Thermally Loaded Support Structure

Problem Description:

• Find the stresses in the copper and steel wire structure shown below. The wires have a cross-sectional area of math:A. The structure is subjected to a load math:Q and a temperature rise of math:Delta T after assembly.

Reference:

• S. Timoshenko, Strength of Materials, Part I, Elementary Theory and Problems, 3rd Edition, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1955, pg. 30, problem 9.

Analysis Type(s):

• Static Analysis ANTYPE=0

Element Type(s):

• 3-D Spar (or Truss) Elements (LINK180)

Material Properties

• \(E_c = 16 \cdot 10^6 psi\)

• \(E_s = 30 \cdot 10^6 psi\)

• \(\alpha_c = 70 \cdot 10^{-7} in/in-^\circ F\)

• \(\alpha_s = 92 \cdot 10^{-7} in/in-^\circ F\)

Geometric Properties:

• \(A = 0.1 in^2\)

Loading:

• \(Q = 4000 lb\)

• \(\Delta T = 10 ^\circ F\)

Analytical Equations:

• The compressive force \(X\) is given by the following equation

• \(X = \frac{\Delta T (\alpha_c - \alpha_s) (A_s - E_s) }{1 + \frac{1 E_s A_s}{2 E_c A_c}} + \frac{Q}{1 + \frac{2 E_c A_c}{E_s A_s}}\)

Notes:

• Length of wires (20 in.), spacing between wires (10 in.), and the reference temperature (70°F) are arbitrarily selected. The rigid lower beam is modeled by nodal coupling.

# sphinx_gallery_thumbnail_path = '_static/vm3_setup.png'

from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl

# start mapdl and clear it
mapdl = launch_mapdl()
mapdl.clear()  # optional as MAPDL just started

# enter verification example mode and the pre-processing routine
mapdl.verify()
mapdl.prep7()

Out:

*****ANSYS VERIFICATION RUN ONLY*****
     DO NOT USE RESULTS FOR PRODUCTION

          ***** ANSYS ANALYSIS DEFINITION (PREP7) *****

Define Material

Set up the materials and their properties. We are using copper and steel here. - EX - X-direction elastic modulus - ALPX - Secant x - coefficient of thermal expansion

mapdl.antype("STATIC")
mapdl.et(1, "LINK180")
mapdl.sectype(1, "LINK")
mapdl.secdata(0.1)
mapdl.mp("EX", 1, 16e6)
mapdl.mp("ALPX", 1, 92e-7)
mapdl.mp("EX", 2, 30e6)
mapdl.mp("ALPX", 2, 70e-7)
# Define the reference temperature for the thermal strain calculations.
mapdl.tref(70)

Out:

REFERENCE TEMPERATURE=  70.000  (TUNIF=  70.000)

Define Geometry: Nodes

Set up the nodes and elements. This creates a mesh just like in the problem setup. We create a square of nodes and use fill to add mid-point nodes to two opposite sides.

mapdl.n(1, -10)
mapdl.n(3, 10)
mapdl.fill()
mapdl.n(4, -10, -20)
mapdl.n(6, 10, -20)
mapdl.fill()
mapdl.nplot(nnum=True, cpos="xy")

Define Geometry: Elements

Create two elements (using material #1) that are two sides of our square, as links. Then create a single element using material #2 between the first 2 that is parallel to them.

mapdl.e(1, 4)
mapdl.e(3, 6)
mapdl.mat(2)
mapdl.e(2, 5)
mapdl.eplot(show_node_numbering=True, cpos="xy")

Define Boundary Conditions

• Couple the degrees of freedom in y-displacement across nodes 5, 4, and 6.

• Fix nodes 1, 2, and 3 in place.

• Apply a force of -4000 in the y-direction to node 5

• Apply a uniform temperature of 80 to the whole body

• Finally, exit the post-processor.

mapdl.cp(1, "UY", 5, 4, 6)
mapdl.d(1, "ALL", "", "", 3)
mapdl.f(5, "FY", -4000)
mapdl.bfunif("TEMP", 80)
mapdl.finish()

Out:

***** ROUTINE COMPLETED *****  CP =         0.000

Solve

• Enter solution mode

• Specify a timestep of 1 to be used for this load step

• Solve the system.

mapdl.run("/SOLU")
mapdl.nsubst(1)
mapdl.solve()

Out:

*****  ANSYS SOLVE    COMMAND  *****

 *** NOTE ***                            CP =       0.000   TIME= 00:00:00
 There is no title defined for this analysis.
   *****ANSYS VERIFICATION RUN ONLY*****
     DO NOT USE RESULTS FOR PRODUCTION

                       S O L U T I O N   O P T I O N S

   PROBLEM DIMENSIONALITY. . . . . . . . . . . . .3-D
   DEGREES OF FREEDOM. . . . . . UX   UY   UZ
   ANALYSIS TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .STATIC (STEADY-STATE)
   GLOBALLY ASSEMBLED MATRIX . . . . . . . . . . .SYMMETRIC

 *** NOTE ***                            CP =       0.000   TIME= 00:00:00
 Present time 0 is less than or equal to the previous time.  Time will
 default to 1.

 *** NOTE ***                            CP =       0.000   TIME= 00:00:00
 The conditions for direct assembly have been met.  No .emat or .erot
 files will be produced.

                      L O A D   S T E P   O P T I O N S

   LOAD STEP NUMBER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     1
   TIME AT END OF THE LOAD STEP. . . . . . . . . .  1.0000
   NUMBER OF SUBSTEPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     1
   STEP CHANGE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS . . . . . . . .    NO
   PRINT OUTPUT CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . .NO PRINTOUT
   DATABASE OUTPUT CONTROLS. . . . . . . . . . . .ALL DATA WRITTEN
                                                  FOR THE LAST SUBSTEP



 Range of element maximum matrix coefficients in global coordinates
 Maximum = 150000 at element 0.
 Minimum = 80000 at element 0.

   *** ELEMENT MATRIX FORMULATION TIMES
     TYPE    NUMBER   ENAME      TOTAL CP  AVE CP

        1         3  LINK180       0.000   0.000000
 Time at end of element matrix formulation CP = 0.

 SPARSE MATRIX DIRECT SOLVER.
  Number of equations =           1,    Maximum wavefront =      0
  Memory available (MB) =    0.0    ,  Memory required (MB) =    0.0

 Sparse solver maximum pivot= 0 at node 0 .
 Sparse solver minimum pivot= 0 at node 0 .
 Sparse solver minimum pivot in absolute value= 0 at node 0 .

   *** ELEMENT RESULT CALCULATION TIMES
     TYPE    NUMBER   ENAME      TOTAL CP  AVE CP

        1         3  LINK180       0.000   0.000000

   *** NODAL LOAD CALCULATION TIMES
     TYPE    NUMBER   ENAME      TOTAL CP  AVE CP

        1         3  LINK180       0.000   0.000000
 *** LOAD STEP     1   SUBSTEP     1  COMPLETED.    CUM ITER =      1
 *** TIME =   1.00000         TIME INC =   1.00000      NEW TRIANG MATRIX

Post-processing

• Access the queries functions

• Find a steel node and a copper node

• Then use these to get the steel and copper elements

• Finally extract the stress experienced by each element

mapdl.post1()
q = mapdl.queries
steel_n = q.node(0, 0, 0)
copper_n = q.node(10, 0, 0)
steel_e = q.enearn(steel_n)
copper_e = q.enearn(copper_n)
mapdl.etable("STRS_ST", "LS", 1)
mapdl.etable("STRS_CO", "LS", 1)

stress_steel = mapdl.get("_", "ELEM", steel_e, "ETAB", "STRS_ST")
stress_copper = mapdl.get("_", "ELEM", copper_e, "ETAB", "STRS_CO")

Check Results

Now that we have the response we can compare the values to the expected stresses of 19695 and 10152 respectively.

steel_target = 19695
steel_ratio = stress_steel / steel_target
copper_target = 10152
copper_ratio = stress_copper / copper_target

message = f"""
------------------- VM3 RESULTS COMPARISON ---------------------

             |   TARGET   |   Mechanical APDL   |   RATIO
----------------------------------------------------------------
    Steel        {steel_target}        {stress_steel}            {steel_ratio:.6f}
    Copper       {copper_target}        {stress_copper}            {copper_ratio:.6f}

----------------------------------------------------------------

"""
print(message)

Out:

------------------- VM3 RESULTS COMPARISON ---------------------

             |   TARGET   |   Mechanical APDL   |   RATIO
----------------------------------------------------------------
    Steel        19695        19695.4839            1.000025
    Copper       10152        10152.2581            1.000025

----------------------------------------------------------------

stop mapdl

mapdl.exit()