updates to Ansys HPC Platform Services ....................................................... 383
Submitting Project Updates to Ansys HPC Platform Services ................................................................ 384
Accessing the Ansys HPC Job Manager Web App from a Workbench Project ......................................... 385
Importing Ansys HPC Platform Services Design Points Jobs into a Workbench Project .......................... 385
Evaluating Design Points or Project Updates in Multiple Process Steps ................................................. 387
Resetting the Ansys HPC Platform Services Project ID .......................................................................... 387
Working with Ansys optiSLang ............................................................................................................... 389
Activating the Ansys Workbench optiSLang Extension ......................................................................... 389
Migrating Workbench Projects from the SDK to ACT Extension ............................................................ 390
Using the Ansys Workbench optiSLang Extension ................................................................................ 398
Algorithm Systems .............................................................................................................................. 399
Integration Components ..................................................................................................................... 399
System Connections ........................................................................................................................... 402
optiSLang Extension User Interface Reference ..................................................................................... 402
Project File Structure ........................................................................................................................... 405
System Environment ........................................................................................................................... 406
Working with Workbench and Ansys Minerva ........................................................................................ 407
Creating a Connection to an Ansys Minerva Site .................................................................................. 407
Displaying the Ansys Minerva Toolbar ................................................................................................. 408
Launching Ansys Minerva with a Web Browser .................................................................................... 408
Working with Workbench Projects Saved in Ansys Minerva .................................................................. 408

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Saving the Current Workbench Project to an Ansys Minerva Repository ......................................... 409
Saving the Current Workbench Project to a New Location in the Repository ................................... 411
Opening a Project from an Ansys Minerva Repository .................................................................... 413
Claiming a Project ......................................................................................................................... 415
Unclaiming a Project ..................................................................................................................... 416
Troubleshooting Workbench .................................................................................................................. 417
General Workbench Issues .................................................................................................................. 417
Product-Related Issues ........................................................................................................................ 421
Startup or Graphics Issues ................................................................................................................... 427
Error Messages ................................................................................................................................... 428
Known Issues and Limitations ............................................................................................................. 429
Workbench User Preferences .................................................................................................................. 433
Project Management .......................................................................................................................... 434
Appearance ........................................................................................................................................ 435
Regional and Language Options ......................................................................................................... 437
Graphics Interaction ........................................................................................................................... 437
Journals and Logs ............................................................................................................................... 438
Project Reporting ............................................................................................................................... 439
Solution Process ................................................................................................................................. 439
Extensions .......................................................................................................................................... 441
Mechanical APDL ................................................................................................................................ 442
CFX .................................................................................................................................................... 442
Design Exploration ............................................................................................................................. 443
Distributed Compute Services ............................................................................................................. 444
HPC Platform Services ......................................................................................................................... 444
External Data ...................................................................................................................................... 444
Fluent ................................................................................................................................................. 445
Mechanical ......................................................................................................................................... 447
Meshing ............................................................................................................................................. 448
Engineering Data ................................................................................................................................ 449
Ansys Minerva .................................................................................................................................... 449
Microsoft Office Excel ......................................................................................................................... 450
TurboSystem ...................................................................................................................................... 450
Geometry Import ................................................................................................................................ 451
Material Designer ............................................................................................................................... 453
Workbench Interface Reference ............................................................................................................. 455
Tabs in Workbench ............................................................................................................................. 455
Panes within Tabs ............................................................................................................................... 455
Project Schematic Pane ................................................................................................................. 456
Toolbox Pane ................................................................................................................................ 457
Toolbox Customization Pane ......................................................................................................... 459
Files Pane ..................................................................................................................................... 459
Outline Pane ................................................................................................................................. 459
Properties Pane ............................................................................................................................ 460
Table Pane .................................................................................................................................... 461
Chart Pane .................................................................................................................................... 461
Scene Pane ................................................................................................................................... 461
Solution Information Pane ............................................................................................................ 461
Messages Pane ............................................................................................................................. 462
Progress Pane ............................................................................................................................... 462
Sidebar Help ................................................................................................................................. 463

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Cells in Workbench ............................................................................................................................. 463

Types of Cells ................................................................................................................................ 463
Understanding Cell States ............................................................................................................. 465
Cell Properties .............................................................................................................................. 468
Menus in Workbench .......................................................................................................................... 469
Menu Bar ...................................................................................................................................... 469
Context Menus ............................................................................................................................. 472
Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... 479

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List of Figures
1. Volumetric heat losses - Steady-state ...................................................................................................... 186
2. Volumetric heat losses - Transient ........................................................................................................... 187

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List of Tables
1. Properties Pane: Description Section ...................................................................................................... 137
2. Properties Pane: Definition Section ........................................................................................................ 137
3. Properties Pane: Rigid Transformation Section ........................................................................................ 139
4. Properties Pane: Mirror Transformation Section ...................................................................................... 140
5. Properties Pane: General Properties ........................................................................................................ 209
6. Properties Pane: Transfer Settings Section .............................................................................................. 209
7. Unit Multipliers ...................................................................................................................................... 300
8. Example Quantities and Units ................................................................................................................ 301
9. Scenarios in which temperature-related units are converted before and during expression evaluation .... 303

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Overview
Ansys Workbench is a workflow analysis platform, combining the strength of our core simulation tools
with the tools necessary to manage your projects. To build an analysis, you add building blocks called
systems to the main project workspace. These systems make up a flowchart-like diagram that represent
the data flow through your project. Each system is a block of one or more components called cells,
which represent the sequential steps necessary for the specific type of analysis. Once added, you can
link them together to share or transfer data between systems.

From the cells, you can work with various Ansys applications and analysis tasks; some of these open in
tabs within the Workbench environment, while others open independently in their own windows.

Ansys applications enable you to define analysis characteristics such as geometry dimensions, material
properties, and boundary conditions as parameters. You can manage parameters at the project-level in
the Workbench environment. To perform your analysis, work through the cells of each system in or-
der—typically from top to bottom—defining inputs, specifying project parameters, running your simu-
lation, and investigating the results.

Workbench enables you to easily investigate design alternatives. You can modify any part of an analysis
or vary one or more parameters, and then automatically update the project to see the effect of the
change on the simulation result.

Related topics:
The Ansys Product Improvement Program
User Interface Overview
Interacting with Project Objects
Using Help

The Ansys Product Improvement Program

This product is covered by the Ansys Product Improvement Program, which enables Ansys, Inc., to collect
and analyze anonymous usage data reported by our software without affecting your work or product
performance. Analyzing product usage data helps us to understand customer usage trends and patterns,
interests, and quality or performance issues. The data enable us to develop or enhance product features
that better address your needs.

How to Participate
The program is voluntary. To participate, select Yes when the Product Improvement Program dialog
appears. Only then will collection of data for this product begin.

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Overview

How the Program Works

After you agree to participate, the product collects anonymous usage data during each session. When
you end the session, the collected data is sent to a secure server accessible only to authorized Ansys
employees. After Ansys receives the data, various statistical measures such as distributions, counts,
means, medians, modes, etc., are used to understand and analyze the data.

Data We Collect
The data we collect under the Ansys Product Improvement Program are limited. The types and amounts
of collected data vary from product to product. Typically, the data fall into the categories listed here:

Hardware: Information about the hardware on which the product is running, such as the:

• brand and type of CPU

• number of processors available

• amount of memory available

• brand and type of graphics card

System: Configuration information about the system the product is running on, such as the:

• operating system and version

• country code

• time zone

• language used

• values of environment variables used by the product

Session: Characteristics of the session, such as the:

• interactive or batch setting

• time duration

• total CPU time used

• product license and license settings being used

• product version and build identifiers

• command line options used

• number of processors used

• amount of memory used

• errors and warnings issued

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 The Ansys Product Improvement Program

Session Actions: Counts of certain user actions during a session, such as the number of:

• project saves

• restarts

• meshing, solving, postprocessing, etc., actions

• times the Help system is used

• times wizards are used

• toolbar selections

Model: Statistics of the model used in the simulation, such as the:

• number and types of entities used, such as nodes, elements, cells, surfaces, primitives, etc.

• number of material types, loading types, boundary conditions, species, etc.

• number and types of coordinate systems used

• system of units used

• dimensionality (1-D, 2-D, 3-D)

Analysis: Characteristics of the analysis, such as the:

• physics types used

• linear and nonlinear behaviors

• time and frequency domains (static, steady-state, transient, modal, harmonic, etc.)

• analysis options used

Solution: Characteristics of the solution performed, including:

• the choice of solvers and solver options

• the solution controls used, such as convergence criteria, precision settings, and tuning options

• solver statistics such as the number of equations, number of load steps, number of design points,
etc.

Specialty: Special options or features used, such as:

• user-provided plug-ins and routines

• coupling of analyses with other Ansys products

Data We Do Not Collect

The Product Improvement Program does not collect any information that can identify you personally,
your company, or your intellectual property. This includes, but is not limited to:

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Overview

• names, addresses, or usernames

• file names, part names, or other user-supplied labels

• geometry- or design-specific inputs, such as coordinate values or locations, thicknesses, or other

dimensional values

• actual values of material properties, loadings, or any other real-valued user-supplied data

In addition to collecting only anonymous data, we make no record of where we collect data from. We
therefore cannot associate collected data with any specific customer, company, or location.

Opting Out of the Program

You may stop your participation in the program any time you wish. To do so, select Ansys Product
Improvement Program from the Help menu. A dialog appears and asks if you want to continue parti-
cipating in the program. Select No and then click OK. Data will no longer be collected or sent.

The Ansys, Inc., Privacy Policy

All Ansys products are covered by the Ansys, Inc., Privacy Policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Am I required to participate in this program?

No, your participation is voluntary. We encourage you to participate, however, as it helps us create
products that will better meet your future needs.

2. Am I automatically enrolled in this program?

No. You are not enrolled unless you explicitly agree to participate.

3. Does participating in this program put my intellectual property at risk of being collected or discovered
by Ansys?

No. We do not collect any project-specific, company-specific, or model-specific information.

4. Can I stop participating even after I agree to participate?

Yes, you can stop participating at any time. To do so, select Ansys Product Improvement Program
from the Help menu. A dialog appears and asks if you want to continue participating in the program.
Select No and then click OK. Data will no longer be collected or sent.

5. Will participation in the program slow the performance of the product?

No, the data collection does not affect the product performance in any significant way. The amount
of data collected is very small.

6. How frequently is data collected and sent to Ansys servers?

The data is collected during each use session of the product. The collected data is sent to a secure
server once per session, when you exit the product.

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 User Interface Overview

7. Is this program available in all Ansys products?

Not at this time, although we are adding it to more of our products at each release. The program
is available in a product only if this Ansys Product Improvement Program description appears in the
product documentation, as it does here for this product.

8. If I enroll in the program for this product, am I automatically enrolled in the program for the other Ansys
products I use on the same machine?

Yes. Your enrollment choice applies to all Ansys products you use on the same machine. Similarly,
if you end your enrollment in the program for one product, you end your enrollment for all Ansys
products on that machine.

9. How is enrollment in the Product Improvement Program determined if I use Ansys products in a cluster?

In a cluster configuration, the Product Improvement Program enrollment is determined by the host
machine setting.

10. Can I easily opt out of the Product Improvement Program for all clients in my network installation?

Yes. Perform the following steps on the file server:

a. Navigate to the installation directory: [Drive:]\v241\commonfiles\globalsettings

b. Open the file ANSYSProductImprovementProgram.txt.

c. Change the value from "on" to "off" and save the file.

User Interface Overview

Use the following image and topics to understand basic user interface functionality.

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Overview

Related topics:
Tabs
Panes
Systems and Cells
Links

Tabs
Tabs are workspaces that allow you to interact with different parts of your project. The Project tab
is used as the main workspace, but other tabs can be opened; either by double-clicking the associated
cell, or by right-clicking it and selecting Edit from the context menu.

Each cell that does not launch an external application has a single workspace that can be opened
inside Workbench. In some cases, you can open multiple tabs of the same type; for example, if you
have three Engineering Data cells in three separate systems, you can open three Engineering Data
tabs at the same time.

You can right-click tabs to Close Tab, Close Other Tabs, and Close All. You can also close individual
tabs by clicking the x icon. Only the Project tab cannot be closed.

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 User Interface Overview

For a detailed list of available tabs, see Tabs in Workbench (p. 455).

Panes
Tabs in Workbench are made up of multiple panes that contain information relating to the project
shown in the tab.

Some panes are common to multiple tabs, while others are tab-specific. Some panes are only shown
in the tab for which they’ve been enabled, while others, once enabled, are shown across all the tabs
either until you either disable them or reset the tab layout.

To configure panes, see Configuring Panes (p. 31). For a detailed list of available panes, see Panes
within Tabs (p. 455).

Systems and Cells

A system is a workflow building block and is made up of one or more analysis components called
cells.

You can interact with a cell to perform any of the following actions:

• Launch an application that opens independently of Workbench

• Open a tab inside Workbench

• Add connecting systems, either upstream or downstream

• Assign input or reference files

• Assign properties to components of your analysis

Each cell has either an application or a tab associated with it. Some cells are associated with an ap-
plication that launches in a separate window, such as Fluent or Mechanical; in some cases, multiple
cells in a system can be associated with the same application. Other cells, such as the Parameters
cell or a cell in a System Coupling system, are associated with tabs that open inside Workbench.

Icons for each cell indicate the state of that particular cell, such as whether the cell requires attention,
is up-to-date, and so on. For more information, see Understanding Cell States (p. 465).

To display a quick help panel for the cell, click the blue triangle in the lower right corner of the cell
(where available). The quick help message that displays explains any immediate action that must be
taken and can include links to more detailed help.

For more information on working with systems, see Working Through a System (p. 69). For a detailed
list of cell types, see Types of Cells (p. 463).

Links
Links represent data sharing or data transfer between the systems added to the Project Schematic.

For more information on link types and working with links, see Creating Connected Systems (p. 62).

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Overview

Interacting with Project Objects

The Toolbox and Project Schematic pane contain project objects such as systems, cells, and links. You
can interact with these objects in a number of different ways:

• Single-click: Selects an object. This does not modify data or initiate any action.

• Double-click: Initiates the default action from the context menu. This allows users who are familiar
with Workbench to quickly move through basic or common operations.

• Right- click: Displays a context menu applicable to the current state of the selected object. From the
context menu, you can select from multiple actions. The default action is shown in bold.

• Drag-and-drop: Previews possible locations for an object in the Project Schematic. A drag-and-drop
operation can have multiple alternative targets, depending on context and schematic complexity.
Holding down the mouse button, hover over any target to see details of how the target location
would be implemented (for example, what components would be connected after the operation is
completed).

To cancel a drag-and-drop operation, press the Esc key while holding down the mouse button.

Using Help
Workbench offers three levels of help:

• Quick Help (p. 24)

• Sidebar Help (p. 25)

• Online Help (p. 26)

Quick Help
Quick help is available for most cells in a system. Click the blue arrow in the bottom right corner of the
cell to see a brief help panel on that cell. Quick help is generally state-sensitive; as the state of a cell
changes, the content of the quick help panel updates to match. From quick help, you can also access
related help topics in the online help system.

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 Using Help

Sidebar Help
The Sidebar Help pane is shown on the right side of the screen. The content of this help panel is de-
termined by the portion of the interface that has focus (that is, where the mouse was last clicked).

• If no area has focus, a user interface overview topic is displayed.

• If the Project Schematic has focus but no systems are defined, a getting started topic is displayed.

• If the Project Schematic has focus and one or more systems have been defined, links to those spe-
cific system types, as well as links to general topics are displayed.

To access the Sidebar Help pane, press F1 or, from the menu bar, select Help → Show Context Help.

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Overview

Online Help
Online help is available from the Workbench Help menu, or from any of the links in the quick help or
the Sidebar Help pane. Online help provides a comprehensive overview of all features and capabilities
and includes full search capabilities.

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Configuring Workbench
Use the following topics to configure Workbench:
Configuring the Toolbox
Configuring Units in Workbench
Configuring Panes
Configuring User Preferences
Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench
Customizing Workbench with Ansys ACT

Configuring the Toolbox

When you open Workbench, the Toolbox pane on the Project tab contains the systems available to
you. These are the products you have installed and for which licenses are available.

To configure the Toolbox to show only the systems you use, rather than all available systems:

1. At the bottom of the Toolbox, Click View All / Customize.

2. In the Toolbox Customization pane, deselect systems you want to hide.

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Configuring Workbench

3. To close the Toolbox Customization pane, click << Back.

Configuring Units in Workbench

Workbench provides:

• Predefined unit systems that contain the most commonly used sets of units.

• The ability to define custom unit systems (p. 30) based on the predefined unit systems. (You cannot
edit or delete predefined unit systems.)

• The ability to display the following project data using the project unit system:
– Engineering data
– Parameters
– Charts.

• The ability to share the unit system between users.

Note:

Unit settings in Workbench are not passed to Fluid Flow analysis systems; to CFX, Fluent,
Results, or TurboGrid systems; or to FSI: Fluid Flow custom systems.

To open the Unit Systems dialog box, from the menu bar select Units → Unit Systems.

The Unit Systems dialog is displayed and contains the following options:

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 Configuring Units in Workbench

Option Description
Sets unit system for active project.
Active
Project
Sets default unit system. This will be default unit system for every project.
Default
Hides/displays unit system menu item. Only 15 unit systems can be unsuppressed and
Sup- displayed as in the Units menu.
press/Unsup-
press
Duplicate Creates a custom unit system based on selected unit system.
Delete Deletes unit system. The following unit systems cannot be deleted:

• Predefined Unit System

• Active Project Unit System

• Default Unit System

Import Imports a units file (*.xml).

Export Exports the active project unit system as a units file (*.xml).

Units
A unit system is a collection of the preferred unit for the base, common, and other quantity types.

• Base Units: All other units are derived from these units.
– Angle
– Chemical Amount
– Current
– Length
– Luminance
– Mass
– Solid Angle
– Time
– Temperature

• Common Units: These are units which are derived from the base units and are typically used as base
units for other units.
– Electric Charge
– Energy
– Force
– Power
– Pressure
– Voltage

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Configuring Workbench

• Other Units: Several other units are derived from base and common units.

For a detailed description on how units are used in expressions, see Expressions, Functions, Quantities,
and Units (p. 297).

Predefined Unit Systems

Workbench offers the following predefined unit systems:

• Metric (kg, m, s, °C, A, N, V) (default unit system)

• Metric (tonne, mm, s, °C, mA, N, mV)
• U.S. Customary (lbm, in, s, °F, A, lbf, V)
• SI (kg, m, s, K, A, N, V)
• U.S. Engineering (lbm, in, s, R, A, lbf, V)

You cannot edit or delete predefined unit systems.

Workbench also provides the following additional unit systems. These are suppressed by default.

• Metric (g, cm, s, °C, A, dyne, V)

• Metric (kg, mm, s, °C, mA, N, mV)
• Metric (kg, µm, s, °C, mA, µN, V)
• Metric (decatonne, mm, s, °C, mA, N, mV)
• U.S. Customary (lbm, ft, s, F, A, lbf, V)
• Consistent CGS
• Consistent NMM
• Consistent µMKS
• Consistent BIN
• Consistent BFT

For a detailed description of unit systems for the Mechanical application, see Understanding Solving
Units in the Mechanical User's Guide.

You can also display values as defined and display values in project units. See Units Menu (p. 470) for
more information on using these options.

Custom Unit Systems

To create a custom unit system based on a predefined unit system, select the unit system and click
Duplicate.

• The default name for the new Unit system is Custom Unit System. You can change the name.

• You can change the units for any quantity type from the available list.

• The list of units that are available are either consistent with SI or US Customary, depending on the
original unit system. This to assure that a consistent unit system can be constructed for solution
purposes.

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 Configuring Panes

• Changing base units can automatically change Common and Other derived units if appropriate. For
example, if the mass unit is kg, the length unit is m, and the force unit is N, then changing mass to
g and length to cm will automatically change force to dyne.

Unit Limitations
Sound Pressure Level and A Weighted Sound Pressure Level are dimensionless quantities with units dB
and dBA, respectively.

• Math operations between these two units or either of these and a numerical value will result in
a value with no unit. For example, 10 dB x 10 = 100. (no unit)

• Math operations between either of these units and a dimensional unit will result in a value with
the dimensional unit. For example, 10 dB x 10 m = 100 m.

Configuring Panes
The configuration and persistence of panes across tabs varies to give you the maximum flexibility in
customizing the information you see on each tab. The header bar of each pane contains icons and
context menus that allow you to control pane attributes such as visibility, size, and floating/docked
state. You can access the context menu either by clicking the down arrow or by right-clicking in the
header.

Some panes—for example, the Table, Chart, Outline, and Properties panes—are defined per tab, so
that changes to a pane are specific to that tab. For example, if you resize and float the Chart pane in
the Parameter Set tab and then switch to the Response Surface tab in a DesignXplorer system, the
Chart pane in the new tab is not resized and floated.

For more information on specific panes, see Panes within Tabs (p. 455).

Related topics:
Opening and Closing Panes
Hiding and Resizing Panes
Floating and Docking Panes
Resetting Panes

Opening and Closing Panes

To open a pane, from the menu bar, select View → pane name. Once the pane is open, it updates
its content according to what you’ve selected; by selecting different objects, you can view or edit the
associated properties of those objects.

To close a pane, use one of the following options:

• From the menu bar, select View → pane name to deselect it.

• Right-click the header bar of the pane and from context menu, select Close.

• From the Windowing drop-down menu on the pane header bar, select Close.

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Configuring Workbench

• On the header bar, click .

Hiding and Resizing Panes

To change how the pane displays, from the pane header bar context menu or the Windowing drop-
down menu, select from the following options:

• Minimize: Displays the pane as a tab in the bottom left corner of the Workbench window. To display
the pane again, click the tab.

• Maximize: Expands the pane to its largest size.

You can only maximize a floating pane; you cannot maximize a docked pane.

• Restore: Returns the pane to its pre-maximized size and location.

To resize a pane, use your mouse to drag its edges to the desired size.

Floating and Docking Panes

By default, most panes are docked, or embedded, in their tab. You can separate a pane from its tab,
so it can be moved outside of the Workbench window. When you dock a pane, it returns to its place
on its usual tab.

When you float a pane, you separate it from its tab, so it is still available when you switch tabs. This
is especially useful when you want to see a pane that is not available as part of a tab. For example,
the Files pane is not visible in the Parameter Set tab, but you can float the Files pane so you can
see it while working with project parameters.

To float a pane, use one of the following options:

• Right-click the header bar of the pane and from context menu, select Float.

• From the Windowing drop-down menu on the pane header bar, select Float.

• On the header bar of the pane, click .

• Tear the pane from its dock by dragging the header bar of the pane to another location.

To dock a pane, use one of the following options:

• Right-click the header bar of the pane and from context menu, select Dock.

• From the Windowing drop-down menu on the pane header bar, select Dock.

• On the header bar of the pane, click .

When you dock a pane, it returns to its usual tab and may not be visible in the current tab.

Resetting Panes
You can reset the panes for one tab or for all the tabs.

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

• To reset all the panes in the current tab to their default position, select View → Reset Workspace.

• To reset all the panes in the project, select View → Reset Window Layout. This resets the panes
in all tabs to their default positions and switches to the Project tab.

Configuring User Preferences

To set your preferences for Workbench, from the menu bar, select Tools → Options.

The preferences you set here are local settings, affecting only you. Some changes made in the Options
dialog take place immediately, while others take place after you restart Workbench.

For detailed descriptions of each preference dialog box, see Workbench User Preferences (p. 433).

Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

This section describes how to set up your environment to use the Samcef and ABAQUS solvers within
Workbench.
Configuring Samcef
Configuring ABAQUS

Configuring Samcef
After installing the Samcef program, you must set the following environment variables for compatib-
ility with Workbench:

SAMTECH_LICENSE_FILE

The path to your license server or license file. See the Samcef documentation for more information.

SAM_EXE

The path to the Samcef executable folder. In a standard installation, this is the Exec folder in the
base directory of the Samcef install. For instance, if Samcef is installed at C:\Samcef, the path
to the executable folder is C:\Samcef\Exec

SAM_WORK

The path to a temporary folder for a local run of Samcef. See the Samcef documentation for more
information.

The Samcef Result Storage Configuration File

The exact results stored by the Samcef solver can be controlled using an XML configuration file.
This file uses Samcef SAI codes to define which results to write to the results file. Results are classified
by result type and category. The configuration file is located at ANSYS_IN-
STALL_DIR\v241\aisol\WBAddins\SamcefAddin\SamcefArchiveSettings.xml.

The configuration file is read when Mechanical is launched. If changes are made to the file while
Mechanical is running, Mechanical must be restarted to reflect the changes.

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Configuring Workbench

The XML root element in this file is <SamcefArchiveSettings>. The child nodes of this root
element represent analysis types. The only valid child node is <Analysis>, and this child node
has the following attribute:

name (type string)

The analysis type:

• default
• modal
• non_linear
• harmonic
• thermal

The <Analysis> node can have a child node of <Output>, which has the following attribute:

type (type string)

The option type, used to order SAI codes in the solver input file:
• nodal
• elemental

The <Output> node has child nodes of <Codes> which have the following attributes:

value (type string)

List of Samcef SAI codes separated by spaces. Usually a list of integers, positive or negative.

category (type string)

Optional, used for options enable or disabled by the user.

• stress
• strain
• thermal_flux
• contact

When a solve is executed and the solver input file is created, Mechanical finds the correct <Ana-
lysis> node in the configuration file to determine the SAI codes to write to the input file. This
check is performed by finding the analysis type and whether the analysis is linear or nonlinear. The
following table describes the mapping:

Workbench Analysis Type Option <Analysis> Node Used

Static Structural (Samcef ) Linear default
Nonlinear non_linear
Transient Structural (Samcef ) Linear default
Nonlinear non_linear
Modal (Samcef ) Linear modal
Nonlinear non_linear
Harmonic Response (Samcef ) - harmonic

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

Workbench Analysis Type Option <Analysis> Node Used

Eigenvalue Buckling (Samcef ) - No SAI code written
Steady-State Thermal (Samcef ) - thermal
Transient Thermal (Samcef ) - thermal

The Samcef Postprocessing Configuration File

In order to postprocess all results from the Samcef solver in the Workbench interface, an XML file
is used to map the results between Samcef and Workbench. The XML file defines all of the Workbench
result codes with associated data, and lists the corresponding Samcef codes. The configuration file
is located at ANSYS_INSTALL_DIR\v241\aisol\WBAddins\SamcefAddin\SamcefRes-
ultCodes.xml.

The configuration file is read when Mechanical starts postprocessing Samcef data. If changes are
made to the file while Mechanical is running, Mechanical must be restarted to reflect the changes.

The following is an example result as expressed in the XML configuration:

<Result result_name="U" result_id="101" data_type="nodal" out_unit="length" style="vector"

num_comp="5" comp_labels="XYZLABELS" description="Deformations(XYZs)">
<Codes>
<Code name="Code 163" />
</Codes>
</Result>

The listing provides the following information:

• The Workbench code "U" identified by Mechanical by the ID 101 is a nodal result and is interpreted
as a length.

• The result is represented in the vector style, has 5 components and is part of the XYZLABELS
group.

• The result corresponds to Samcef result code, "Code 163".

The XML Result object can have the following attributes:

result_name (type string)

The Workbench name of the result. Standard Mechanical names are reserved.

result_id (type integer)

The Workbench ID of the result. Standard Mechanical IDs are reserved; you should start num-
bering solver-specific results at 100000. You should not choose a number larger than 1000000
because those numbers are internally reserved.

data_type (type string enumerate)

The result type:

• nodal
• elem_nodal

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Configuring Workbench

• elemental

out_unit (type string enumerate)

The unit type of the result. If this value is defined_per_component, the subtag <Units-
PerComponent> must be defined.

The <UnitsPerComponent> node contains individual <Component> nodes with the attributes
name and out_unit. The name attribute corresponds to the component name, and the
out_unit attribute has the same requirements as this attribute.

<UnitsPerComponent>
<Component name="XXX" out_unit="XXX" />
<Component out_unit="XXX" />
</UnitsPerComponent>

• no_units
• acceleration
• angle
• angular_velocity
• area
• capacitance
• charge
• charge_density
• conductivity
• current
• current_density
• density
• displacement
• electric_conductivity
• electric_field
• electric_flux_density
• electric_resistivity
• energy
• film_coeff
• force
• force_intensity
• frequency
• heat_flux
• heat_generation
• heat_rate
• inductance
• inverse_stress
• length
• magnetic_field_intensity
• magnetic_flux
• magnetic_flux_density

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

• mass
• moment
• moment_inertia
• permeability
• permittivity
• poisson
• power
• pressure
• relative_permeability
• relative_permittivity
• section_modulus
• specific_heat
• specific_weight
• shear_strain
• stiffness
• strain
• stress
• strength
• thermal_expansion
• temperature
• time
• velocity
• voltage
• volume
• gasket_stiffness
• moment_inertia_mass
• psd_acceleration
• psd_acceleration_grav
• psd_displacement
• psd_velocity
• rotational_damping
• rotational_stiffness
• translational_damping
• angular_acceleration
• seedbeck_coefficient
• decay_constant
• fracture_energy
• shock_velocity
• energy_density_mass
• electric_conductance_per_unit_area
• psd_stress
• psd_strain
• psd_force

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Configuring Workbench

• psd_moment
• psd_pressure
• force_per_angular_unit
• impulse
• impulse_per_angular_unit
• temperature_difference
• material_impedance
• rs_acceleration
• rs_acceleration_grav
• rs_displacement
• rs_velocity
• warping_factor
• thermal_conductance
• inverse_length
• inverse_angle
• thermal_capacitance
• normalized_value
• mass_flow_rate
• unitless
• stress_intensity_factor
• sqrt_length
• energy_per_volume
• thermal_gradient

style (type string enumerate)

The style of the value:

• scalar
• vector
• tensor
• tensor_strain
• euler_angles
• coordinate
• shear_moment_diagram

num_comp (type integer)

Number of components, between 1 and the length of comp_labels.

comp_labels (type string enumerate)

The component labels:

• XYZLABELS
• STRESSLABELS
• CONTACTLABELS
• BEAMLABELS

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

• GASKETLABELS
• NLLABELS
• MISCLABELS
• SENGLABELS
• SPRINGLABELS
• BEAM188LABELS
• RADIOSITYLABELS
• EULERLABELS
• BEAMRXLABELS
• THERMALMASSLABELS
• SHELLMBPLABELS
• SLASHPNUMLABELS
• CINTLABELS
• PRIN_S_LABELS
• PDMG_LABELS
• PFC_LABELS
• CDM_LABELS
• CONTDEBONDLABELS
• BEARINGLABELS
• BLANKLABELS

description (type string)

Free text.

Once the <Result> node is defined, the <Codes> node with the individual <Code> child nodes
are defined. The <Codes> node can have the following attributes:

hasShell (type string)

If present and value = true, the layer attribute should be defined.

layer (type integer)

Only necessary if hasShell is set to true.

• 1 - bottom
• 2 - middle
• 3 - top

Note:

It is possible to have a <Codes> node without any child <Code> nodes. It can be used
to define a result with layers but no associated codes for those layers, for example
TEMP_UPSHELL.

The <Code> child nodes can have the following attributes:

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Configuring Workbench

name (type string)

Value of the Samcef solver code, generally of the form "Code XXX" or "Sdb XXX".

module (type string)

Optional, if set, defines the code only for a specific Samcef module. Possible values are:
• ba - bacon
• me - mechano
• as - asef
• st - stabi
• dy - dynam
• mt - mechano/thermal
• re - repdyn

Limitations
• If the XML of the configuration file is missing or not well-formed, no results are available.

• If a result has invalid syntax (missing XML components, invalid attributes), it is not available.

• Mechanical must be restarted if any changes are made to the result configuration file during
operation.

Configuring ABAQUS
ABAQUS version 6.14 is supported.

After installing ABAQUS, you must configure the ANSYS_INSTALL_DIR\v241\aisol\WBAd-

dins\AbaqusAddin\config.xml file in order to postprocess results. Edit the config.xml file
with a text editor, and specify the version of ABAQUS you have installed:

<AbaqusVersion version="6.14-3">

If more than one version of ABAQUS is installed on your machine, the paths to the version configured
for use with Workbench must appear first in your PATH environment variable.

Assuming ABAQUS is installed at C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus, for ABAQUS 6.14-3, the PATH environment
variable must contain:

• C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus\Commands

• C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus\6.14-3\code\bin

• C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus\6.14-3\tools\SMApy\python2.7\Lib

If the ABAQUS version installed does not match the version specified in the config.xml file,
Mechanical returns an error when trying to postprocess the ODB result file.

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

The ABAQUS Result Storage Configuration File

The exact results stored by the ABAQUS solver can be controlled using an XML configuration file.
This file uses ABAQUS Program Controlled codes to define which results to write to the results file.
Results are classified by result type and category. The configuration file is located at ANSYS_IN-
STALL_DIR\v241\aisol\WBAddins\AbaqusAddin\AbaqusArchiveSettings.xml.

The configuration file is read when Mechanical is launched. If changes are made to the file while
Mechanical is running, Mechanical must be restarted to reflect the changes.

The XML root element in this file is <AbaqusArchiveSettings version="1">. The child
nodes of this root element represent analysis types. The only valid child node is <Analysis>, and
this child node has the following attribute:

name (type string)

The analysis type:

• struct
• eigen
• thermal

The <Analysis> node can have a child node of <Output>, which has the following attribute:

type (type string)

The option type, used to order codes in the solver input file:
• nodal
• elemental
• contact
• energy
• radiation

The <Output> node has child nodes of <Codes> which have the following attributes:

value (type string)

List of ABAQUS codes separated by spaces. Usually a list of integers, positive or negative.

position (type string)

For elemental results, if a result exists with a matching position, it is used. Otherwise results
without position are used.

category (type string)

Optional, used for options enable or disabled by the user.

• stress
• strain
• thermal
• contact

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Configuring Workbench

When a solve is executed and the solver input file is created, Mechanical finds the correct <Ana-
lysis> node in the configuration file to determine the SAI codes to write to the input file. This
check is performed by finding the analysis type and whether the analysis is linear or nonlinear. The
following table describes the mapping:

Workbench Analysis Type <Analysis> Node Used

Static Structural (ABAQUS) struct
Transient Structural (ABAQUS) struct
Modal (ABAQUS) eigen
Steady-State Thermal (ABAQUS) thermal
Transient Thermal (ABAQUS) thermal

The ABAQUS Postprocessing Configuration File

In order to postprocess all results from the ABAQUS solver in the Workbench interface, an XML file
is used to map the results between ABAQUS and Workbench. The XML file defines all of the Work-
bench result codes with associated data, and lists the corresponding Samcef codes. The configuration
file is located at ANSYS_INSTALL_DIR\v241\aisol\WBAddins\AbaqusAddin\VkiAbaqus-
ResultCodes.xml.

The configuration file is read when Mechanical starts postprocessing ABAQUS data. If changes are
made to the file while Mechanical is running, Mechanical must be restarted to reflect the changes.

The following is an example result as expressed in the XML configuration:

<Result result_name="U" result_id="101" data_type="nodal" out_unit="length" style="vector"

num_comp="5" comp_labels="XYZLABELS" description="Deformations(XYZs)">
<Solver name="Abaqus">
<Code name="U" />
</Solver>
<vki vki_root_name="D" />
</Result>

The listing provides the following information:

• The Workbench code "U" identified by Mechanical by the ID 101 is a nodal result and is interpreted
as a length.

• The result is represented in the vector style, has 5 components and is part of the XYZLABELS
group.

• The result corresponds to vki result "D", which comes from ABAQUS code "U".

The XML Result object can have the following attributes:

result_name (type string)

The Workbench name of the result. Standard Mechanical names are reserved.

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

result_id (type integer)

The Workbench ID of the result. Standard Mechanical IDs are reserved; you should start num-
bering solver-specific results at 100000. You should not choose a number larger than 1000000
because those numbers are internally reserved.

data_type (type string enumerate)

The result type:

• nodal
• elem_nodal
• elemental

out_unit (type string enumerate)

The unit type of the result:

• no_units
• acceleration
• angle
• angular_velocity
• area
• capacitance
• charge
• charge_density
• conductivity
• current
• current_density
• density
• displacement
• electric_conductivity
• electric_field
• electric_flux_density
• electric_resistivity
• energy
• film_coeff
• force
• force_intensity
• frequency
• heat_flux
• heat_generation
• heat_rate
• inductance
• inverse_stress
• length
• magnetic_field_intensity
• magnetic_flux

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Configuring Workbench

• magnetic_flux_density
• mass
• moment
• moment_inertia
• permeability
• permittivity
• poisson
• power
• pressure
• relative_permeability
• relative_permittivity
• section_modulus
• specific_heat
• specific_weight
• shear_strain
• stiffness
• strain
• stress
• strength
• thermal_expansion
• temperature
• time
• velocity
• voltage
• volume
• gasket_stiffness
• moment_inertia_mass
• psd_acceleration
• psd_acceleration_grav
• psd_displacement
• psd_velocity
• rotational_damping
• rotational_stiffness
• translational_damping
• angular_acceleration
• seedbeck_coefficient
• decay_constant
• fracture_energy
• shock_velocity
• energy_density_mass
• electric_conductance_per_unit_area
• psd_stress
• psd_strain

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 Configuring External Solvers for Use with Workbench

• psd_force
• psd_moment
• psd_pressure
• force_per_angular_unit
• impulse
• impulse_per_angular_unit
• temperature_difference
• material_impedance
• rs_acceleration
• rs_acceleration_grav
• rs_displacement
• rs_velocity
• warping_factor
• thermal_conductance
• inverse_length
• inverse_angle
• thermal_capacitance
• normalized_value
• mass_flow_rate
• unitless
• stress_intensity_factor
• sqrt_length
• energy_per_volume
• thermal_gradient

style (type string enumerate)

The style of the value:

• scalar
• vector
• tensor
• tensor_strain
• euler_angles
• coordinate
• shear_moment_diagram

num_comp (type integer)

Number of components, between 1 and the length of comp_labels.

comp_labels (type string enumerate)

The component labels:

• XYZLABELS
• STRESSLABELS
• CONTACTLABELS

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Configuring Workbench

• BEAMLABELS
• GASKETLABELS
• NLLABELS
• MISCLABELS
• SENGLABELS
• SPRINGLABELS
• BEAM188LABELS
• RADIOSITYLABELS
• EULERLABELS
• BEAMRXLABELS
• THERMALMASSLABELS
• SHELLMBPLABELS
• SLASHPNUMLABELS
• CINTLABELS
• PRIN_S_LABELS
• PDMG_LABELS
• PFC_LABELS
• CDM_LABELS
• CONTDEBONDLABELS
• BEARINGLABELS
• BLANKLABELS

is_membrane (type boolean)

If this attribute is present and marked true, the result is only added if the model has a membrane.

is_six_dof (type boolean)

Optional, applies for only "R" and "M" type Mechanical results.

description (type string)

Free text.

The <Solver> node references the solver used by the attribute name. All child <Code> nodes
are the codes associated to the Workbench result for this solver. A code is an alphanumerical string
referred by attribute name. It is possible to define several codes for the same solver.

The <vki> node is another way to match the solver result. This node has the following attributes:

vki_root_name (type string)

The vki root name as described in the documentation/API.

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 Customizing Workbench with Ansys ACT

vki_aux_name (type string)

Only required if vki_root_name is set to UNKNOWN. Matches the vki result in case of unknown
vki type.

Note:

If solver-specific data and vki data are fulfilled for a specific result, Mechanical will first
try to match the vki code. If it is not found, it will try to match the solver-specific code.
For example, when reading a result file, the vki dataset E_ELAST is found, with solver-
specific data EE. Mechanical looks for a Workbench result having vki root name E_ELAST.
If not found, it looks for a Workbench result having Abaqus code EE.

Limitations
• If the XML of the configuration file is missing or not well-formed, no results are available.

• If a result has invalid syntax (missing XML components, invalid attributes), it is not available.

• Mechanical must be restarted if any changes are made to the result configuration file during
operation.

The following results don't appear in the XML file, as they have behavior which is not compatible:

• SERR - not associated to VKI or ABAQUS, is available if S and SVOLU are also available.

• NDIR, EDIR - not associated to VKI or ABAQUS, is available if the model contains shells.

Customizing Workbench with Ansys ACT

With Ansys ACT, you can create extensions to customize supported Ansys products, including Workbench.

ACT provides three levels of Workbench customization:

• Feature Creation

Feature creation is the direct, API-driven customization of an Ansys product. In addition to leveraging
the functionality already available in Workbench, ACT enables you to add functionality and operations
of your own. Examples of feature creation include the creation of custom loads and geometries, the
addition of custom preprocessing or postprocessing features, and the integration of third-party
solvers, sampling methods, and optimization algorithms.

For general feature creation information, see Feature Creation in the ACT Developer's Guide. For
Workbench-specific feature creation information, see Workbench Feature Creation in the ACT Custom-
ization Guide for Workbench.

• Simulation Workflow Integration

Simulation workflow integration is the incorporation of external knowledge such as apps, processes,
and scripts into the ANSYS ecosystem. Using ACT, you can customize simulation workflows in the
Workbench Project tab.

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Configuring Workbench

For example, you can create custom task groups (systems) and custom tasks (components) for insertion
in the Project Schematic, constructing consistent and cohesive simulation workflows that allow your
business-specific elements to coexist and interface with pre-built Ansys solutions.

For components that support updates in Remote Solve Manager (RSM), you can use ACT to configure
job submission options for remote and background updates.

For more information, see Simulation Workflow Integration and Simulation Workflow Integration Ex-
amples in the ACT Customization Guide for Workbench.

Process Compression

Process compression is the encapsulation and automation of existing processes available in an Ansys
product. The result is a wizard that provides guidance within the product workflow, walking the end
user step-by-step through a simulation. You can create single wizards to run in the Workbench Project
tab or mixed wizards to be run across several Ansys products.

Wizards allow you to leverage both the existing functionality of Workbench and the scripting capab-
ilities of the Workbench framework API. With a wizard, you can manipulate existing features and
simulation components, organizing them as needed to produce a custom automated process. You
can also customize the user interface of a wizard as a whole and define layouts for individual interface
components.

For general wizard information, see Simulation Wizards in the ACT Developer's Guide. For Workbench-
specific wizard information, see Workbench Wizards in the ACT Customization Guide for Workbench.

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Creating, Opening, and Importing Projects and Files
When you start Workbench, or open a project in Workbench, it opens to the Project tab. The Project
tab is the main workspace where you build your analysis.

Like all tabs, the Project tab is made up of different panes that can be reconfigured according the in-
formation you want to see. By default, the Project tab has the Toolbox pane and the Project Schem-
atic pane.

You can start adding systems to the Project Schematic immediately or you can create, open, or import
a project.

Related topics:
Creating a New Project
Opening an Existing Project or File
Importing Files

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Creating, Opening, and Importing Projects and Files

Importing Legacy Databases

Creating a New Project

When Workbench opens, it displays a blank Project Schematic that you can start adding systems to.
If you need to open a new blank Project Schematic, you can create a new project.

To create a new project:

1. From the menu bar, select File → New.

If you have added a system to the Project Schematic, the following message is displayed:

The project has been modified. Do you want to save it?

2. To save the modified project before opening the new one:

a. From the dialog box, select Yes.

b. Type a name for the project.

c. Browse to the location you want to save the project in.

Note:

Ansys recommends saving the project to a local drive rather than a network drive
due to performance reasons.

d. Click Save.

To delete the project, click No.

Opening an Existing Project or File

You can open a previously saved project or file to continue working with it.

On Windows systems, you can also double-click a .wbpz archive file from the directory it is saved in
to open the archive.

If you have deleted any project files through the file system and not through the Workbench interface,
you may see a warning message when you attempt to open the project. The error message lists the
missing files. The corrective action depends on the type of files that are missing:

• For files that are programmatically integrated with Workbench (such as database files, geometry files,
engineering data files, application-generated files, and so on), open the Files pane and use the context
menu to repair a file or permanently remove it (p. 282) from the project’s Files list if it is no longer
needed. Repairing these types of files should be done carefully; it is possible to use files or file types
that are not similar to the original. Missing or erroneous files can cause unintended consequences
for project stability and usability.

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