Release Notes r145

ANSYS, Inc.
Release Notes
Release 14.5 ANSYS, Inc.
October 2012 Southpointe
275 Technology Drive 000410
Canonsburg, PA 15317 ANSYS, Inc. is
certified to ISO
9001:2008.
ansysinfo@ansys.com
http://www.ansys.com
(T) 724-746-3304
(F) 724-514-9494
Copyright and Trademark Information
2012 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use, distribution or duplication is
prohibited.
ANSYS, ANSYS Workbench, Ansoft, AUTODYN, EKM, Engineering Knowledge Manager,
CFX, FLUENT, HFSS and any and all ANSYS, Inc. brand, product, service and feature names,
logos and slogans are registered trademarks or trademarks of ANSYS, Inc. or its subsidi-
aries in the United States or other countries. ICEM CFD is a trademark used by ANSYS,
Inc. under license. CFX is a trademark of Sony Corporation in Japan. All other brand,
product, service and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
Disclaimer Notice
THIS ANSYS SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION INCLUDE TRADE
SECRETS AND ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PRODUCTS OF ANSYS, INC., ITS
SUBSIDIARIES, OR LICENSORS. The software products and documentation are furnished
by ANSYS, Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates under a software license agreement that
contains provisions concerning non-disclosure, copying, length and nature of use, com-
pliance with exporting laws, warranties, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and remedies,
and other provisions. The software products and documentation may be used, disclosed,
transferred, or copied only in accordance with the terms and conditions of that software
license agreement.
ANSYS, Inc. is certified to ISO 9001:2008.
U.S. Government Rights
For U.S. Government users, except as specifically granted by the ANSYS, Inc. software li-
cense agreement, the use, duplication, or disclosure by the United States Government
is subject to restrictions stated in the ANSYS, Inc. software license agreement and FAR
12.212 (for non-DOD licenses).
Third-Party Software
See the legal information in the product help files for the complete Legal Notice for
ANSYS proprietary software and third-party software. If you are unable to access the
Legal Notice, please contact ANSYS, Inc.
Published in the U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
1. Advisories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
2. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
3. Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
4. ANSYS Customer Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
I. ANSYS Structural Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Incompatibilities and Changes in Product Behavior from Previous Re-
leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2. General Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3. Performance Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4. Analysis Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5. Contact and Connection Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6. Graphics Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7. Loads/Supports/Conditions Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8. Finite Element (FE) Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.9. Mapping Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.10. Solution Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.11. Results Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.12. Ease of Use Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.13. Documentation Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Mechanical APDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1. Structural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.1. Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.1.1. User-Defined Friction Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.1.2. User-Defined Contact Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.1.3. Defining Real Constants via Subroutine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1.4. Defining Real Constants in Tabular Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1.5. Elastic Slip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1.6. Controlling the Units of Normal Contact Stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1.7. Surface-Based Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.1.8. 3-D Node-to-Node Contact Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.2. Elements and Nonlinear Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.2.1. 2-D to 3-D Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.2.2. Nonlinear Submodeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.2.3. Initial Curve Effects for Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.3. Material Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.3.1. Initial State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
iii
Release 14.5 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information of ANSYS,
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
2.1.3.2. User-Defined Field Variables and Field-Variable-Dependent
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.3.3. Isotropic Hardening for Chaboche Curve Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.4. Linear Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.4.1. Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) in PSD Analyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.1.4.2. Multiple Pressure Load Vectors in MPRS and PSD Ana-
lyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2. Coupled-Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3. Low-Frequency Electromagnetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4. Acoustics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5. Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5.1. New Diffusion Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5.2. New Diffusion Surface and Body Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.6. Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7. Solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7.1. Distributed ANSYS Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7.2. GPU Acceleration Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.7.3. Other Solver Changes and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.8. Linear Perturbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.8.1. Support for Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.8.2. Support for Superelements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.8.3. Nonlinear Spring Element Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.9. Results File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.10. Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.10.1. New Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.10.2. Modified Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.10.3. Undocumented Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.11. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.11.1. New Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.11.2. Modified Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.11.3. Undocumented Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.11.4. Archived Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.12. Other Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.12.1. Soil-Pile Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.2. Tabular Data Stored on Jobname.LDHI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.3. Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.3.1. Acoustic Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.3.2. Technology Demonstration Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.3.2.1. Fitting Parameters for a Chaboche Kinematic Harden-
ing Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.12.3.2.2. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. iv
Release Notes
2.12.3.2.3. Analysis of a Piezoelectric Flextensional Transducer in
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.12.3.3. Feature Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.12.3.4. Documentation Updates for Programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.12.3.4.1. Using Mixed Languages for Compiling and Linking
User Programmable Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.12.3.4.2. Routines and Functions Updated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.13. Known Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.13.1. Results File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.13.2. LINK180 Element Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.13.3. Hydrostatic Fluid Elements with KEYOPT(1) = 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.13.4. Contact Stiffness Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.13.5. Radiation View Factor as a Function of GAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.13.6. Ramped Friction Coefficient in a Brake Squeal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.13.7. User-Defined Friction Subroutine (userfric) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.13.8. Material Mass Density for FLUID130 Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3. AUTODYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.3. Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4. AQWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.2. AQWA Solver Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.3. Hydrodynamic Analysis Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5. Beamcheck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.1. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6. Fatjack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.1. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
II. ANSYS Fluids Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1. FLUENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
1.1. New Features in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
1.2. Supported Platforms for ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
1.3. Known Limitations in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
1.4. Limitations That No Longer Apply in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
1.5. Updates Affecting Code Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2. CFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.1. New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.1.1. General Changes to ANSYS CFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.1.2. ANSYS CFX-Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
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2.1.3. ANSYS CFX-Pre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.1.4. ANSYS CFX Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.2. Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2.2.1. CFX-Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3. TurboGrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4. BladeModeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.1. BladeGen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.1.1. BladeGen New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2. BladeEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2.1. BladeEditor New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5. CFD-Post . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.1. New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.2. Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6. POLYFLOW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.2. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.3. Defect Fixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.4. Known Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
III. ANSYS Electronics Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
1. Icepak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
1.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
1.2. New and Modified Features in ANSYS Icepak 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
IV. ANSYS Geometry & Mesh Prep Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
1. DesignModeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1.1. General Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1.2. CAD Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
2. Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
2.1. Resuming Databases from Previous Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2.3. Assembly Meshing Changes and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2.4. Fracture Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
2.5. MultiZone Quad/Tri Mesh Method Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
2.6. MultiZone Mesh Method Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
2.7. Local Size Control Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
2.8. Ease of Use Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
2.9. ANSYS ICEM CFD Workbench Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3. IC Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4. ICEM CFD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.1. Highlights of ANSYS ICEM CFD 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.2. Key New Features/Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.2.1. Workbench Add-In Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. vi
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4.2.2. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.2.3. Prism Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.2.4. Blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.2.5. Ogrid Smooth Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.3. Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.3.1. Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5. FLUENT Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.1. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.2. Known Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
V. ANSYS Simulation Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
1. Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
1.1. ANSYS Workbench 14.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
1.1.1. Design Point Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
1.1.2. User Interface Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
1.1.3. Licensing Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
1.1.4. Tighter Integration Between ANSYS Workbench and EKM. . . . . . . . . . . . 130
1.1.5. Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
1.2. Engineering Data Workspace Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
1.3. External Data Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
1.4. FE Modeler Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
1.5. Remote Solve Manager (RSM) Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
1.6. System Coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
1.6.1. Numerics Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
1.6.2. Known Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
1.7. TurboSystem Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
1.7.1. New Throughflow Analysis System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
1.7.2. ANSYS TurboGrid in Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
1.7.2.1. TurboGrid New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
1.7.3. Vista CPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
1.7.3.1. Vista CPD New Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
1.7.4. Vista CCD Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
2. EKM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
2.1. New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3. DesignXplorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
3.1. Optimization Systems and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
3.2. Optimization Criteria and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3.3. Design of Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
3.4. Candidate Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.5. Chart Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
3.6. Design Point Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
3.7. User Interface Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
vii
Release Notes
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. viii
Global Release Notes
The release notes are specific to ANSYS, Inc. Release 14.5 and arranged by applic-
ation/product, with the exception of:
Advisories (p. ix)
Installation (p. x)
Licensing (p. x)
ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi)
Note that installation- and licensing-specific information is detailed in some ap-
plication and product sections. The release notes are available as a printed
manual included with the product, and accessible in the ANSYS Help Viewer or
online via the ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi).
Release notes specific to previous ANSYS, Inc. releases:
Version 14.0
Version 13.0
Version 12.1 for Linux
Version 12.1
1. Advisories
In addition to the incompatibilities noted within the release notes, known non-
operational behavior, errors and/or limitations at the time of release are docu-
mented in the Known Issues and Limitations document, although not accessible
via the ANSYS Help Viewer. See the ANSYS Customer Portal for information about
the ANSYS service packs and any additional items not included in the Known
Issues and Limitations document. First-time users of the customer portal must
register to create a password.
The legacy ANSYS Flotran fluid dynamics capability embedded in some ANSYS
Mechanical family products (such as ANSYS Mechanical/FLOTRAN and ANSYS
Multiphysics) will no longer be supported after ANSYS Release 14.5.
ix
2. Installation
The following features are new or changed at Release 14.5. Please review these
items carefully.
ANSYS, Inc. has discontinued support for the Linux Itanium 64 platform for all
products.
The installation package on Windows now features a new entry screen for easier
navigation and faster access to installation help.
If you have any non-commercial versions of the software installed, such as a preview
version, you will be prompted to uninstall that version before continuing.
Installation packages are now compressed using 7Zip for smaller packages and
typically faster installation on Windows.
Dual media installation has been improved.
BladeEditor is now supported on Linux platforms.
The PDF help for certain products has been removed from the installation and is
now available on the ANSYS Customer Portal.
EKM Server installation is now part of the unified installation process. See the EKM
Installation Guide for detailed installation instructions.
3. Licensing
The following enhancements have been made to ANSYS, Inc. Licensing for Release
14.5:
The Complete Unfinished Licensing Installation Configuration option of the
server ANSLIC_ADMIN utility is no longer enabled on Windows machines.
The Sun Solaris x64 (solx64) and Linux Itanium 64 (linia64) are no longer supported
by the ANSYS, Inc. License Manager.
ANSYS Workbench users can now track license usage, and those who are running
Design Point studies can reserve the licenses that will be needed to complete a
study. With that capability, we provide the license administrator the ability to turn
either/both the license tracking and license reservation capabilities off at the site
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. x
Global
level. For more information, see Modify Startup Options in the Installation and Li-
censing Documentation.
ANSYS, Inc. now offers additional license options called HPC Parametric Packs for
ANSYS Workbench jobs requiring multiple design point updates. HPC Parametric
Packs enable you to simultaneously update multiple design points of a single design
study while using only a single license of each required base license. You must use
the ANSYS Workbench reserved licensing feature to use HPC Parametric Pack li-
censes. For more information, see HPC Parametric Pack Licensing in the Installation
and Licensing Documentation.
Release 14.5 licensing has significantly improved robustness and client load capab-
ility. For example, the Licensing Interconnect is now able to support three times
more client connects in Release 14.5 as compared to Release 14.0.
The ANSYS, Inc. License Manager can now be installed to any location on Windows
machines.
ANSYS, Inc. now offers the Application Customization Toolkit (ACT) as a licensed
product. With the ACT product, you can extend existing capabilities, add new
capabilities, and automate repetitive tasks in an interactive, Python-based environ-
ment.
4. ANSYS Customer Portal
If you have a password to the ANSYS Customer Portal (support.ansys.com), you
can view additional documentation information and late changes. The portal is
also your source for ANSYS, Inc. software downloads, service packs, product in-
formation (including example applications, current and archived documentation,
undocumented commands, input files, and product previews), and online support.
All the product documentation is available in printable format (PDF). Note that
the content of the files can be copied into word processing programs.
Customer Portal access points:
Tutorials and input files To access tutorials and their input files on the
ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
Documentation To access documentation files on the ANSYS Customer
Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/documentation.
xi
ANSYS Customer Portal
General information For further information about tutorials and document-
ation on the ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/docinfo.
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. xii
Global
Part I: ANSYS Structural Products
Release notes are available for the following ANSYS Stuctural products:
Mechanical Application
Mechanical APDL
AUTODYN
AQWA
Beamcheck
Fatjack
Chapter 1: Mechanical Application Release Notes
This release of the Mechanical application contains all of the capabilities from
previous releases plus many new features and enhancements. Areas where you
will find changes and new capabilities include the following:
1.1. Incompatibilities and Changes in Product Behavior from Previous Releases
1.2. General Enhancements
1.3. Performance Enhancements
1.4. Analysis Enhancements
1.5. Contact and Connection Enhancements
1.6. Graphics Enhancements
1.7. Loads/Supports/Conditions Enhancements
1.8. Finite Element (FE) Enhancements
1.9. Mapping Enhancements
1.10. Solution Enhancements
1.11. Results Enhancements
1.12. Ease of Use Enhancements
1.13. Documentation Enhancements
1.1. Incompatibilities and Changes in Product Behavior
from Previous Releases
Release 14.5 includes several new features and enhancements that result in
product behaviors that differ from previous releases. These behavior changes
are presented below.
New Edit Mode for Section Planes. Mechanical now includes an explicit option
for editing section planes.
Creating Contour Result from Frequency Response Results. The feature to create
contour results from Frequency Response results has undergone a behavior change.
When the contour result is generated, the Phase Angle value now has a sign that
is opposite of the Frequency Response result value. This matches the response
amplitude of the generated contour result and the frequency response result.
3
Fatjack Stress Histogram Results in Design Assessment: If Fatjack Stress Histo-
gram DA Results were defined in an R14.0 project, when the project is opened in
R14.5 it will be reset to the default (Damage Values, Per Wave (Solution)) and the
user will have to redefine it if the results are to be re-evaluated. If the reset has
not taken place automatically, the user may be required to reset the definitions
manually. This can be accomplished by re-selecting the Fatjack Assessment Type
from the Setup cell of the Design Assessment system on the Project Schematic.
Importing Pressures from External Data. When importing pressures from
External Data, any rotation transformations (Theta XY/YZ/ZX) specified in the
External Data system will now be applied to the mapped data. Rotations, res-
ulting from using a cylindrical projection coordinate system, for 2D to 3D
mapping will also be applied. Prior to Release 14.5, these rotations were ig-
nored. For legacy databases, re-importing data will result in rotations being
applied and possibly differences in mapped results from what was observed
in prior releases.
Plot Elements Attached to Named Selections: A new annotation preference, Plot
Elements Attached to Named Selections, replaces the Show Mesh object property
in the Details view of the Named Selections folder object. This option is off by de-
fault.
Disconnect Job from RSM. Previously, solutions submitted through the RSM from
Mechanical that are then removed directly from the RSM window (Remove...Del
while in Queued state) before it gets submitted, the job is automatically disconnec-
ted. Now, you need to use the Solution folder RMB option Disconnect Job from
RSM from Mechanical.
The following general enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Coupling Formulation on Remote Points. You can now specify a Coupled Beha-
vior for a Remote Point. Using the Coupled option, your geometry will have the
same solution for the selected Active DOFs on its underlying nodes as at the Remote
Point location.
Filtering of Objects in Tree Outline. You can now filter a large tree for objects
matching one or more search terms.
Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. 4
Mechanical
Generating Objects from a Template Object. A new Object Generator enables
you to create one or more copies of a template object, scoping each to a different
piece of geometry.
Tagging Objects. You can now tag objects in the tree and use those tags for filter-
ing and searching.
Named Selection Worksheet Criterion - Distance. Distance is a new worksheet
criterion. This value defines a distance from the origin of a selected Coordinated
System. This property allows you to find nodes within a specified radius from a
points or find the closest face, edge, etc.
Symmetry Region. The Symmetry Region object now includes the new Linear
Periodic type that allows the simulation of the structural models with translational
symmetry. This option automatically enforces match meshing of selected geometries
similar to Periodic and Cyclic Symmetry Regions.
Cyclic Symmetry With Remote Boundary Conditions. The following objects and
boundary conditions are now supported in analyses that contain cyclic symmetry:
Remote Forces, Remote Displacement, Moments, Point Masses, and Constraint
Equations.
1.3. Performance Enhancements
Release 14.5 has given special attention to the performance of Mechanical in
various areas in order to provide a better responding product for both small and
large models:
Animation Performance Improvements. Animation performance has been im-
proved. Typical speedup is about a factor of two as compared to prior versions.
Additionally, you can specify how scaling is calculated for further control using the
Compute Auto Scale Factor button.
Result File Size Improvement - Random Vibration Analysis. Modal results are
no longer included in the result file for a Random Vibration Analysis. As a result,
the size of the result file has been significantly reduced for projects with large
models and for projects that include a large number of modes.
Complex Analysis Improvement. For complex analyses with thousands of bodies
that use name selections, mesh connections, contacts or joints scoped to a over a
thousand entities, the graphics performance has improved drastically and the
memory footprint has decreased.
5
Performance Enhancements
Copying Tabular Data. The time required to copy large amounts of tabular data
has been improved by at least a factor of 10.
Faster post-processing of results for models with many bodies. The gathering
of elemental information has been streamlined in Mechanical to improve the post-
processing of results. With models containing large number of bodies and elements,
post-processing can now be post-processing can now be 2x to 5x faster.
Improved speed and performance in post-processing and drawing of Harmonic
Stress results. Mechanical now implements a better data caching mechanism for
Harmonic Stress results, which sharply reduces the file I/O (by a factor of 5) and
speeds up post-processing times by up to 75% and drawing times by up to 60%.
Improved slice plane performance. Slice plane creation is faster in 14.5. The Edit
mode of slice planes is now an explicit option in Mechanical and Meshing; therefore
models and meshes now interact more quickly when slice planes are present. You
can activate Edit mode by toggling a button in the Section Plane window. Slice
planes now also remain activated over geometry and mesh views thus cutting out
operation times in re-activation.
Improved performance in cyclic symmetry results: A number of enhancements
have been made to improve the performance of the post-processor for cyclic
symmetry models. First, the calculations have been streamlined for faster execution
and parallelization and can perform 25-50% faster than in previous versions. Second,
the calculation of phase sweeps has been deactivated by default on harmonic in-
dices associated with frequency couplets in order to reduce the expense of obtaining
contours at a given phase. Finally, it is now possible to display and animate results
over a fraction of the total symmetry expansions and incur a corresponding fraction
of the memory and computational expense. For example, on a model with Cyclic
Symmetry of N, it is possible to use as little as 1/N of the memory and computation
time when post-processing a single sector, which could pose a significant advantage
when working with large models with small sector angles.
Faster Named Selections. The general performance of Named Selections has im-
proved in the areas of generation, selection, and usage. The improvement can be
as much as 10x faster than in previous releases on large models.
FE Connections Display. Displaying and exporting FE Connections has been im-
proved by over a factor of 10.
Mechanical
1.4. Analysis Enhancements
The following analysis enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Pre-Stress MSUP Transient Analysis. You can now perform a Mode Superposition
Transient Structural analysis that is linked to a pre-stressed Modal analysis.
Submodeling. You can now perform a structural or thermal submodeling analysis,
on solid bodies, by linking systems in the Project Schematic. Several mapping op-
tions are available to transfer displacements and temperatures at the cut-boundaries.
Fracture Analysis. You can now compute fracture parameters that help you design
within the limits of catastrophic failure to a structure. Fracture analysis assumes
the presence of a crack in the structure.
Composite Analysis. You can now perform solid composite analysis inside of
Mechanical from ACP models.
1.5. Contact and Connection Enhancements
The following contact and connection enhancements have been made at Release
14.5:
Connection Matrix. You can now view how bodies are connected in a new Con-
nection Matrix in the Connections Worksheet.
Model Topology. You can now view a summary of joint connections between
bodies in a rigid dynamics analyses model using the new Model Topology Work-
sheet.
Penetration Tolerance. For a Formulation setting of Program Controlled or Aug-
mented Lagrange, you can now specify a Penetration Tolerance for a Contact Region.
Joint Configure Context Toolbar. A new toolbar is now available when you have
the Joint object selected, the Joint Configure Context Toolbar. The toolbar clarifies
which configuration options are available when working with joints. These options
were previously available on the Connections Context Toolbar.
Forced Frictional Sliding. This new contact type is available. Using forced frictional
sliding, a tangent resisting force is applied at each contact point. For more inform-
ation, refer to Type
No Separation. No separation contact is now fully supported for rigid body analyses.
7
Contact and Connection Enhancements
Radial Gap Stop. A new type of joint stop, radial gap stop, is available. A radial
gap stop can be used to simulate a revolute joint with a gap between the inner
and the outer cylinder that allows the shaft to translate and tilt in the outer cylinder.
Shell Thickness Effect. This new contact property allows you to include or exclude
the thickness of a surface body for an analysis involving contact pairs of surface
bodies. See the Scope Settings section for more information.
Trim Contact. This new contact property speeds the solution process by reducing
the number of contact elements of each contact pair involved in the analysis. See
the Definition Settings section for more information.
Elastic Slip Tolerance. This new contact property allows you to set the allowable
elastic slip values for a contact. See the Advanced Settings section for more inform-
ation.
Nonlinear Spring Stiffness. Nonlinear (or multi-rate) springs can now be simulated
in a rigid dynamics analysis.
Nonlinear Bushing. During rigid dynamics analyses, a nonlinear stiffness curve
can now be added with a bushing joint. This can be used to simulate multi-rate
bushing with nonlinear stiffness.
1.6. Graphics Enhancements
The following graphical enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Graphical Views. The ability to manage and save multiple view settings has been
introduced. This feature allows for a consistent graphical view between sessions.
You can also export a view as Mechanical APDL Commands.
Mesh Visibility. You can now indicate whether the mesh is automatically displayed
when the Mesh object is selected in the Tree Outline, or if its only displayed when
you toggle it on.
Maximum Number of Annotations. In the Graphics options, you can now select
the maximum number of annotations to be displayed, from 0 to 50. The default is
10.
Variable Data Toolbar. A new toolbar enables you to view contours or isolines
effects on variable data, including spatial varying loads, imported loads, and
thicknesses
Mechanical
Random Colors Display. A new toolbar button on the Graphics Options toolbar
enables you to view each distinct load, support, named selection, or contact with
a random color at each redraw.
Annotation Preferences. A new Annotation Preferences dialog box allows you
centralized control over the visibility of annotations, including custom annotations
and annotation labels and annotations on objects such as cracks, point masses,
and springs.
1.7. Loads/Supports/Conditions Enhancements
The following loads/supports/conditions enhancements have been made at Re-
lease 14.5:
EM (Electro-Mechanical) Transducer. This new node-based boundary condition
allows you to model simple Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices.
Fluid Solid Interface. The Fluid Solid Interface boundary condition is now supported
for Steady-State Thermal Analyses.
Coupling Formulation on Remote Boundary Conditions. You can now specify
Coupled as the Behavior for Remote Boundary Conditions.
Bearing. A new connection object, Bearing, is now available for use in Rotordynamic
analyses to confine the relative motion/rotation of a rotating part.
Tabular Loads. Tabular Loads now allow up to 100,000 entries.
Bolt Pretension. The Bolt Pretension boundary condition can now be applied in
a 2D analysis.
1.8. Finite Element (FE) Enhancements
The following FE enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Coordinate Systems at Nodes. You can now create a coordinate system at a node.
Results. Result objects can now be scoped to user-selected nodes.
Frequency Response and Phase Response Charts. Frequency Response and Phase
Response objects can now be scoped to user-selected nodes.
9
Finite Element (FE) Enhancements
Result Trackers. Structural Result Trackers and Thermal Result Trackers can now
be scoped to a single node of the mesh or to geometry-based Named Selections
or to a node-based Named Selection for a single node.
Node Annotations: You can now toggle the visibility of mesh node annotations
in Named Selection displays and mesh node numbers in Named Selection, Mesh,
and Result displays.
Plot Elements Attached to Named Selections: You can now toggle the visibility
of elements for all items in the Named Selections group. In order to plot elements
attached to Named Selections, toggle off the Show Mesh button. With the Show
Mesh button toggled ON, you will always see the full mesh.
Coordinate System Based on System Normal: You can now orient the principal axis
based on the hit point normal of an existing coordinate system and create an
aligned coordinate system based on the hit point.
1.9. Mapping Enhancements
The following mapping enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Faster mapping with Kriging. Data mapping using the Kriging algorithm now
utilizes multiple cores. For larger meshes utilizing 8 cores, a 6 to 7 times speedup
can be obtained.
Adaptive Kriging. By default, the Kriging technique now uses an adaptive algorithm
to prevent gross errors in the estimation of mapped values. The new adaptive al-
gorithm works separately for each target point and ensures that the mapped value
does not exceed a user-specified limit by controlling the polynomial order and the
number of source points used in the interpolation.
New Graphics Options for Validation Objects. Validation objects have several
new graphics options including:
An option to plot source values as isolines or contours (Available only when
source element data is provided from External Data using MAPDL CDB mesh in-
put.).
The ability to control the number of legend divisions.
A new validation type, Undefined Points, has been added to allow displaying
nodal data that does not have an associated data value.
Mechanical
New Legend Controls for Imported Load Objects. Imported Load objects have
new legend controls for modifying the legend minimum and maximum range values
Displacement and Force Import from External Files. Displacements and forces,
specified in the External Data system, can now be imported and applied in a static
or transient structural analysis.
Complex Pressure Import from External Files Pressures, specified in the External
Data system, can now be imported and applied in a Harmonic Response analysis.
Enhancements for Thermal-Stress Analysis.
Rigid Transformation Controls. New translation and rotation controls are now
available to transform the source mesh and can be used to align the source with
the target mesh.
Display of Source Nodes. The Display Source Points option on the Imported
Body Temperature object now allows you to display the source nodes on the
target geometry and can be helpful in ensuring proper alignment.
Enhancements when Handling Vectors.
Rotation transformations (Theta XY/YZ/ZX) specified in the External Data system
are now applied to the mapped data.
Rotations, resulting from using a cylindrical projection coordinate system, for 2D
to 3D mapping are now applied to the mapped data.
When transferring data from the External Data system, you can choose to ignore
specifying a source component identifier in the worksheet of the Imported Load
if data for that direction is not available.
Contour Plots for Imported Vector Data. For imported vector loads, the Data
property in the details pane now allows you to view contours plots of the mag-
nitude or X/Y/Z components.
Scoping Enhancements.
Imported Loads, that import data on nodes (displacement, force, and temperat-
ure), can now be scoped to node-based Named Selections.
Imported Temperature and Imported Displacement loads, when used to
transfer data from the External Data system, can be scoped to all geometry entity
types (body, face, edge, or vertex).
11
Mapping Enhancements
Source Point Id Display Option for Imported Loads. Imported load objects have
new option to display points with their corresponding identifier number.
1.10. Solution Enhancements
The following solution enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Output Controls Velocity and Acceleration. The option to calculate velocity
and/or acceleration results for a Random Vibration Analysis are now available allow-
ing you to customize your random vibration solution. This option allows you to
reduce solution time for random vibration analyses by not including the velocity
and/or acceleration results.
Output Controls Calculate Reactions on Constrained Nodes. For Mode Super-
position (MSUP) Harmonic and Transient analyses that are linked to a Modal ana-
lysis, the Nodal Forces option of the Output Controls property of the Analysis Set-
tings object has a new option: Constrained Nodes. This option causes only con-
strained nodes to be used in the calculation of reaction forces and moments. As a
result, the result file size is reduced and in some cases, processing time may be
reduced.
Options Control for Harmonic Analysis. Variational Technology is a new solution
method option. Based upon the Full method, Variational Technology expedites
solution processing time by using a harmonic sweep capability of an add-on VT
Accelerator.
Include Residual Vector. The Analysis Settings Option group property, Include
Residual Vector, has been added. It allows you to calculate or include residual
vectors for Harmonic and Transient Structural Analysis Using Linked Modal Analysis
Systems. This feature accounts for high frequency dynamic responses with fewer
eigenmodes.
Damping Controls. The Damping Controls for Harmonic Response, Transient
Structural, Response Spectrum, and Random Vibration analyses now support all
constant damping ratios, stiffness matrix multiplier damping (Beta damping), and
mass matrix multiplier damping (Alpha damping).
Explicit Dynamics Solution Settings Options. Explicit may be used for a wide
range of applications, and the default set of Analysis Settings are not necessarily
suited to every application. The Analysis Settings defaults for Explicit have been
selected in order to provide the most robust solution. This is sometimes at the
expense of speed of solution. Therefore, a new Analysis Settings Type property has
Mechanical
been added. This will allow selection of particular defaults depending on the re-
quirements of the user. The following options are available:
Program Controlled This is the default setting and is identical to the analysis
settings for older versions of Explicit. The priority is for a robust solution.
Low Velocity Recommended for low deformation/velocity (<100m/s) analyses.
High Velocity Recommended for high deformation/velocity (>100m/s) analyses.
Efficiency Settings for minimum runtime. In some cases, this may have an impact
on robustness and accuracy.
Quasi-static Recommended for quasi-static analyses.
Explicit Dynamics Minimum Strain Rate Cutoff Setting. A Minimum Strain Rate
Cutoff setting has been added to the Explicit Dynamics Solver Controls settings.
Explicit Dynamics Strain Rate Correction for the Johnson-Cook and Cowper-
Symonds Material Models. For all shell element types, a first order as well as an
implicit strain rate correction is available for the Johnson-Cook and Cowper-Symonds
material models to reduce high frequency oscillations that are sometimes observed
in the yield surface under high strain rates. The first order strain rate correction is
applied by default. The implicit strain rate correction can be used in cases where
the first order strain rate correction does not suffice, although at the cost of extra
CPU time usage.
Explicit Dynamics Output Contact Forces Option. You can now write out the
contact forces for 3D Explicit Dynamics analyses to text files. The frequency and
number of contact forces can be specified.
1.11. Results Enhancements
The following results enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
Reactions. You can now obtain reaction forces and moments for Mesh Connections,
Remote Points, grounded Beams, and grounded Springs using the Force Reaction
or Moment Reaction probes.
Reaction Probe Scoping Extended to Imported Loads. Imported Displacements
and Imported Temperature loads can now be used to obtain force and heat reac-
tions respectively.
13
Results Enhancements
Node Picking on Result Plots. You can now pick nodes on the contour results.
Reactions on Cutting Planes. You can now extract member forces and moment
reactions through a model using a reaction probe scoped to a Surface Construction
Geometry object.
Contact Tool Fluid Pressure Penetration Result. You can now access the contact
result for fluid pressure penetration in the contact tool. See Contact Results for
more information.
Design Assessment. The following enhancements have been made to the Design
Assessment system:
Multiple step results can now be defined, including tabular and graphical output.
Solution combinations can now optionally include the combination of multiple
steps or substeps, and presentation as a multiple step result.
Solution combinations can now replicate the features previously presented using
the Mechanical APDL LCOPER command. Results can now be determined based
on a number of different combination or comparison methods.
Phase Response in Harmonic Analysis. A Phase Increment control is now available
when calculating the maximum phase response of results in a harmonic analysis.
Cyclic Symmetry Results: In Cyclic Analyses you can now display and animate
results over a fraction of the total symmetry expansions.
Contact Result Trackers. Fluid Pressure, Minimum Geometric Sliding Distance,
and Maximum Geometric Sliding Distance are new Contact Result Trackers.
Damage Results: Mechanical now supports a number of damage results using non-
linear material models, including the Mullins Effect, Progressive Damage, and
Physical Failure Criteria.
The following usage enhancements have been made in Release 14.5:
Surface (Construction Geometry). You can now create a Surface Construction
Geometry object from a highlighted coordinate system object using the new right-
click feature, Create Construction Surface.
Mechanical
Engineering Data Workspace: You can now switch to the Engineering Data
Workspace and perform operations from the highlighted Material Assignment
Property of a selected body.
Coordinate Systems Based on Nodes. You can now select one or more nodes,
then create a coordinate system directly in the Graphics window. You can also
select an individual node and create an aligned coordinate system on a solved
vector principal stress or strain result.
Coordinate Systems Based on a Surface Normal. You can now create a coordinate
system based on a surface normal, either by orienting the principal axis of an exist-
ing coordinate system by hit point normal, or by creating a coordinate system
aligned with a hit point.
Show Errors Button. The Standard Toolbar now includes a Show Errors button.
This feature populates the Message window with the error messages for any tree
objects that are not properly defined.
Disconnect Job from RSM. The new RMB option Disconnect Job from RSM is
now available from the Solution folder allowing you to disconnect Mechanical from
the current RSM job.
1.13. Documentation Enhancements
The following documentation enhancements have been made in Release 14.5:
Title Change. The title of the Mechanical Application Users Guide had been simplified
to Mechanical User Guide.
General Help Restructure. The Mechanical documentation underwent restructuring
that changed the hierarchical organization of the content to elevate subsections
to lessen the degree to which a user must "drill" into the Help.
User Interface. The Mechanical interface documentation was reorganized to group
together relevant sections, reduce unnecessary topics, and more effectively arrange
the material to aid customers in locating relevant material.
Boundary Conditions. Large portions of the boundary conditions documentation
were redesigned for the Mechanical 14.5 release. The majority of the sections were
reorganized and given a common look and feel to give users the ability to navigate
more quickly to a desired topic within each section.
15
Documentation Enhancements
Example of Explicit to Implicit Analysis. In order to show how to exploit features
of Explicit Dynamics, Design Assessment, and Mechanical APDL, an example (includ-
ing sample files) is now available showing how to initialize an implicit analysis using
results from an Explicit Dynamics analysis.
Mechanical
Chapter 2: Mechanical APDL Release Notes
Release 14.5 of the Mechanical APDL application offers most of the capabilities
from prior releases plus many new features and enhancements. Areas where you
will find changes and new capabilities include the following:
Structural (p. 17)
Coupled-Field (p. 24)
Low-Frequency Electromagnetics (p. 24)
Acoustics (p. 24)
Diffusion (p. 25)
Radiation (p. 26)
Solvers (p. 26)
Linear Perturbation (p. 28)
Results File (p. 29)
Commands (p. 29)
Elements (p. 34)
Other Enhancements (p. 36)
Also see Known Incompatibilities (p. 39) and ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi) for
important information about this release.
2.1. Structural
Release 14.5 includes the following new features and enhancements for structural
analyses:
2.1.1. Contact
17
2.1.2. Elements and Nonlinear Technology
2.1.3. Material Modeling
2.1.4. Linear Dynamics
2.1.1. Contact
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements for structural analyses involving
contact:
2.1.1.1. User-Defined Friction Enhancements
2.1.1.2. User-Defined Contact Interaction
2.1.1.3. Defining Real Constants via Subroutine
2.1.1.4. Defining Real Constants in Tabular Format
2.1.1.5. Elastic Slip
2.1.1.6. Controlling the Units of Normal Contact Stiffness
2.1.1.7. Surface-Based Constraints
2.1.1.8. 3-D Node-to-Node Contact Element
2.1.1.1. User-Defined Friction Enhancements
In prior releases, the USERFRIC user-defined friction subroutine was valid only
for structural analysis, and could only be used with penalty-based tangential
contact. Those restrictions have been removed. You can now use USERFRIC
with any non-structural degrees of freedom and with the Lagrange multiplier
method. The frictional stresses can be defined as a function of the slip increments
and the contact/target temperatures. For more information, see Writing Your
Own Friction Law (USERFRIC) in the Contact Technology Guide.
2.1.1.2. User-Defined Contact Interaction
The USERINTER subroutine is now available for defining complex interactions
between contacting surfaces when the existing interaction models are not ad-
equate. This capability includes interaction in the normal direction, interaction
in the tangential direction, and interaction among coupled multiphysics fields.
You can write a USERINTER subroutine to program your own contact interactions
for all current-technology contact elements (CONTA17x). The contact normal
stress, tangential stresses, and the heat flux can be defined as a function of a
number of variables such as slip increments, sliding rate, gap/penetration, tem-
perature, and other passed-in variables. You can also introduce extra solution-
dependent state variables that you can update and use within this user sub-
routines. You can specify a number of properties or constants associated with
it.
Mechanical APDL
For more information, see Defining Your Own Contact Interaction (USERINTER)
in the Contact Technology Guide.
2.1.1.3. Defining Real Constants via Subroutine
You can now write a USERCNPROP subroutine to program your own real con-
stants for all current-technology contact elements (CONTA17x). For example,
you can perform any nonlinear contact pressure/penetration operation instead
of a linear operation (that is, use a varied contact stiffness instead of a constant
stiffness). The contact stiffness can vary with pressure, penetration, temperature,
and your own defined state variables. For more information, see Defining Your
Own Real Constant (USERCNPROP) in the Contact Technology Guide.
2.1.1.4. Defining Real Constants in Tabular Format
You can now define certain contact element real constants (such as FKN, FKT,
TCC, ECC) as a function of primary variables (such as temperature, contact pres-
sure, and gap function) via tabular input. This capability applies to all current-
technology contact elements (CONTA17x), allowing more flexibility for accurately
modeling contact behaviors. For more information, see Defining Real Constants
in Tabular Format in the Contact Technology Guide.
2.1.1.5. Elastic Slip
In prior releases, the elastic slip due to sticking in a contact analysis was guaran-
teed not to exceed the maximum allowable limit within a substep. In this release,
a new slip algorithm implemented for the contact elements ensures that the
elastic slip never exceeds the user-defined absolute limit (a negative value input
for real constant SLTO) during the entire solution, not just within a substep.
In addition, the following output quantities are now available (ETABLE) for all
current-technology contact elements (CONTA17x): accumulated irreversible slip
due to frictional sliding (PLSI), and total accumulated sliding (GSLID). By output-
ting these quantities, you can easily track the contact status (such as sticking,
sliding, possible near-field opening) and the sliding distance from the start pos-
ition to the current position for a given contact point. For more information, see
Reviewing the Results in the Contact Technology Guide.
2.1.1.6. Controlling the Units of Normal Contact Stiffness
When you input an absolute normal contact stiffness by specifying a negative
value for real constant FKN, you can now control the units of FKN in contact
19
Structural
elements CONTA171 through CONTA174. By default, the units of the user-specified
absolute normal contact stiffness is FORCE/LENGTH
3
. If a penalty-based algorithm
is used, you can change the units to FORCE/LENGTH. In addition, you can use
the CNKMOD command in a brake squeal analysis to change the units of the
normal contact stiffness from FORCE/LENGTH
3
to FORCE/LENGTH during the
linear perturbation stage of the analysis.
2.1.1.7. Surface-Based Constraints
The following enhancements to surface-based constraints have been added:
New Coupling Constraint -- In addition to the force-distributed surface constraint
and rigid surface constraint, you can now use the internal multipoint constraint
(MPC) feature of most current-technology contact elements (CONTA171 through
CONTA177) to model coupling constraints. In this type of constraint, the degrees
of freedom of contact nodes are constrained to have the same solution as the de-
grees of freedom of the pilot node, similar to a constraint defined via the CP
command. For more information, see Surface-Based Constraints in the Contact
Technology Guide.
Multiphysics Support -- The surface-based constraints (force-distributed, rigid
surface, and coupling constraint types) are no longer limited to structural degrees
of freedom only. They now support temperature and other non-structural degrees
of freedom. As an example, defining a force-distributed constraint on the temper-
ature degree of freedom allows distribution of the heat flow to the contact surface.
2.1.1.8. 3-D Node-to-Node Contact Element
The following enhancements are available for the 3-D CONTA178 node-to-node
contact element:
A new spherical gap type is available, in addition to the existing unidirectional
gap and cylindrical gap.
You can now model rigid Coulomb friction, in which sliding always occurs re-
gardless of the magnitude of the normal contact force and the friction coeffi-
cient. The option is useful for displacement-controlled problems or for certain
dynamic problems where sliding dominates.
You can now use the node-to-node contact element, in combination with
coupled thermal-structural solid elements, thermal-electric-structural solid
elements, or thermal elements to model multiphysics contact, including:
Mechanical APDL
thermal conduction, convection, radiation, heat generation due to friction,
external heat flux, electric conduction, and heat dissipation due to electric
current.
For more information, see Node-to-Node Contact in the Contact Technology Guide
and the CONTA178 element description.
2.1.2. Elements and Nonlinear Technology
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements to elements and nonlinear
technology used in structural analyses:
2.1.2.1. 2-D to 3-D Analysis
2.1.2.2. Nonlinear Submodeling
2.1.2.3. Initial Curve Effects for Shells
2.1.2.1. 2-D to 3-D Analysis
It is sometimes necessary to extend 2-D nonlinear finite element results to a
corresponding extruded 3-D body such that the solution can continue based on
the 3-D model. For example, a 2-D axisymmetric rubber sealing simulation could
be followed by a 3-D loading analysis of the same structure.
A new 2-D to 3-D analysis capability extrudes (EEXTRUDE) a 2-D deformed mesh
to a new 3-D mesh. The program updates the database as necessary, generates
contact elements if needed, and transfers boundary conditions, loads, and nodal
temperatures from the 2-D mesh to the extruded 3-D mesh. All solved variables
(node and element solutions) are then mapped (MAP2DTO3D) to the new 3-D
mesh automatically so that a 3-D analysis can be continued based on the 2-D
results.
Extrusion operates automatically on current-technology plane elements (PLANE182
and PLANE183) based on the element KEYOPT(3) setting. Direct axisymmetric or
plane strain extrusion is available. The extrusion behavior of accompanying
contact (CONTA171 and CONTA172), and flexible target (TARGE169) elements is
determined by the plane element settings. Rigid target (TARGE169) elements
are extruded in the global Z direction unless axisymmetric extrusion is in effect.
For more information, see 2-D to 3-D Analysis in the Advanced Analysis Guide.
21
Structural
2.1.2.2. Nonlinear Submodeling
Submodeling allows you to obtain an accurate solution for critical mesh regions
while requiring fewer computational resources and less simulation time. It is
useful when your finite element model is large and you need to use a fine mesh,
but only certain critical mesh regions are of interest. A nonlinear submodeling
capability is available for a more robust analysis of load-history-dependent
problems. For more information, see Submodeling in the Advanced Analysis Guide.
2.1.2.3. Initial Curve Effects for Shells
The SHELL181 shell element now offers an advanced formulation option, for use
with a smooth and adequately refined mesh, that accurately incorporates initial
curvature effects. The calculation for effective shell curvature change accounts
for both shell-membrane and thickness strains. The new formulation generally
offers improved accuracy in curved shell structure simulations, especially when
thickness strain is significant or the material anisotropy in the thickness direction
cannot be ignored, or in thick shell structures with unbalanced laminate construc-
tion or with shell offsets.
2.1.3. Material Modeling
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements to material modeling techno-
logy used in structural analyses:
2.1.3.1. Initial State
2.1.3.2. User-Defined Field Variables and Field-Variable-Dependent Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
2.1.3.3. Isotropic Hardening for Chaboche Curve Fitting
Some material properties are not available via the material property menus of
the GUI. For a list of such material properties, see GUI-Inaccessible Material
Properties in the Material Reference.
2.1.3.1. Initial State
Initial state support is now available for coupled pore-pressure mechanical solid
elements CPTnnn, and pipe elements PIPE288 and PIPE289. You can now define
the initial stress, strain, and other supported variables for those elements. Applic-
ations for the enhanced initial state capability include soil-consolidation analysis,
prestress pipe analysis, residual stress or strains for pipe analyses.
Mechanical APDL
The initial state feature now allows user-defined data types (UF01, UF02, ..., UF09).
You can define a field of user-specified variables based on nodes or element in-
tegration points with initial state. The enhancement allows you to define a field
of user variables to a finite element model, then associate the field to solution
data such as the material properties including elasticity (TB,ELASTIC) and coeffi-
cient of thermal expansion (TB,CTE).
For more information, see Initial State in the Basic Analysis Guide and the docu-
mentation for the INISTATE command.
2.1.3.2. User-Defined Field Variables and Field-Variable-Dependent
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
Related to the enhancement allowing user-defined field variables with the initial
state capability, the elastic material properties (TB,ELASTIC) are now extended
to support field-variable dependence. The data table for coefficient of thermal
expansion (TB,CTE) has been added to allow field-dependent CTEs. To define a
field-dependent material property, use the TBFIELD command as part of the
data table definition. Valid user-defined field variables are UF01 through UF09.
Among other uses, the new capabilities are helpful for analyzing functional
gradient material, where the material properties are a function of geometrical
locations.
For more information, see User-Defined Field Variables and Thermal Expansion
in the Material Reference, and the TBFIELD documentation.
2.1.3.3. Isotropic Hardening for Chaboche Curve Fitting
Chaboche material curve fitting determines your material constants by relating
your experimental data to the Chaboche nonlinear kinematic hardening model.
Now, isotropic hardening can also be modeled by including a supported isotropic
hardening model with the kinematic hardening model in the curve-fitting process.
For more information, see Chaboche Material Curve Fitting in the Material Refer-
ence.
2.1.4. Linear Dynamics
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements for structural analyses involving
linear dynamics:
2.1.4.1. Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) in PSD Analyes
2.1.4.2. Multiple Pressure Load Vectors in MPRS and PSD Analyses
23
Structural
2.1.4.1. Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) in PSD Analyes
In PSD analyses, Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) is now automatically activated
when a large number of modes is present. As a result, the performance of
modal covariance matrices calculations and response power spectral density
(RPSD) calculations are greatly improved.
2.1.4.2. Multiple Pressure Load Vectors in MPRS and PSD Analyses
Multiple pressure load vectors are now supported in MPRS and PSD analyses.
For more information, see Reusing Eigenmodes Structural Analysis Guide.
2.2. Coupled-Field
The following coupled-field elements now support plasticity, viscoelasticity, vis-
coplasticity and creep in structural-diffusion and structural-thermal-diffusion
analyses: PLANE223, SOLID226, and SOLID227. The elements also support the
new surface and body diffusion loads, DFLUX (diffusion flux) and DGEN (diffusing
substance generation rate), in structural-diffusion, thermal-diffusion, and struc-
tural-thermal-diffusion analyses.
2.3. Low-Frequency Electromagnetics
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements in the area of low-frequency
electromagnetics:
Hall Effect -- The Hall effect is now available with the electromagnetic analysis
option (KEYOPT(1)=1) of 3-D electromagnetic elements SOLID236 and SOLID237.
To model the Hall effect, specify the Hall constant RH via the new MP,RH command
option. The Hall effect is applicable to steady-state or transient electromagnetic
analyses. For more information about the Hall effect, see Hall Effect in the Mechan-
ical APDL Theory Reference.
New command -- The new DFLX command imposes a uniform magnetic flux B
on an edge-element electromagnetic model.
2.4. Acoustics
Release 14.5 includes the following enhancements in the area of acoustic analysis:
Johnson-Champoux-Allard Equivalent Fluid Model of Perforated Material --
The Johnson-Champoux-Allard equivalent fluid model of porous material (TB,PERF)
Mechanical APDL
is available for problems involving porous material behavior with effective complex
density and sound speed that justifies the internal energy losses and phase shift
between pressure and sound velocity. For more information, see Johnson-Cham-
poux-Allard Equivalent Fluid Model of a Porous Media in the Material Reference
Surface Velocity or Acceleration Excitation -- The arbitrary surface velocity or
acceleration load on the exterior surface introduces more flexible excitation to the
acoustic model and makes one-way coupling possible from the structural vibration
to the acoustic propagation. For more information, see Finite Element Formulation
of the Wave Equation in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference.
Far-field Enhancements -- Far-field functionality has been extended to models
with 2-D features. The phase angle of the complex pressure is available for near-
field and far-field results. Retrieve far-field parameters via the *GET command.
Output the phase angle via the PRNEAR, PLNEAR, PRFAR, and PLFAR commands.
Second-Order Absorbing Boundary Condition for High-Order Acoustic Elements
and Attenuation Coefficient -- A 3-D infinite acoustic element with a spherical
envelope (FLUID130) is available for the high-order acoustic elements for radiated
sound pressure. The boundary attenuation coefficient is available for defining the
lossy property with derived boundary impedance on the exterior surface. For more
information, see Acoustic Boundary Conditions in the Mechanical APDL Theory Ref-
erence.
2.5. Diffusion
The following enhancements to diffusion analysis are available in this release:
2.5.1. New Diffusion Elements
2.5.2. New Diffusion Surface and Body Loads
2.5.1. New Diffusion Elements
A new 2-D element, PLANE238, and two new 3-D elements, SOLID239 and SOL-
ID240, are now available for modeling diffusion processes.
PLANE238 is an 8-node quadrilateral solid. SOLID239 is a 20-node brick-shaped
solid, and SOLID240 is a 10-node tetrahedral solid. The elements have one con-
centration (CONC) degree of freedom at each node and are applicable to steady-
state or transient diffusion analyses. For more information about the new ele-
ments, see the Element Reference.
25
Diffusion
2.5.2. New Diffusion Surface and Body Loads
A new surface load, DFLUX (diffusion flux), and a new body load, DGEN (diffusing
substance generation rate), are now available in diffusion analyses using
PLANE238, SOLID239, or SOLID240 elements and coupled-diffusion analyses using
PLANE223, SOLID226 or SOLID227 elements. These loads are analogous to the
thermal loads, HFLUX and HGEN, respectively.
The DFLUX surface load can be specified via the SF and SFE commands. The
new DFLUX load label is also supported by the SFSCALE, SFGRAD, SFFUN,
SFLIST, SFELIST, SFCUM, ESEL commands.
The DGEN body load can be specified via the BF and BFE commands. The new
DGEN load label is also supported by the BFUNIF, BFSCALE, BFESCAL, BFECUM,
NSEL, ESEL, and *GET commands.
2.6. Radiation
The QUASI option on the THOPT command, used for speeding up the solution
of nonlinear transient thermal analyses, is now supported in the radiosity solver
for radiation analyses. The corresponding restriction has been removed from the
THOPT command description.
2.7. Solvers
Release 14.5 includes the following new enhancements that improve solution
procedures and features.
2.7.1. Distributed ANSYS Enhancements
2.7.2. GPU Acceleration Enhancements
2.7.3. Other Solver Changes and Enhancements
2.7.1. Distributed ANSYS Enhancements
The following enhancements are available for Distributed ANSYS:
A file-combination feature is now available for combining results files and
other solution files following a Distributed ANSYS solution. This feature is
useful if you opt to bypass the file-combination step (DMPOPTION,,NO) that
occurs automatically at the end of every distributed solution. By issuing the
COMBINE command, you can manually combine the local or distributed results
files into a single, global results file at a later time.
Mechanical APDL
The performance of the file-combination step, for example to combine the
local or distributed results file into a single, global results file, has been greatly
improved, particularly on the Windows platform. In some cases, the file-com-
bination step is more than ten times faster than in the prior release.
Support is now available for running the Block Lanczos and Supernode eigen-
solvers (MODOPT,LANB; SNODE) using shared-memory parallelism (SMP) inside
Distributed ANSYS. In prior releases, the eigensolvers were available in Distrib-
uted ANSYS, but only used distributed memory parallelism (DMP) outside of
the eigensolver and only used a single core to extract the modal solution inside
the eigensolver. The eigensolvers can now use multiple cores to extract the
modal solution and, therefore, operate in the mixed SMP/DMP mode.
Support is now available for running the Jacobi Conjugate Gradient (JCG) iter-
ative equation solver, the Incomplete Cholesky Conjugate Gradient (ICCG) iter-
ative equation solver, and the Quasi-Minimal Residual (QMR) iterative equation
solver (EQSLV,JCG; ICCG; QRM) using shared-memory parallelism (SMP) inside
Distributed ANSYS. In prior releases, the equation solvers were not available
in Distributed ANSYS, and the solver was automatically switched to the Sparse
direct solver instead. The solvers now operate in the mixed SMP/DMP mode.
Improvements made to the solver kernel used for the Unsymmetric, Subspace,
and Damped eigensolvers (MODOPT,UNSYM; SUBSPACE; DAMP) result in re-
duced analysis times, especially when running Distributed ANSYS. For a large
model run on a 32-core machine, the solver process can be two to three times
faster than in the previous release. Memory used when running Distributed
ANSYS with these eigensolvers is also reduced.
The Variation Technology (VT) method for harmonic analysis is now fully sup-
ported in a Distributed ANSYS solution. The VT harmonic method speeds up
the solution compared to the full (FULL) harmonic method. By default
(HROPT,AUTO), the program selects the VT harmonic method (instead of the
FULL method) when there are no frequency-dependent materials present in
the model.
The SECFUNCTION command is now fully supported in a Distributed ANSYS
solution.
2.7.2. GPU Acceleration Enhancements
The following enhancements are available for the GPU accelerator capability.
27
Solvers
Support for multiple GPUs -- When using GPU acceleration, you can now
use multiple GPUs per machine or per compute node on a cluster. For the it-
erative solvers (PCG and JCG), multiple GPUs are supported with both shared-
memory ANSYS and Distributed ANSYS. For the Sparse direct solver, multiple
GPUs are only supported when running Distributed ANSYS.
Improved functionality for the iterative solvers -- A new hybrid algorithm
has been employed to make use of the CPU cores in addition to the GPU
device for increased acceleration. Also, larger problem sizes can now be accel-
erated when using GPUs.
2.7.3. Other Solver Changes and Enhancements
The following are solver-related changes and enhancements.
The PCG solver now supports the Lagrange multiplier method of the entire
MPC184 family of elements. The imposed Lagrange multipliers are transferred
into multiple point constraints so that the PCG solver can be used to obtain
a solution. To activate this functionality, set LM_Key = ON on the PCGOPT
command.
2.8. Linear Perturbation
The following enhancements for linear perturbation analyses have been added:
2.8.1. Support for Static Analysis
2.8.2. Support for Superelements
2.8.3. Nonlinear Spring Element Support
For more information, see Linear Perturbation Analysis in the Structural Analysis
Guide and the discussion of linear perturbation in the Mechanical APDL Theory
Reference.
2.8.1. Support for Static Analysis
In many engineering applications, the linear behavior of a structure based on a
prior linear or nonlinear preloaded status is of interest. In addition to prior support
of linear perturbation buckling, modal, and harmonic analyses, you can now use
the linear perturbation analysis procedure to solve a linear problem from this
preloaded case for static analyses. The preloaded case can include any nonlinear
materials and geometric and contact nonlinearities. The linear perturbation
static analysis also includes support for random vibration (PSD) analyses that are
performed subsequent to a linear perturbation modal analysis.
Mechanical APDL
To perform a linear perturbation static analysis after a static or full transient
analysis, restart the analysis at the load point of interest, apply your perturbation
load, then use the PERTURB and SOLVE commands to execute the linear per-
turbation analysis.
2.8.2. Support for Superelements
The use of superelements (MATRIX50) during a linear perturbation static or
modal analysis is now supported.
2.8.3. Nonlinear Spring Element Support
The COMBIN39 nonlinear spring element now supports linear perturbation. For
a complete list of elements supporting this capability, see Elements Under Linear
Perturbation in the Element Reference.
2.9. Results File
The following enhancements to the results file (Jobname.RST, Jobname.RTH,
and so on) appear in this release:
Element results are now written in single precision, including stresses, strains,
nodal forces, miscellaneous data (SMISC), and so on. Nodal solutions (such as
displacements) and reaction solutions (PRRSOL) remain in double precision.
The modal results file (Jobname.MODE) is now smaller when element results
are written during the modal expansion (MXPAND,,,,YES,,YES).
Results files are now up to 50 percent smaller than results files in prior releases.
2.10. Commands
This section describes changes to commands at Release 14.5.
Some commands are not accessible from menus and are available via the com-
mand input area or batch file input only. The documentation for each command
indicates whether or not a menu path is available for that command operation.
2.10.1. New Commands
2.10.2. Modified Commands
2.10.3. Undocumented Commands
29
Commands
2.10.1. New Commands
The following new commands are available in this release:
COMBINE -- Combines distributed memory parallel (Distributed ANSYS) files.
DFLX -- Imposes a uniform magnetic flux B on an edge-element electromagnetic
model.
EEXTRUDE -- Extrudes 2-D plane elements into 3-D solids. Typically used in a 2-D
to 3-D analysis.
*LSDUMP -- Dumps a linear solver engine to a binary File.
*LSRESTORE -- Restores a linear solver engine from a binary file.
MAP2DTO3D -- Initiates a 2-D to 3-D analysis.
*WRK -- Sets the active workspace number.
2.10.2. Modified Commands
The following commands have been enhanced or otherwise modified in this re-
lease:
ACCOPTION -- Specifies GPU accelerator capability options. The MinSzThresh
and SPkey arguments are obsolete and have been removed from this command.
The program now automatically determines the optimal minimum frontal matrix
size threshold based on the current CPU and GPU hardware in your system.
BF -- Defines a nodal body force load. You can now define non-uniform velocity
(Lab = EF) in a harmonic analysis or non-uniform acceleration in a transient analysis.
BFA -- Defines a body force load on an area. You can now define non-uniform ve-
locity (Lab = EF) in a harmonic analysis or non-uniform acceleration in a transient
analysis.
CNKMOD -- Modifies contact element key options. You can now change the units
of normal contact stiffness during a brake squeal analysis.
/CONFIG -- Assigns values to program configuration parameters. The option to set
maximum number of results sets on the results file (Lab = NRES) has been removed.
The number of results sets is now unlimited.
Mechanical APDL
CUTCONTROL -- Controls time-step cutback during a nonlinear solution. You can
now set minimum stress or elastic strain thresholds for calculating the creep ratio
criterion. For integration points with stress or elastic strain below the defined
thresholds, the creep ratio is not calculated and no time-step cutback occurs.
*DMAT -- Creates a dense matrix. The command can now be set to transpose the
original matrix. Import features have also been extended. The command can now
import records from RFRQ files, and imported RST file records now offer access to
a larger set of nodal results, including the nodal solution (NSL), the transient velocity
solution (VSL), the transient acceleration solution (ASL), and the reaction forces
(RF).
DMPOPTION -- Specifies distributed memory parallel (Distributed ANSYS) file
combination options. The modal load vector file (.MLV) and initial state file (.IST)
have been added to the list of files that this command can affect.
*EIGEN -- Performs a modal solution with unsymmetric or damping matrices. The
command now supports symmetric matrices when used with the MODOPT,LANB
option.
EXPROFILE -- Exports interface loads to a CFX Profile file. The command can now
export mode shapes and frequencies (Load = MODE) from a modal analysis to a
CFX Profile file.
*FREE -- Deletes a matrix or a solver object and frees its memory allocation. You
can now delete all APDL Math matrices and solver objects belonging to a given
workspace, and also set the memory workspace number.
*GET -- Retrieves a value and stores it as a scalar parameter or part of an array
parameter. The ability to retrieve far-field acoustics parameters has been added
(Entity = ACUS).
HROPT -- Specifies harmonic analysis options. The command is now valid for Dis-
tributed ANSYS using Method = AUTO, FULL, or VT. Also, the reduced harmonic
analysis method has been undocumented.
LDREAD -- Reads results from the results file and applies them as loads. You can
now apply concentrations from a diffusion analysis to a subsequent diffusion ana-
lysis as nodal loads or initial conditions.
MODOPT -- Specifies modal analysis options. The reduced modal analysis method
has been archived.
31
Commands
MP -- Defines a linear material property as a constant or a function of temperature.
A new label allows you to specify the Hall coefficient for SOLID236 and SOLID237
elements. For more information about the Hall effect, see Hall coefficient in the
Mechanical APDL Theory Reference. Also, other labels have been added allowing
you to specify the heat coefficient at constant pressure per unit of mass and the
heat coefficient at constant volume per unit of mass, respectively.
MPDATA -- Defines property data to be associated with the temperature table.
You can now specify the Hall coefficient for SOLID236 and SOLID237 elements, the
heat coefficient at constant pressure per unit of mass, and the heat coefficient at
constant volume per unit of mass.
NLDIAG -- Sets nonlinear diagnostics functionality. When contact diagnostic inform-
ation is requested (NLDIAG,CONT), the following items are now included in the
Jobname.CND file: maximum and minimum total sliding distance, and maximum
fluid penetration pressure on the contact and target surfaces.
NLHIST -- Specifies result items to track during a solution. Specification that you
set via this command are now saved in the database (Jobname.DB). Also, the
following contact result items can now be tracked: maximum and minimum total
sliding distance (GSMX and GSMN), and maximum fluid penetration pressure on
the contact and target surfaces (FPSC and FPST).
OCDATA -- Defines an ocean load using non-table data. The default behavior of
the vertical offset from the global origin to the mean sea level has changed. (See
the VAL6 argument description for the Zmsl value.)
PLCAMP -- Plots Campbell diagram data for applications involving rotating structure
dynamics. You can now directly determine the stability threshold in a Campbell
analysis.
PLFAR -- Plots electric or pressure far fields and far field parameters. The command
can now output the pressure phase angle (Opt = PHSC).
PLNEAR -- Plots the electric field or pressure in the near zone exterior to the equi-
valent source surface. The command can now output the phase angle of complex
pressure for acoustics (Opt = PHAS).
PRCAMP -- Prints Campbell diagram data for applications involving rotating
structure dynamics. The command can now directly determine the stability threshold
in a Campbell analysis.
Mechanical APDL
PRFAR -- Prints electric or pressure far fields and far field parameters. The command
can now output the pressure phase angle in a Cartesian coordinate system plot
and the pressure phase angle in a polar coordinate system plot.
PRNEAR -- Prints the electric field or pressure in the near zone exterior to the
equivalent source surface. The command can now output the phase angle of
complex pressure for acoustics.
RADOPT -- Specifies radiosity solver options. You can now specify the maximum
number of iterations for convergence when the full solver (THOPT,full) is used.
RPSD -- Calculates response power spectral density (PSD). You can now use a sig-
nificance level (SIGNIF) to include only the significant modes in the response
power spectral density, resulting in less computational time.
SECCONTROL -- Supplements or overrides default section properties. For naming
consistency with other control commands, this command has been renamed (from
SECCONTROLS). Input files that still issue the command using the old name are
unaffected and require no editing.
SFE -- Specifies surface loads on elements. You can now specify acoustic surface
loads on elements.
*SMAT -- Creates a sparse matrix. The TRANS option has been added to allow users
to transpose the original matrix.
TB -- Activates a data table for material properties or special element input. The
following material options have been added: an instantaneous coefficient of thermal
expansion (TB,CTE) input; user-defined contact interaction specifications (TB,INTER),
and Johnson-Champoux-Allard equivalent fluid material model of porous media
(TB,PERF).
TBFIELD -- Defines values of field variables for material data tables. The command
now supports user-defined field variables (UF01 through UF09).
THOPT -- Specifies the nonlinear transient thermal solution option. The QUASI
option, used for speeding up the solution of nonlinear transient thermal analyses,
is now supported in the radiosity solver for radiation analyses.
TRNOPT -- Specifies transient analysis options. The reduced transient analysis
method has been undocumented.
33
Commands
*VEC -- Creates a vector. You can now import records from RFRQ files, and imported
RST file records now offer access to a larger set of nodal results, including the
nodal solution (NSL), the transient velocity solution (VSL), the transient acceleration
solution (ASL), and the reaction forces (RF).
Several commands were enhanced to include new diffusion surface and body
load options. The commands are listed in New Diffusion Surface and Body
Loads (p. 26).
2.10.3. Undocumented Commands
The following features have been undocumented at this release:
Variational Technology (VT)
The reduced method for harmonic and transient analyses.
PGR file support
The following legacy commands have therefore been undocumented:
VTSTAT VTREAL VTGEOM TOTAL PGSAVE
VTTEMP VTRFIL VTIN /VT PGRAPH
VTVMOD VTRSLT VTMETH VTCLR PGRSET
VTSEC VTMP VTDISC PGSELE
VTSFE VTOP VTEVAL PGWRITE
VTSL VTPOST VTFREQ POUTRES
For information about commands that have been undocumented in prior releases,
see the archived release notes on the ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi).
2.11. Elements
This section describes changes to elements at Release 14.5.
Some elements are not available from within the GUI. For a list of those elements,
see GUI-Inaccessible Elements in the Element Reference.
2.11.1. New Elements
2.11.2. Modified Elements
2.11.3. Undocumented Elements
2.11.4. Archived Elements
Mechanical APDL
2.11.1. New Elements
The following elements have been added in this release:
PLANE238 -- 2-D 8-Node Diffusion Solid
SOLID239 -- 3-D 20-Node Diffusion Solid
SOLID240 -- 3-D 10-Node Tetrahedral Diffusion Solid
2.11.2. Modified Elements
The following elements have been enhanced in this release:
COMBIN14 -- This spring-damper element COMBIN14 now supports stiffness and
damping coefficients function of the frequency in a full harmonic analysis. This is
especially useful when modeling a frequency-dependent material.
COMBIN39 -- This nonlinear spring element now supports linear perturbation.
CONTA171, CONTA172, CONTA173, CONTA174, CONTA175, CONTA176, CONTA177,
CONTA178 -- These contact elements now support the following features: user-
defined contact interaction via the USERINTER subroutine; user-defined real con-
stants (for certain real constants) via the USERCNPROP subroutine; tabular input
for certain real constants; additional elastic slip output quantities.
CONTA171, CONTA172, CONTA173, CONTA174, CONTA175, CONTA176, CONTA177
-- For these contact elements, you can now use the internal multipoint constraint
(MPC) feature to model coupling constraints, similar to constraints defined by the
CP command.
CONTA171, CONTA172, CONTA173, CONTA174 -- For these surface-to-surface contact
elements, you can now control the units of absolute normal contact stiffness (that
is, a negative value input for real constant FKN).
CONTA178 -- This node-to-node contact element now supports the following fea-
tures: a spherical gap type; rigid Coulomb friction; multiphysics contact.
CPT212, CPT213, CPT215, CPT216, CPT217 -- These coupled pore-pressure mechan-
ical solid elements now support initial state loading.
35
Elements
FLUID30, FLUID220, FLUID221 -- These 3-D Acoustic Fluid elements now support
the Johnson-Champoux-Allard equivalent fluid material model of porous media
(TB,PERF).
PIPE288, PIPE289 -- These pipe elements now support initial state loading.
MATRIX50 -- This substructure element now supports linear perturbation.
PLANE223, SOLID226, SOLID227 -- These coupled-field elements offer a new surface
load, diffusion flux (DFLUX), and a new body load, diffusion substance generation
(DGEN).
SHELL181 -- This four-node structural shell element offers a new formulation option
for incorporating initial curvature effects.
2.11.3. Undocumented Elements
The following legacy elements have been undocumented at this release:
SOLID62
INTER115
For information about other elements that have been undocumented in prior
releases, see the archived release notes on the ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi).
2.11.4. Archived Elements
The following legacy elements have been moved to the Feature Archive:
FLUID79
FLUID80
FLUID81
2.12. Other Enhancements
This section contains information about Release 14.5 enhancements not listed
elsewhere in this document.
Mechanical APDL
2.12.1. Soil-Pile Analysis
For soil-pile analysis, format details for database results have been added. Links
have also been added to Beamcheck documentation describing the use of a
Microsoft Excel plug-in for retrieving and manipulating results.
2.12.2. Tabular Data Stored on Jobname.LDHI
Tabular data is now stored on the Jobname.LDHI file, making the restart process
simpler when tabular loading is used.
2.12.3. Documentation
ANSYS, Inc. continues to refine the Mechanical APDL documentation set. To that
end, the following changes and enhancements to the documentation have oc-
curred with this release:
2.12.3.1. Acoustic Theory
A new, greatly expanded Acoustics chapter has been added to the Mechanical
APDL Theory Reference.
2.12.3.2. Technology Demonstration Guide
The following new example problems have been added to the Technology
Demonstration Guide:
2.12.3.2.1. Fitting Parameters for a Chaboche Kinematic Hardening Model
2.12.3.2.2. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Simulation
2.12.3.2.3. Analysis of a Piezoelectric Flextensional Transducer in Water
2.12.3.2.1. Fitting Parameters for a Chaboche Kinematic Hardening
Model
This example problem demonstrates how to determine material parameters for
a third-order Chaboche kinematic hardening model using the curve-fitting tool.
A method is presented to estimate the initial parameters and obtain a least-
squares best fit to the data. The fitted parameters are validated by conducting
uniaxial simulations using a single element and comparing the results with the
experimental data.
37
Other Enhancements
2.12.3.2.2. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Simulation
This example problem simulates the response of an anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) of a human knee subjected to tension, flexion, and rotation. The problem
uses an anisotropic hyperelastic material model with viscoelasticity.
2.12.3.2.3. Analysis of a Piezoelectric Flextensional Transducer in Water
This example problem demonstrates the coupling of structural, piezoelectric,
and acoustic elements to analyze the acoustic response of a flextensional trans-
ducer to voltage excitation. The problem highlights fluid-structure interaction
(FSI), piezoelectric materials, infinite acoustic elements, the Robin boundary
condition, and far-field postprocessing.
2.12.3.3. Feature Archive
Legacy features, commands, elements, and theory information continue to be
moved to the Feature Archive. While ANSYS, Inc. continues to support these legacy
capabilities for the immediate future, some may be undocumented in future re-
leases. Consider moving to their recommended replacements.
2.12.3.4. Documentation Updates for Programmers
The following documentation updates are available for programmers:
2.12.3.4.1. Using Mixed Languages for Compiling and Linking User
Programmable Features
When compiling and linking user programmable features (UPFs) into the Mech-
anical APDL program, you can now write your user routines in a combination of
languages: Fortran, C, and C++. The new capability applies for all methods of
linking user routines on both Linux and Windows platforms. Examples of using
mixed languages with the /UPF command method are included on the distribu-
tion media for both Linux and Windows platforms. For more information, see
Compiling and Linking UPFs on Linux Systems and Compiling and Linking UPFs
on Windows Systems in the Programmer's Reference.
2.12.3.4.2. Routines and Functions Updated
Routines and functions documented in the Programmer's Reference have been
updated to reflect the current source code. To see specific changes in a file,
ANSYS, Inc. recommends opening both the old and current files (using a text
Mechanical APDL
editor that displays line numbers), then comparing the two to determine which
lines have changed. You can copy the updated files to your system by performing
a custom installation of the product.
2.13. Known Incompatibilities
The following incompatibilities with prior releases are known to exist at Release
14.5.
2.13.1. Results File Format
2.13.2. LINK180 Element Results
2.13.3. Hydrostatic Fluid Elements with KEYOPT(1) = 1
2.13.4. Contact Stiffness Behavior
2.13.5. Radiation View Factor as a Function of GAP
2.13.6. Ramped Friction Coefficient in a Brake Squeal Analysis
2.13.7. User-Defined Friction Subroutine (userfric)
2.13.8. Material Mass Density for FLUID130 Element
2.13.1. Results File Format
Numerous changes to the results file format allow for future expansion of the
file in order to accommodate more advanced analyses and to reduce the current
file size. The changes include the following:
Results header record and geometry header record have increased from 40 to
80 integers.
Multiple geometry sets are now supported by the file.
Principle stresses are no longer written to the file.
Element results are now single-precision.
The maximum number of sets stored on the results file is now dynamic. As a
result, the /CONFIG,NRES command is no longer required to exceed the initial
default of 10,000 result sets.
For more information, see the description of the results file in the Programmer's
Reference.
39
Known Incompatibilities
2.13.2. LINK180 Element Results
The LINK180 3-D spar (truss) element has been changed so that the consistent
mass matrix is now the default (rather than the former lumped mass matrix).
The new default behavior causes result differences when compared to the former
default.
2.13.3. Hydrostatic Fluid Elements with KEYOPT(1) = 1
For analyses including hydrostatic fluid elements (HSFLD241 or HSFLD242), if
both the HDSP and PRES degrees of freedom are activated by setting KEYOPT(1)
= 1, you may see changes in the analysis results when compared to the previous
release. This is because the program now builds internal constraint equations to
tie the HDSP and PRES degrees of freedom together. Previously, this was achieved
through a penalty method, which could lead to convergence difficulties in some
cases.
2.13.4. Contact Stiffness Behavior
When the command NEQIT,1,FORCE is issued to force one iteration per substep,
the program now internally sets KEYOPT(10) = 0 for contact elements (CONTA171
through CONTA177) present in the model so that contact stiffness will be constant
during the entire analysis. This behavior differs from that of prior releases.
2.13.5. Radiation View Factor as a Function of GAP
When modeling radiation via thermal contact, the radiation view factor (input
as real constant RDVF for contact elements CONTA171 through CONTA177) can
be defined as a function of gap distance by using tabular input to define RDVF,
with GAP as a primary variable.
In prior releases, a positive GAP index value represented an open gap. In this
release, the implementation of GAP has changed such that a negative GAP index
value represents an open gap. If you are using input from a previous release that
includes RDVF defined by tabular input, you must adjust your table parameters
accordingly. See Defining Real Constants in Tabular Format for more information.
2.13.6. Ramped Friction Coefficient in a Brake Squeal Analysis
When using the full nonlinear perturbed modal analysis procedure to model
brake squeal, forced frictional sliding can be induced by defining a rotational
Mechanical APDL
velocity (CMROTATE). In prior releases, if the friction coefficient for the contact
pair undergoing forced frictional sliding was modified after the first load step
(MP), the friction was step-applied. Now, if the friction coefficient is modified
after the first load step and the ramping option is set (KBC,0), the friction coeffi-
cient is linearly interpolated for each substep based on the values from the
previous and current load steps. The change is intended to improve the conver-
gence for this type of brake squeal analysis.
2.13.7. User-Defined Friction Subroutine (userfric)
Due to user-defined friction enhancements, new arguments have been added
to the userfric subroutine. Furthermore, the array sizes and values of the rl-
const, kstat, and dt arguments have been changed. You must therefore modify
any userfric subroutines programmed in previous releases to correspond to
the revised subroutine.
2.13.8. Material Mass Density for FLUID130 Element
The FLUID130 element requires that the mass density of acoustic fluid be spe-
cified.
41
Known Incompatibilities
Chapter 3: AUTODYN Release Notes
The following enhancements are available in release 14.5. Please refer to the
product specific documentation for full details of the new features.
3.2. New Features
3.3. Documentation
Release 14.5 includes new features and enhancements that result in product
behaviors that differ from previous releases. These behavior changes are
presented below.
Platform MPI Support. On the Windows operating systems, best performance of
the AUTODYN parallel solver is obtained by using Platform MPI version 8.1.2. The
version that will be installed via the ANSYS Installer menu is 8.2.1; please refrain
from using this version. Refer to Windows Systems using Platform MPI for further
guidance.
3.2. New Features
The following new features are exposed in ANSYS AUTODYN for Release 14.5:
Strain Rate Correction for the Johnson-Cook and Cowper-Symonds Material
Models. For all shell solver types a first order as well as an implicit strain rate
correction is available for the Johnson-Cook and Cowper-Symonds material
models to reduce high frequency oscillations that are sometimes observed in
the yield surface under high strain rates. The first order strain rate correction is
applied by default. The implicit strain rate correction can be used in cases where
the first order strain rate correction does not suffice, although at the cost of extra
CPU time usage.
43
Please see the Solution Enhancements section of the Mechanical Application
Release Notes for more information about the following AUTODYN features
available in the Explicit Dynamics System in the Mechanical application:
Explicit Dynamics Solution Settings Options
Explicit Dynamics Minimum Strain Rate Cutoff setting
Explicit Dynamics Output Contact Forces Option
3.3. Documentation
The following documentation changes have been made for ANSYS AUTODYN
for Release 14.5:
Documentation Added to ANSYS Help Viewer. The AUTODYN folder has been
removed from the Start > All Programs > ANSYS 14.5 > Help folder. The fol-
lowing documents that used to be accessed from that folder are now available
in the ANSYS Help Viewer.
AUTODYN Composite Modeling
AUTODYN Parallel Processing Tutorial
AUTODYN User Subroutines Tutorial
Example of Explicit to Implicit Analysis. In order to show how to exploit features
of Explicit Dynamics, Design Assessment, and Mechanical APDL, an example
(including sample files) is now available showing how to initialize an implicit
analysis using results from an Explicit Dynamics analysis.
AUTODYN
Chapter 4: AQWA Release Notes
This release of the AQWA related products contains all capabilities from previous
releases plus many new features and enhancements. The following enhancements
are available in release 14.5. Please refer to the product specific documentation
for full details of the new features.
4.2. AQWA Solver Modules
4.3. Hydrodynamic Analysis Systems
Release 14.5 includes several new features and enhancements that result in
product behaviors that differ from previous releases. These behavior changes
are presented below.
A new field (Start and Finish Frequency/Period Definition) has been added to the
Details panel of the Jonswap, Pierson Moscovitz and Gauss wave types in Work-
bench. When reading in project files from earlier versions, the program chooses
the value of this field depending on the saved values of Start Frequency/Period
and Finish Frequency/Period. If both of the fields are zero, the Definition field is
Program Controlled. If both fields are nonzero, the Definition field is User Defined.
If only one of the fields is nonzero, the Definition field is set to User Defined for
the nonzero field.
4.2. AQWA Solver Modules
The following new features provide extended capabilities in the AQWA Solver
modules:
Multiple Simultaneous Wave Spectra in AQWA-FER. The ability to model multiple
simultaneous wave spectra has been extended to AQWA-FER.
Linearization of Morison Drag. Linearized Morison drag effects can be applied
to AQWA-LINE and AQWA-FER analyses for TUBE, DISC, and STUB elements. In
45
AQWA-LINE the model can contain only one structure and only one spectrum can
be specified. In AQWA-FER, the linearization can be applied to multiple structures
and multiple spectra.
DISC and STUB elements have been added to the Shear Force and Bending
Moment graphs in the AGS.
4.3. Hydrodynamic Analysis Systems
The following new features provide extended capabilities in the Hydrodynamic
Analysis Workbench systems:
Model Animation. A Time History Motions result object has been made available
for the Hydrodynamic Time Response system. This object allows you to view the
animation of the motion of the parts in your project over the entire analysis
period.
AQWA
Chapter 5: Beamcheck Release Notes
5.1. New Features
5.1. New Features
The following new features are available in Release 14.5 of Beamcheck:
Design Assessment Integration:
Results access speed has been significantly improved, reducing the time taken to
obtain results from minutes to seconds.
Results can now be obtained and presented in single result object over a time or
pseudo time range spanning multiple substeps (can also span multiple steps) for
an upstream transient or static analysis.
Python result access functions are now documented for user customization of
scripts to allow presentation of their own compound results.
Added database result format details, and commands to retrieve results within Excel.
47
Chapter 6: Fatjack Release Notes
6.1. New Features
6.1. New Features
The following new features are available in Release 14.5 of Fatjack:
Design Assessment Integration:
Results access speed has been significantly improved, reducing the time taken to
obtain results from minutes to seconds.
Results can now be obtained and presented in single result object based on multiple
intervals, wave cases, or spectrums. The Stress Histogram Results have been renamed
to better define results; existing projects will need to have the input for these results
reselected.
Python result access functions are now documented for user customization of
scripts to allow presentation of their own compound results.
Added database result format details and linked to Beamcheck section for com-
mands to retrieve results within Excel.
Added the ability to specify a particular inspection point for the result, and the
ability to search all the inspection points and retrieve the minimum, maximum,
absolute minimum, or absolute maximum result for that joint.
49
Part II: ANSYS Fluids Products
Release notes are available for the following ANSYS Fluids products:
FLUENT
CFX
TurboGrid
ANSYS BladeModeler
CFD-Post
POLYFLOW
Chapter 1: FLUENT Release Notes
The following sections contain release information for ANSYS FLUENT 14.5.
1.1. New Features in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
1.2. Supported Platforms for ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
1.3. Known Limitations in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
1.4. Limitations That No Longer Apply in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
1.5. Updates Affecting Code Behavior
1.1. New Features in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
New features available in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 are listed below. Where appropriate
references to the relevant section in the User's Guide are provided.
Integrated Meshing
FLUENT now includes an integrated volume mesher that you can use to create
high-quality unstructured grids from within FLUENT in the meshing mode. See
FLUENT Meshing Release Notes.
Solver-Numerics
Simulations using the deforming mesh capability can be solved using second-order
discretization in time.
The Green-Gauss Node Based gradient method is now available with polyhedral
meshes.
The pressure-based solver can now be used for periodic flows with the mass flow
rate specification method.
You can now define source terms and fixed variables using profiles or UDFs.
Solution stabilization methods added to help achieve convergence for system
coupling cases. (System Coupling Motion)
53
Solver-Meshing
A matching option is now available to enforce matching of mesh interfaces or
periodic zones that are poorly matched (Using a Non-Conformal Mesh in ANSYS
FLUENT).
Additional controls in the Mesh Method Settings dialog box and the Dynamic
Mesh Zones dialog box (for deforming motion) to enhance flexibility in applying
spring-based smoothing on various element types (e.g., tetrahedral, triangular) (see
Smoothing Methods and Deforming Motion).
You can now include cells in the poor mesh numerics that are not included auto-
matically but nevertheless cause convergence problems or otherwise adversely
effect the solution using the solve/set/poor-mesh-numerics/user-
defined-on-register text command (see Robustness on Meshes of Poor
Quality).
You can now use the CutCell zone remeshing method to remesh a complete
cell zone, including all boundary zones of the remeshed cell zone (3D simula-
tions only) (see CutCell Zone Remeshing Method).
The ability to detect if the computed mesh motion will result in contact with
other surfaces in dynamic mesh simulations and trigger associated user-defined
actions (see Contact Detection Settings).
A new option, Exclude Mesh Motion in Boundary Conditions, is available
in the Dynamic Mesh Zones dialog box for rigid body and user-defined zone
types. This option allows you to specify that the boundary mesh motion should
not be included in the physical boundary conditions of that zone. This option
is only available for non-periodic boundary zones. (see Contact Detection
Settings).
Models
Turbulence
The default value for the turbulence intensity is set to 5% (medium intensity)
and the turbulence viscosity ratio has a default value of 10. (Determining Turbu-
lence Parameters)
The Scale-Adaptive Simulation (SAS) concept is now available with all omega-
based turbulence models.
FLUENT
Heat Transfer and Radiation
Periodic boundary zones are now supported when using the ray tracing method
to calculate view factors with the surface-to-surface (S2S) radiation model.
Improved ray-tracing method gives faster view factor calculation for large and
complex cases.
Improved encapsulation of coupled wall with S2S results in faster case file reads.
Combustion and Species Transport
Reacting flow variables have been included under the bounded second order
time discretization option.
The ability to generate lookup tables for the non-premixed and partially-
premixed combustion models using Automated Grid Refinement and second
order interpolation, providing substantially quicker run times. (Generating
Lookup Tables Through Automated Grid Refinement in the Theory Guide).
You can revert to fourth order interpolation using the /define/mod-
els/species/non-premixed-combustion-expert TUI command.
The ability to model steady premixed flamelets in the partially premixed
combustion model with Flamelet Generated Manifolds. (Steady Premixed
Flamelet Turbulent Closure in the Theory Guide)
The ability to define multiple fuels for the NO
x
and SO
x
pollutant models.
(Defining the Fuel Streams and Defining the SOx Fuel Stream Settings)
The ability to perform faster NO
x
tabulation with the premixed and partially
premixed combustion models.
Discrete Phase Model
Azimuthal angle properties have been added for cone and solid-cone injection
types in 3D models.
Cone angle can now be specified as a transient profile for cone and solid-cone
injections.
Several new parcel release methods are available when using unsteady particle
tracking. These allow you to specify the number of particles per parcel, the mass
55
New Features in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
of the parcels, or the diameter of the parcels. (Steady/Transient Treatment of
Particles)
Node based averaging is now available as a supported feature. (Node Based
Averaging of Particle Data)
You can now select whether to include virtual mass forces and pressure gradient
effects in the particle force balance. ( Including the Virtual Mass Force and Pres-
sure Gradient Effects on Particles)
The Lagrangian wall film model can now be used with wet combusting particles.
Additional cell-averaged discrete phase quantities are available for postprocessing.
( Reporting of Interphase Exchange Terms (Discrete Phase Sources) and Reporting
of Discrete Phase Variables)
You can now use the DEFINE_DPM_PROPERTY macro to create a User-Defined
Function for particle density. This capability is not available when using the Wet
Combustion Model. ( DEFINE_DPM_PROPERTY ).
VOF
Hydrostatic pressure profiles can be specified for non-open channel flows.
Variable surface tension capability can be modeled with the CSF model for any
field variable.
For cases involving moving meshes or moving reference frames (MRF), you can
use the Relative Velocity Resistance Formulation option to better predict
porous media sources.
You can now generate random/regular waves by wave superposition of lin-
ear/non-linear waves. (Superposition of Waves)
You can now generate shallow water waves with finite amplitude using the
Solitary/Cnoidal wave theory. (Cnoidal/Solitary Wave Theory)
Eulerian Multiphase Model
Drag models from Grace et al. and Tomiyama et al. have been implemented
for Mixture and Eulerian Multiphase flows. (Specifying the Drag Function)
A drag modification factor can be applied when using the mixture and Eu-
lerian multiphase models. The drag modification factor applied can be based
FLUENT
on the Brucato correlation, a user-defined function, or a constant value.
(Drag Modification)
Additional lift models have been added for Eulerian Multiphase flows. Saff-
man-Mei and Legendre-Magnaudet models have been introduced and the
Moraga and Tomiyama models previously implemented for boiling flows
have been extended and are now available for non-boiling flows. (Including
the Lift Force)
Wall lubrication forces can now be included when using the Eulerian mul-
tiphase model. (Including the Wall Lubrication Force)
Additional models for turbulent dispersion have been added when using
the Eulerian multiphase model. Previously, turbulent dispersion was accessed
as Turbulent Drift Force in the Viscous model dialog box. Turbulent disper-
sion for the Eulerian model is now accessed from the Phase Interaction
Dialog Box. (Including the Turbulent Dispersion Force)
When using the Mixture model, the Turbulent Drift Force option in the Viscous
dialog has been renamed Mixture Drift Force.
New models have been added to account for the influence of dispersed phases
on the multiphase turbulence models. (Including Turbulence Interaction Source
Terms).
The Tomiyama model for interphase heat transfer has been added for the Eulerian
multiphase model. (Including Heat Transfer Effects)
You can now select an algebraic model to compute interfacial area when using
the Eulerian multiphase model. (Using an Algebraic Interfacial Area Model)
A degassing boundary condition is now available when using the Eulerian mul-
tiphase model for two-phase liquid-gas flow. This is applicable to bubble-columns
where you want to model the escape of gas bubbles from the domain without
modeling the complete freeboard region. (Degassing Boundary Conditions).
An additional method, dpm-averaged, is available for estimating Granular
Temperature when using the Dense Discrete Phase Model (DDPM). (Defining a
Granular Secondary Phase)
Eulerian Wall Film Model
57
Options to enable adaptive time stepping for film marching. (Setting Eulerian
Wall Film Solution Controls)
Options to enable the inclusion of surface tension and random locations
for film separation. (Setting Eulerian Wall Film Model Options)
Options to account for the effect of the interaction of the wall film with
Eulerian multiphase flow. (Setting Eulerian Wall Film Model Options)
Options to account for the effect of condensation and vaporization at the
film wall with species transport. (Setting Eulerian Wall Film Model Options)
Coupling of the Eulerian wall film model with the multiphase mixture
model. (Setting Eulerian Wall Film Model Options)
Material Properties
Option to select the vapor or liquid phase at sub-critical conditions while using
real gas models. (Real Gas Models)
Compatibility of the real gas models with the partially premixed combustion
model.
You can now model compressible liquids using the Tait equation of state. (Com-
pressible Liquid Density Method)
Boundary Conditions
The general non-reflecting boundary conditions (NRBC) are available for the pres-
sure-based solver. (General Non-Reflecting Boundary Conditions)
For cases involving moving meshes or moving reference frames (MRF), you can
use the Relative Velocity Resistance Formulation option to better predict porous
media sources.
Support for receiving temperature and heat flow data for wall boundaries via
System Coupling. (Heat Transfer Boundary Conditions Through System Coup-
ling)
Ability to define a convective augmentation factor for walls, in order to aug-
ment the diffusive heat flux for applications that have perturbed flow and/or
disturbed boundary layers. TUI only. (Augmented Heat Transfer)
FLUENT
Mesh Morpher/Optimizer
Ability to use a bounding box based on boundary zones to define the deform-
ation region for the mesh morpher/optimizer. (Setting Up the Mesh Morph-
er/Optimizer)
Ability to use input parameters to define deformation parameters for the mesh
morpher/optimizer, so that you can use Design Exploration in ANSYS Work-
bench to easily explore multiple deformation scenarios. (Setting Up the Mesh
Morpher/Optimizer)
Performance has been improved for cases with larger numbers of control
points, such that the time required to deform the mesh is reduced.
Ability to save intermediate case and data files during an optimization run, so
that you can restart an interrupted solution in the same or a different FLUENT
session without increasing the overall number of design iterations needed to
reach convergence. (Setting Up the Mesh Morpher/Optimizer)
Ability to read and write ASCII text files that define the scaling factor settings
for deformation parameters. (Setting Up the Mesh Morpher/Optimizer)
Ability to reject meshes of poor orthogonal quality during the optimization
process. (Setting Up the Mesh Morpher/Optimizer)
Ability to disable a general mesh check that rejects meshes that produce errors
during the optimization process. (Setting Up the Mesh Morpher/Optimizer)
Parallel Processing
Enhanced performance for reading and writing mesh-to-mesh solution interpolation
files. (Mesh-to-Mesh Solution Interpolation)
Reduced case file reading time.
Ability to enable hybrid optimization partitioning method for DPM and DEM. (Par-
titioning)
View factor computations can be accelerated using the viewfac_acc and the
raytracing_acc utilities. (Accelerating View Factor Calculations for General
Purpose Computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs))
Hybrid parallelization of DEM method leading to improved scalability.
59
Dynamic spawning of the right number of solver processes when switching from
the meshing to the solution modes.
Improved AMG coarsening for better convergence in parallel.
User-Defined Functions (UDFs) and User-Defined Scalars (UDSs)
UDFs can be compiled in ANSYS FLUENT with OpenCL support for execution on
General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) on lnamd64 and win64 plat-
forms. (Enabling FLUENT UDFs to Execute on General Purpose Graphics Processing
Units (GPGPUs))
Graphics, Postprocessing, and Reporting
Additional cell-averaged discrete phase quantities are available for postprocessing.
(Reporting of Interphase Exchange Terms (Discrete Phase Sources) and Reporting
of Discrete Phase Variables)
Phase-specific mass and volume flow rates are now available as Surface Monitors
and Surface Integral Reports when using the Eulerian or Mixture multiphase models.
(Overview of Defining Surface Monitors and Surface Integration)
A new Volume Integral report type is available that allows reporting and monitoring
of the total mass of a given phase within a fluid zone. (Volume Integration and
Monitoring Volume Integrals)
When using monitors (volume, surface, force, or moment), the monitor definitions
will be updated accordingly to reflect zone changes caused by merging or splitting
operations which could effect zones on the monitor list.
When using the non-equilibrium model as part of a porous media simulation, you
can display the energy source due to the temperature difference between the fluid
and solid zones. (Non-Equilibrium Thermal Model)
A new display option is available to display the ANSYS logo as white (default) or
black if its being displayed in the graphics window.
User Interface
A convergence manager has been implemented that allows you to set solution
convergence conditions that are based on values of surface, volume, lift, drag, or
moment monitors. (Convergence Manager)
FLUENT
FLUENT as a Server capability is now available as a full feature. This allows you to
connect and provide interactive commands to a running ANSYS FLUENT session
from the FLUENT Remote Console or a customized C/C++ client application. (FLUENT
as a Server User's Guide)
You can start ANSYS FLUENT in meshing mode (rather than the default solution
mode) by selecting the Meshing Mode check box (available only for 3D simulations)
in the FLUENT Launcher (Starting ANSYS FLUENT). This option is not available with
FLUENT under Workbench.
Workbench
Two-way coupling between FLUENT and Ansoft. (Performing FLUENT and Ansoft
Coupling in Workbench)
Surface losses can now be mapped, along with volumetric losses, when coupling
FLUENT and Ansoft. (Performing FLUENT and Ansoft Coupling in Workbench)
Ability to graphically monitor FLUENT solution residuals in Workbench. (Monitoring
FLUENT Solutions in Workbench )
Performance enhancements to the Parametric Analysis in ANSYS Workbench Using
ANSYS FLUENT tutorial. (Parametric Analysis in ANSYS Workbench Using ANSYS
FLUENT)
You can register or unregister a customized Scheme file through your FLUENT
setup using the context menu for the FLUENT Setup cell. (Registering and Unregis-
tering Startup Scheme Files)
A new FLUENT Meshing component system is available, allowing you to use FLUENT
in meshing mode while in Workbench. (Getting Started With FLUENT Meshing in
Workbench)
The Import Initial Data context menu option for a FLUENT-based systems Solution
cell has been replaced by the Use Solution Data From File option under Initializ-
ation Method in the Properties view for the Solution cell. (Specifying FLUENT
Launcher Settings Using Cell Properties and Using the Update Command)
Add-Ons
Adjoint Solver
Rotational periodic boundaries are now supported in the adjoint solver.
61
Additional observable types and operation types available with an enhanced
graphical user interface. (Defining Observables)
Additional postprocessing variables are available: sensitivity to viscosity,
normal shape sensitivity, normal optimal displacement, and optimal displace-
ment (Field Data), as well as the ability to export optimal surface displace-
ments to a file. (Shape Modification)
Enhancements to the adjoint solver tutorial that include the new observable
types. (Tutorial: 2D Laminar Flow Past a Cylinder)
Battery Model
You can modify the batt_user.c file to modify temperature-dependent cor-
rections to U and Y. (User-Accessible Functions)
1.2. Supported Platforms for ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
Platform/OS levels that are supported in the current release are posted on the
ANSYS website.
1.3. Known Limitations in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
The following is a list of known limitations in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5.
File import/export (for a list of supported files, refer to the table in this section,
under Third-party software)
If you change the File Storage Options settings in he Autosave dialog box, the
solution history will be lost.
Data export to Mechanical APDL result file is not available on the linx64 platform.
(Mechanical APDL data export to .cdb file is available on all platforms.)
When exporting EnSight Case Gold files for transient simulations, the solver
cannot be switched between serial and parallel, and the number of compute
nodes cannot be changed for a given parallel run. Otherwise, the exported En-
Sight Case Gold files for each time step will not be compatible.
EnSight export with topology changes is not supported.
To properly view Fieldview Unstructured (.fvuns) results from a parallel ANSYS
FLUENT simulation
FLUENT
Mesh files must be exported from the parallel solver via the TUI command
fieldview-unstruct-grid.
Mesh and data files should all be exported from parallel ANSYS FLUENT sessions
with the same number of nodes.
Tecplot file import does not support the Tecplot360 file format.
Mesh
Boundary zone extrusion is not possible from faces that have hanging nodes.
For simulations that involve the FLUENT, Mechanical, and Meshing applica-
tions, meshing problems can arise in instances where there are multiple
regions and contacts between them. In FLUENT, a zone can only exist in a
single contact region. The Mechanical and Meshing applications both use
a different approach concerning contact regions when compared to FLUENT.
ANSYS FLUENT does not support FSI data mapping of edges and, therefore,
in 2D..
Models
ANSYS FLUENT supports the Chemkin II format for Oppdif flamelet import only.
The surface-to-surface (S2S) radiation model does not work with sliding and
moving/deforming meshes.
The DPM work pile algorithm is not compatible with the wall film boundary
condition.
The shell conduction model is not applicable on moving walls.
The heat exchanger model is not compatible with mesh adaption.
The FLUENT/REACTION DESIGN KINetics coupling is not available on the win64
platform.
DO-Energy coupling is recommended for large optical thickness cases (> 10)
only.
FMG initialization is not available with the shell conduction model.
FMG initialization is not compatible with the unsteady solver.
63
Known Limitations in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5
The MHD module is not compatible with Eulerian multiphase models.
Bounded 2nd order discretization in time is not compatible with moving and
deforming meshes.
When simulating porous media, the value of the Porosity (defined in the Fluid
dialog box) cannot be 0 or 1 (i.e., it must be in between these values) if the non-
equilibrium thermal model is enabled.
When simulating porous media, the non-equilibrium thermal model is not sup-
ported with radiation and/or multiphase models.
Parallel processing
These features are currently unavailable in the parallel solver:
Discrete transfer radiation model (DTRM)
Continuous Fiber Model (CFM) add-on module
Data export to non-native formats other than EnSight, FIELDVIEW, Tecplot,
and the generic heat flux data file
Mellanox OFED version 1.5.31.0.0 is known to cause random crashes or startup
issues in FLUENT when using core counts greater than approximately 64. The
last known stable Mellanox version is 1.5.2. The following are suggested work-
arounds:
Revert to OFED 1.5.2.
Set the value of log_num_mtt to 24 in the mlx4_core driver on all ma-
chines. For more information refer to Solution #2024818 from the Knowledge
Resources at the ANSYS Customer Portal (ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi)).
Platform support and drivers
ANSYS FLUENT is not compatible with the job scheduler on HPC Server 2008
with the packaged version of Platform MPI. The default MPI (MSMPI) should be
used.
The minimum OS requirements for Linux are SLES 10 or Red Hat Enterprise 5.0.
The path name length to the cpropep.so library (including the lib name) is limited
to 80 characters. (Linux Opteron cluster using Infiniband interconnect only.)
FLUENT
On Linux platforms, including a space character in the current working directory
path is not supported.
Visit the ANSYS Customer Portal (ANSYS Customer Portal (p. xi)) for the latest
Windows graphics FAQ. Version 2.0 or higher of .NET Framework must be installed
in order to run ANSYS FLUENT on the winx64 platform.
If you are installing ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 on a Windows machine that already has
one or more previous versions of ANSYS FLUENT, then after installing Platform
and Intel MPI libraries from the prerequisites, make sure to delete the environment
variables MPI_ROOT (for Platform MPI) and I_MPI_ROOT (for Intel MPI). Otherwise
there will be a conflict while running previous ANSYS FLUENT versions in parallel
mode.
Remote Solver Facility (RSF) is no longer supported in ANSYS FLUENT.
Itanium platform (lnia64) is no longer supported.
The coupling between Ansoft and FLUENT in Workbench is not supported on
Windows Vista (32 bit and 64 bit) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10. On Linux,
the coupling is supported for Red Hat 5, Red Hat 6, and SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 11.
Solver
The non-iterative time advancement (NITA) solver is applicable with only a limited
set of models. See the ANSYS FLUENT User's Guide for more details.
NITA (using fractional time step method) is not compatible with porous media.
The following models are not available for the density-based solvers:
Volume-of-fluid (VOF) model
Multiphase mixture model
Eulerian multiphase model
Non-premixed combustion model
Premixed combustion model
Partially premixed combustion model
65
Composition PDF transport model
Soot model
Rosseland radiation model
Melting/solidification model
Enhanced Coherent Flamelet model
Inert model: transport of inert species (EGR in IC engines)
Dense discrete phase model
Shell conduction model
Floating operating pressure
Spark ignition and auto-ignition models
Physical velocity formulation for porous media
Selective multigrid (SAMG)
The pressure-based coupled solver is not available with the following features:
Porous jump boundary condition
Fixed velocity
When a monitor is defined on a zone, memory is allocated based on the zone
id. Therefore a large value for zone id on a zone with a monitor will result in
significant memory overhead and should be avoided (or corrected) where pos-
sible.
On some Linux platforms, pressing Ctrl+C will not interrupt the solution. A sug-
gested workaround is to use the checkpoint mechanism in FLUENT to save files
and/or exit FLUENT. (Checkpointing an ANSYS FLUENT Simulation in the FLUENT
Getting Started Guide)
User-defined functions (UDFs)
FLUENT
Interpreted UDFs cannot be used while running in parallel with an Infiniband
interconnect. The compiled UDF approach should be used in this case.
Graphics, Reporting, and Postprocessing
Monitors may continue to print/plot values, even if the zones on which they are
defined are deactivated.
FLUENT in Workbench
Coupling between FLUENT and Q3D is not supported.
Third-party software
FLUENT-Platform LSF integration is not supported on the MS Windows platform.
FLUENT-SGE integration is supported only on Linux platforms.
Wave and GT-Power coupling are available only with stand-alone ANSYS FLUENT
and not in the Workbench environment.
ANSYS FLUENT releases 14.0 and later use the CHEMKIN-CFD KINetics library 2.4.
GT-Power is supported on the 32- and 64-bit Linux and Windows platforms.
Supported versions of third party software are listed below:
Supported Version Third Party Software
6.9 Abaqus
5.1 Altair HYPERMESH
15.0 ANSOFT-MAXWELL
5.0 AVS
2.53 CGNS
2.4 CHEMKIN
4.2 Data Explorer
9.1.2 Ensight
7.6 EnSight 6 (TUI only)
9.1.2 EnSight Case Gold
1.3 FAST
67
Supported Version Third Party Software
12.2.1 Fieldview
2.4 Gambit
7.2 GT-POWER
17.15 HOOPS
IDEAS NX Series 11 I-DEAS
970.0 LSTC-DYNA
3.0.5 MPCCI
8.1.2 MPI-HP/Platform
4.02 MPI-Intel
1.3.3 MPI-OpenMPI
Bulk data input file - MSC.NASTRAN
2007
NASTRAN
3.0 PATRAN
PTC/Mechanica Wildfire 4.0 PTC MECHANICA
9.0 (Export). Tecplot file format, ver-
sion 11.2 (Import)
TECPLOT
3.6.0 VKI
8.4 WAVE
Other
In parallel, custom vectors cannot be created from components that are custom
field functions themselves.
The IRIS Image and HPGL hardcopy formats are no longer supported in ANSYS
FLUENT.
When using ANSYS FLUENT with the Remove Solve Manager (RSM):
Only one copy of a saved project that is in the pending state can reconnect
successfully.
System Coupling is not supported.
Ansoft Coupling is not supported.
FLUENT
UDFs are supported with limitations as detailed in Submitting FLUENT Jobs
to RSM in Workbench User Guide.
The turbo-averaged contour plot in turbomachinery post-processing may
give an unexpected contour region in a selected topology.
1.4. Limitations That No Longer Apply in ANSYS FLUENT
14.5
Models
The boundedness of planes is now considered when sampling particle tracks
using the DPM model.
Periodic boundary zones are now supported when using the ray tracing
method to calculate the view factors as part of the surface-to-surface (S2S)
radiation model.
Parallel
Automatic compilation of UDFs in mixed Windows/Linux modes is now available.
FLUENT in Workbench
The data mapping step for the coupling between FLUENT and Ansoft is now
supported in the parallel version of FLUENT.
Third-party software
Wave is now supported on Windows 64bit platforms.
1.5. Updates Affecting Code Behavior
The sections in this chapter contain a comprehensive list of the code changes
implemented in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 which may affect the ANSYS FLUENT 14.0
solutions.
Please note that text that is in bold font represents key words that may facilitate
your search for the changes in code behavior.
69
Updates Affecting Code Behavior
Solver-Numerics
The algorithm for enforcing a specified mass flow at periodic boundary conditions
has been changed. This eliminates a dependency on flow domain scale which could
previously cause convergence difficulties. As a result, the convergence rate and
the path to convergence for existing cases may differ from those in previous re-
leases. For most cases, the new formulation will give faster and more stable con-
vergence. In some cases, the residuals may fluctuate in an approximately cycloidal
manner as they converge. This is expected behavior. If the new formulation results
in slower convergence, it is recommended to change to the pressure based coupled
solver or adjust the relaxation factor for the periodic mass flow (in the Periodic
Conditions Dialog Box). In most cases, the coupled solver will give faster conver-
gence.
Accuracy has been improved when computing node based gradients for cells with
faces on a mesh interface. This change improves solution convergence for both
the density-based and pressure-based solvers when using node based gradients
with mesh interfaces. Solution quality across mesh interfaces will improve compared
to previous releases when using unstructured grids.
Solver-Meshing
The local remeshing algorithm in the dynamic mesh model has been improved to
better preserve spatial resolution during remeshing. As a result, solutions for mesh-
dependent cases may differ from those in previous releases.
Improvements have been made to the polyhedra conversion algorithm which may
result in a slightly different polyhedral mesh. As a result, solutions for mesh-depend-
ent cases may differ from those in previous releases.
An option to Exclude Mesh Motion in Boundary Conditions has been added
when using moving dynamic cell zones. Since release 14.0, walls adjacent to moving
cell zones will automatically be made moving walls and do not need to be declared
as dynamic zones. When enabled for a wall, the Exclude Mesh Motion in Boundary
Conditions option treats the wall in the way release 13.0 and earlier did, preventing
that wall from automatically inheriting motion properties from an adjacent cell
zone (see Rigid Body Motion).
It is important that users familiar with older versions of FLUENT understand
these changes and review the dynamic mesh setup if an older case file is read
into FLUENT 14.5. For cases where a wall moves as part of a moving dynamic
cell zone, it may be necessary to make changes to the setup when an older
case file is read into FLUENT 14.5. An exception to this are cases which use
FLUENT
the FLUENT built-in in-cylinder model. In-cylinder cases set up prior to 14.5
do not require to be changed when run FLUENT 14.5. However, in-cylinder
cases set up new in FLUENT 14.5 will need to be set up according to the new
dynamic mesh guidelines.
Turbulence
The compressibility modification in the k models (see Effects of Compress-
ibility on Turbulence in the k- Models) is used with the real-gas models. It
can be switched off by typing the following commands in the text interface:
(rpsetvar 'real-gas-compressible-turbulence? #f)
(models-changed)
A bug in the scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) turbulence model in FLUENT 13 (all
Service Packs) and FLUENT 14.0 has been fixed in FLUENT 14.5. This bug caused
artificially low eddy viscosity values on non-orthogonal meshes leading to flow
predictions that could differ slightly or significantly from reality.
The default turbulence boundary conditions have been changed. The new defaults
are Turbulent Intensity=5% and Eddy Viscosity Ratio=10. Results may differ for
cases which do not explicitly set turbulence boundary conditions.
The vortex method was adjusted so that identical results (identical synthetic fluc-
tuations) can be obtained in serial and parallel FLUENT.
When using the SAS/DES models, the procedure used to reduce the modeled tur-
bulence directly behind a synthetic turbulence generator at a RANS/LES interface
has been changed from WALE to WMLES. This change can be reverted with the
following command in the text interface:
(rpsetvar 'synthetic-turb/sas-des/adjust-mu_t/sgs-model 1)
Heat Transfer
Improvements have been made to the clustering algorithm in order to avoid the
formation of hot-spots. This applies only to the cluster-to-cluster approach. Surface
clusters created using the face-to-face approach are unaffected. R14 behavior can
be reproduced by using the following command in the text interface:
(rpsetvar 's2s/c2c-cluster-algo 0)
71
Reacting Flow
Changes to the G-Equation combustion model have improved the accuracy of the
flame front tracking, particularly at low CFL numbers.
Multiple fuels for pollutant models can be defined. The functionality of the Fuel
NO
x
and SO
x
models with liquid and solid fuels has been extended; several restric-
tions concerning the fuel N and S sources have been removed. As a result the Fuel
NO
x
model and the SO
x
model setup has changed. Previous version cases with
multiple fuels need to be set up according to the new functionality and rerun (see
Defining the Fuel Streams and Defining the Fuel Streams).
When a PDF file created in Release 14.0 or earlier is read into FLUENT 14.5 the in-
terpolation algorithm is automatically reverted to fourth order interpolation to
match Release 14.0 behavior. You can switch to second order interpolation using
the define/models/species/non-premixed-combustion-expert TUI command which
is significantly faster than fourth order interpolation, but not as robust to converge.
Hence, it is recommended that you also regenerate the PDF table with Automated
Grid Refinement enabled which will yield both a more accurate solution and faster
computations.
There have been changes to the EGR reset functionality. In FLUENT 14.0, the Inert
composition for EGR Reset is determined by the species at specified pressure outlet
boundaries. This has several limitations, including the inability to handle equivalence
ratio fluctuations (that is, only a single inert composition is modeled), temperature
jump on EGR Reset (due to cp changes from different species), and inaccuracies if
the burnt species in the domain differ from the burnt species at the specified EGR
outlets. In FLUENT 14.5, instead of specifying outlet zones for EGR composition in
the Dynamic Mesh Events dialog box, fluid zones are specified. The Inert compos-
ition for EGR reset is calculated as the stoichiometric composition. Lean regions
are set to a mixture of oxidizer and inert, and rich regions are set to a mixture of
fuel and inert. Temperature is unchanged in the EGR reset. This is more accurate
than the FLUENT 14.0 approach (see Resetting Inert EGR).
Eulerian Multiphase Models
In releases prior to FLUENT 14.5, turbulence interaction source terms were included
by default when using the dispersed turbulence model in an Eulerian mutliphase
simulation. In FLUENT 14.5, no turbulence interaction terms are included by default.
A version of the previous turbulence interaction model can be included by selecting
the simonin-et-al model (Including Turbulence Interaction Source Terms in the
FLUENT User's Guide). There is no need to explicitly enable the model if case files
FLUENT
from previous versions are read into FLUENT 14.5. However, the model has been
enhanced so results may differ slightly from previous releases.
The particle relaxation time has been changed to account for the indirect effect of
the virtual mass via the density ratio. This may result in slightly different results in
cases where the density of the primary phase approaches that of the secondary
phase.
FLUENT in Workbench
In order to address certain parametric study limitations involving Cutcell meshes
generated for multi-body parts in Workbench, a Cutcell mesh will now resemble
the mesh topology of other mesh formats once it is imported into FLUENT.
The following behavior changes exist for initializing the solution under Workbench
when compared with FLUENT 14.0.
Initial Data File: a data file provided either by you using the Use Solution Data
from File initialization method, or by an upstream FLUENT solution cell.
Existing Solution Data: solution data from the last simulation.
FLUENT 14.5 FLUENT 14.0
Initialize all design point
solutions using only the Ini-
tial Data File option.
Initialize the solution for the first
design point (DP) using the Initial
Data File option, however, use the
solution for the first design point to
initialize the remaining design points.
If the Initial Data File and the
Existing Solution Data both ex-
If the Initial Data File and the Exist-
ing Solution Data both exist, then
ist, then use Initial Data File to
initialize the solution.
use Existing Solution Data to initial-
ize the solution.
If the data file is not compatible with the available mesh, then FLUENT's de-
fault solution initialization method is used.
Graphics, Reporting, and Postprocessing
Volume integrals using Sum in axi-symmetric simulations do not include multiplic-
ation by 2. This is a change from previous behavior. A new Volume integral,
Sum2Pi (twoPiSum in the TUI), is available which includes the factor of 2.
73
The Display Mesh After Reading option in FLUENT Launcher is no longer enabled
by default. Once you enable it, your selection will be saved for future sessions.
Input/Output
FLUENT data file format for species data has been modified. Species data was
formerly written out as a series of individual blocks of data one for each specie.
This data is now written out as one contiguous block of data. Essentially, the blocks
of species data are now concatenated into a single block.
For example, in R14 the species data for a problem containing 3 species would
have appeared in the data file as follows:
(0 "SV_Y_0, domain 1, cell zone 9 1600 cells:")
(2300 (200 9 1 0 1 1 1600)
(....................))
(2300 (201 9 1 0 1 1 1600)
(....................))
(2300 (202 9 1 0 1 1 1600)
(....................))
In R14.5, the same data appears as:
(0 "SV_Y, domain 1, cell zone 9 1600 cells:")
(2300 (200 9 3 0 1 1 1600)
(...............................................................))
Note the change in the header section from (200 9 1 0 1 1 1600) to
(200 9 3 0 1 1 1600), 3 being the number of species in this example.
If you want to post-process Total Pressure, Total Temperature, or Total Enthalpy in
CFD-Post you must now explicitly include them in the FLUENT data file. CFD-Post
will no longer calculate these total quantities if they are not included in the data
file. Refer to Setting Data File Quantities in the FLUENT User's Guide for details about
how to include these quantities in the data file.
FLUENT
Chapter 2: CFX Release Notes
This section summarizes the new features in ANSYS CFX Release 14.5.
2.1. New Features and Enhancements
2.2. Incompatibilities
New features and enhancements to ANSYS CFX introduced in Release 14.5 are
highlighted in this section.
2.1.1. General Changes to ANSYS CFX
Parallel Processing Enhancements
The following parallel processing improvements have been introduced in ANSYS
CFX:
Reduced communication overhead for radiation cases
Improved solver memory estimates for cases with many face sets
Improved partitioner memory estimates
Windows Distributed Parallel no longer requires rsh
2.1.2. ANSYS CFX-Solver
New features and enhancements to the CFX-Solver introduced in Release 14.5
are highlighted in this section.
Transient Blade Row: Blade Flutter
You can now perform a blade flutter analysis with the new periodic displace-
ment boundary condition (see Mesh Motion below). You can apply the blade
flutter model to a full wheel or use Fourier Transformation for reduced model
size. The following features can be used to perform a blade flutter analysis:
75
You can export mode shapes from modal analysis performed in ANSYS
Mechanical. You can use the Expand Profile Data option in CFX-Pre to rep-
licate a 360 profile. You can use the Initialize Profile Data option to visualize
the imported modal data to ensure that the data from ANSYS Mechanical
is aligned to the in CFX-Pre.
You can specify mode shape, frequency, scale factor, and nodal diameter.
You can set a sliding mesh boundary condition at the shroud by setting
one of the new mesh motion boundary conditions: Parallel to
Boundary or Surface of Revolution.
CFX-Solver can calculate work and power per unit area on the blade. This
can be used to evaluate aeroelastic damping of the applied motion.
Transient Blade Row: Wet Steam
You can now perform a Transient Blade Row Time Transformation analysis
with equilibrium wet steam.
Mesh Motion
Three new mesh motion options have been added to subdomains and
boundary regions:
The Periodic Displacement option allows you to set a transient periodic mesh
motion that repeats itself at a given frequency and has an associated phase offset.
For details, see Periodic Displacement in the CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
The Parallel to Boundary option allows the mesh to slide over an arbitrary
boundary definition, with no component of deformation normal to it. This option
attempts to preserve the geometry of the boundary as defined by its initial mesh.
For details, see Parallel to Boundary in the CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
The Surface of Revolution option allows the mesh to slide over a boundary
definition while maintaining the radial profile defined by the initial boundary
mesh, and the axis of revolution. For details, see Surface of Revolution in the
CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
You can now set the Displacement Relative To option under Mesh Deform-
ation to Initial Mesh. For details, see Displacement Relative To in the
CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
CFX
Transient Results
Transient results can now be output on boundaries only, as a way to reduce
the volume of data output. For details, see Option in the CFX-Pre User's Guide.
Particle Track Output
Two new Particle Tracking Output options have been added to Output
Control:
You can use the Particle Histogram option under the Particles tab of Output
Control to define particle histogram data of track variables on user-specified
boundary patches and/or particle injection regions. For details, see Particle His-
togram in the CFX-Pre User's Guide.
You can also use the Particle Track Data option under the Export Results tab
in Output Control to export a specified list of particle data on specified
boundaries or particle injection regions. For details, see Particles Tab in the CFX-
Pre User's Guide.
Non-ideal Thermodynamic Mixture Properties
For variable composition mixtures and reacting mixtures, the thermodynamic
mixture properties have non-ideal mixture options. For details, see Mixture
Properties Tab in the CFX-Pre User's Guide.
Upgrade to Platform MPI
The CFX-Solver now uses Platform MPI 8.2.1 for parallel solver runs on Windows
and Platform MPI 8.2 for parallel solver runs on Linux.
Callback Functions on Regions
Callback functions on regions now always return conservative values. In previ-
ous versions, hybrid values were sometimes used.
RPI Wall Boiling Model
The RPI Wall Boiling Model is more robust and has additional controls to specify
under-relaxation of wall superheat, consistent under-relaxation of individual
wall heat partition components, and the ability to visualize heat flux split in
CFD-Post. For details, see Wall Boiling Model in the CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
Monitor Location Control
77
New Features and Enhancements
You now have the option to define monitor points at a fixed physical location
for moving geometries . For details, see Monitor Points and Expressions:
[Monitor Name]: Monitor Location Control in the CFX-Pre User's Guide.
2.1.3. ANSYS CFX-Pre
New features and enhancements to CFX-Pre introduced in Release 14.5 are
highlighted in this section.
Profile Geometry Visualization
In the Initializing Profile Data dialog box you can select the Visibility option
to visualize the geometry of the profile shape to ensure that it is correctly
aligned and scaled with the boundaries of the CFD model. You can use the
Render Options dialog box to control the appearance of profile geometries
that were imported from external profile data files. For details, see Render
Options - Profile Geometry in the CFX-Pre User's Guide.
New RPI model settings
The RPI model for near-wall boiling has additional settings. For details, see RPI
Model in the CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
Improved partitioning algorithm
An improved partitioning algorithm for moving mesh cases with moving GGIs
can be enabled by setting the part mmesh intersect option = 1
expert parameter. For details, see Physical Models Parameters in the CFX-
Solver Modeling Guide.
Expand Profile Data
Given an existing profile data file that describes, in Cartesian coordinates, a
section that possesses rotational periodicity around a Rotation Axis, you can
use the Expand Profile Data dialog box to obtain a new profile file that
contains a 360 profile. For details, see Expand Profile Data in the CFX-Pre User's
Guide.
2.1.4. ANSYS CFX Documentation
No organizational or display mechanism changes have been made to the ANSYS
CFX documentation in this release.
CFX
The Air Conditioning Simulation tutorial can be run in parallel. In previous releases,
parallel runs (would have) failed for this tutorial whenever the partition containing
the thermostat was assigned to a slave process. The Fortran subroutine and CCL
expressions have been revised.
The Optimizing Flow in a Static Mixer tutorial now uses a Response Surface Op-
timization system to change the geometry and physics of the static mixer. The
Goal Driven Optimization system, which was used in the previous version of the
tutorial, is not available in ANSYS Workbench 14.5.
This sections highlights differences in the behavior between Release 14.0 and
Release 14.5 of ANSYS CFX.
2.2.1. CFX-Solver
Discretization changes (that affect the converged solution):
Boundary Conditions/GGI Interfaces
To improve performance of mesh motion, changes have been made to defaults in
the mesh motion solution algorithms. These changes produce different results for
many mesh motion cases in the linear solver.
These defaults can be reverted by setting the following expert parameters:
agglomerate algebraic eqns meshdisp = t
solver relaxation meshdisp = 1
File Loading:
Support for ANSYS Meshing Files
When CFX-Pre is run outside of ANSYS Workbench, and when importing or loading
.cmdb or . dsdb files into CFX-Pre, meshes generated with the "Assembly Mesh"
method cannot be read.
Efficiency Calculations
Corrections for Polytropic Efficiencies for Total-to-Static
79
Incompatibilities
Calculation of polytropic efficiencies for the total-to-static option has been fixed
in this release. This will cause results for polytropic efficiencies in prior releases to
differ from the ones in Release 14.5. For details, see Isentropic Efficiency and Total
Enthalpy in the CFX-Solver Modeling Guide.
CFX
Chapter 3: TurboGrid Release Notes
This section summarizes the new features in ANSYS TurboGrid Release 14.5.
New Features and Enhancements
The following is a list of new features and enhancements in ANSYS TurboGrid:
For backwards compatibility, the Release 14.0 topology templates are provided
under names that include the string 140. For example, the updated TEDoubleHer-
ring template, which is stored in the file TEDoubleHerring.tgt, has a corres-
ponding Release 14.0 version, TEDoubleHerring140, which is stored in the file TE-
DoubleHerring140.tgt. Existing state files will automatically use the updated
templates unless you edit them to refer to the Release 14.0 templates.
The topology selection process has been simplified by adding topology families,
which automatically select appropriate topology templates based on the machine
type (if specified) and characteristics of the geometry. The following ATM topology
families are available in Release 14.5:
Single Round Round Symmetric
Single Round Round Refined
Single Round Cutoff Symmetric
Single Round Cutoff Refined
Single Cutoff Round Symmetric
Single Cutoff Cutoff
Single Splitter
ATM Topology Selector
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When using ATM Topology, you can now see which templates were used, both
by name and with a graphical representation. You can also override the default
template selection if other eligible templates are available.
For details, see ATM Choices in the TurboGrid User's Guide.
Region Name Prefix
When writing the mesh to file, you can specify a string of characters that is
prefixed to all mesh region names.
Machine Type Selector
You can specify a machine type. This setting is used by TurboGrid to help
choose appropriate topology templates.
Blade Tip First Element Size Factor
Blade Tip First Element Size Factor linearly scales mesh elements near the
blade tip region so that you can get a better match overall between the rows
of elements just inside and just outside the blade tip region. For details, see
Blade Tip First Element Size Factor in the TurboGrid User's Guide.
The Rotor 37 tutorial now uses ATM topology.
The Steam Stator tutorial now uses ATM topology.
The Radial Compressor tutorial now uses a geometry that contains a splitter blade.
The traditional version of the Axial Fan tutorial contains more teaching points.
For the remaining TurboGrid release notes, see ANSYS TurboGrid in Workbench.
TurboGrid
Chapter 4: ANSYS BladeModeler Release Notes
This section summarizes the new features in BladeModeler Release 14.5. Topics
include:
4.1. BladeGen
4.2. BladeEditor
4.1. BladeGen
BladeGen is a geometry-creation tool for turbomachinery blade rows.
4.1.1. BladeGen New Features and Enhancements
Vista CPD is no longer available from BladeGen, after having moved to Workbench.
For details, see TurboSystem: Vista CPD in the TurboSystem User Guide.
When converting from %Cam to %M-Prime view, the correct blade thickness is
now shown. In previous versions, the blade thickness was reduced by a factor of
two.
4.2. BladeEditor
ANSYS BladeEditor is a plugin for ANSYS DesignModeler for creating, importing,
and editing blade geometry.
4.2.1. BladeEditor New Features and Enhancements
BladeEditor is now supported on Linux platforms.
Camberline/Thickness Definition
If the Angle Definition Type is set to Theta with LE/TE Beta, then you
can control the theta distribution as well as specify the leading and trailing
edge Beta values. For details, see Camberline/Thickness Definition Sub-feature
in the TurboSystem User Guide.
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Blade Comparison
You can now take a snapshot of a blade design so that, as you modify the
current design, you can easily compare it against the snapshot to visualize the
changes you have made. For details, see Blade Comparison in the TurboSystem
User Guide.
In previous versions of BladeEditor, in cases where one or more splitters were
present, a .geo file (produced via the VistaTFExport feature) would contain an
overestimate of the total blade thickness. This has been corrected.
The Centrifugal Compressor tutorial has been replaced by two new tutorials:
Tutorial 1: Blade Editing With Emphasis On Sketches, Layers, and Blade Compar-
ison in the TurboSystem User Guide
Tutorial 2: Blade Editing With Emphasis On Camberline and Thickness Distributions
in the TurboSystem User Guide
A demonstration of blade comparison has been added to the first of these
two tutorials.
BladeModeler
Chapter 5: CFD-Post Release Notes
This chapter summarizes the new features and incompatibilities in CFD-Post Re-
lease 14.5. Topics Include:
Transient Blade Row Post-processing
Transient Blade Row results now include transient statistics such as arithmetic
averages, RMS, and standard deviation.
The timestep selector has been enhanced to read data from a Transient Blade
Row results file. For details, seeUsing the Timestep Selector with Transient
Blade Row Cases in the CFD-Post User's Guide
Export External Data
The Export External Data File action enables you to export your results as
an ANSYS External Data File (.axdt). This file can be imported into the External
Data system, which can be read into a Mechanical application or System
Coupling component system. For details, see Export External Data File in the
CFD-Post User's Guide.
Mapping Success Label
The Mapping Success label indicates the percentage of the ANSYS surface
(.cdb) nodes that have been directly mapped to the CFX boundary surface.
For details, see Mapping Success Label in the CFD-Post User's Guide.
FLUENT Post-processing
Improvements have been made to increase the speed of reading of variable
data from FLUENT cases with multiple domains
85
Quick Animations
The robustness of Quick Animations have been improved by updating only
dependent objects.
Report Selection during Project Update in Workbench
You can choose to reload a pre-selected report template with a project update
in Workbench. For details, see Properties View in the CFX Introduction.
Post-processing for Multi-config CDAT Files
You can now save and post-process cdat files for multi-configuration (IC Engine)
cases. Prior to Release 14.5, only dat files with changing topologies were
supported.
This section describes the operational changes, the procedural changes (actions
that have to be done differently in this release to get an outcome available in
previous releases), and the support changes (functionality that is no longer
supported) in Release 14.5 of CFD-Post.
Operational Changes
CFD-Post may not be able to read state files that contain FLUENT cases, and use
Total Pressure or similar Total variables. These variables are no longer calculated
by CFD-Post, and should be deleted from the state file. To continue using Total
variables in Release 14.5, you need to export them into the file from FLUENT.
Procedural Changes
View Transformation transforms the geometry, without making a copy of the
original object. Previously, View Transformation replicated the object. In order
to keep the original, as well as the copy, you can use Instance Transform.
Support Changes
There are no support changes in this release.
CFD-Post
Chapter 6: POLYFLOW Release Notes
The following sections contain release information for ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5.
6.1. Introduction
6.2. New Features
6.3. Defect Fixes
6.4. Known Limitations
6.1. Introduction
ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 is the fourth version of ANSYS POLYFLOW to be integrated
into ANSYS Workbench. Starting in version 12.1, ANSYS POLYFLOW users were
able to create interlinked systems with geometry, meshing, solution setup, solver
and postprocessing inside ANSYS Workbench, using shared licensing and HPC.
Blow molding and extrusion application-specific versions of ANSYS POLYFLOW
were introduced to allow specific industrial processes to be simulated. With regard
to modeling, two new models were introduced: the volume of fluid (VOF) model
for free surface modeling in a fixed domain; and the discrete ordinates (DO)
model for radiation.
In ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5, the ANSYS Workbench integration, licensing, and
modeling capabilities have been further enhanced to meet the needs of ANSYS
POLYFLOW users.
Note
ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 is installed under ANSYS
Inc\v145\polyflow on Windows and ansys_inc/v145/poly-
flow on Linux platforms.
ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 is available within ANSYS Workbench for
Windows and Linux platforms.
87
6.2. New Features
The new features in ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 are as follows:
ANSYS POLYFLOW allows you to define the normal force and species
concentration at a boundary using a CSV (comma separated variable) file.
ANSYS POLYFLOW allows you to impose a fixed temperature distribution
on moving parts when the mesh superposition technique (MST) is used.
This temperature distribution can vary spatially but cannot change over
time.
ANSYS POLYDATA now allows you to enable and customize a preset
statistical analysis as part of your mixing task, so that you can proceed
directly to postprocessing the results in ANSYS POLYSTAT after the solver
has completed the calculation.
You no longer have to manually revise the definition of the following
environment variables for the circumstances noted, as ANSYS POLYFLOW
will adjust them automatically:
MKL_DISABLE_FAST_MM will automatically be defined with the necessary
option for parallel runs.
PAGESIZE will be automatically set to the correct value for large problems
in the AMF direct solver.
A new method is available for adaptive meshing for contact when using
shell elements. This method refines the fluid mesh as it approaches the
mold based on either the angle between neighboring mold elements or
the local curvature of the mold elements.
This new adaptive method improves upon the existing method that is
based on curvature alone. The curvature computation is based on the
nodes of the mold mesh. When the mold has large elements along an
edge, the curvature is largely underestimated; if only curvature is used
for the adaptive meshing, the resulting fluid elements will be too big to
accurately represent the mold geometry. By also taking into account the
angle between mold elements, the new method can achieve better results
and produce fluids element that are sized to allow close contact.
The algorithm for contact detection has been improved for blow molding
and thermoforming applications that employ a shell model. The new al-
POLYFLOW
gorithm is more robust, and has a user interface that is more straightfor-
ward and requires less input from you. The default settings result in relat-
ively fast computations for contact detection, and are proven to be appro-
priate for many cases of industrial relevance.
POLYDATA and POLYSTAT allow you to save Images of the view displayed
in the graphics display window as a file.
POLYMAT and POLYCURVE allow you save images of the currently dis-
played chart as a file.
POLYSTAT allows you to save animations and series of individual images
of visualized slices or trajectories.
In order to provide faster download times for the application software,
PDF files of the documentation available in the help viewer are not in-
stalled by default, but can be downloaded from ANSYS Customer
Portal (p. xi).
POLYDATA allows you to specify the units when exporting output files
for IGES.
6.3. Defect Fixes
The defect fixes in ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 are as follows:
A fix was introduced to avoid erroneous results of parison programming
if the parison axis is not set to the z direction.
It is now possible to use a data file with a mesh that has a slightly different
topology than the mesh used to create the data file. Note that PMeshes
that are not used in the setup are ignored when the compatibility of the
mesh and data files is checked.
A fix was introduced for optimization, so that the computation of sensit-
ivities does not crash when a decoupled scheme is used.
A fix was introduced for the incremental involvement of moving bound-
aries, such that the solver always performs enough iterations to fully in-
volve the free surfaces.
A fix was introduced to avoid the freezing of POLYFLOW when POLYDATA
is used to convert a set of CSV files.
89
Defect Fixes
A fix was introduced to ensure that CSV files can be transferred from an
upstream POLYFLOW system in Workbench.
It is now possible to combine transport of species (with or without reac-
tion) and VOF in POLYDATA.
A fix was introduced so that temperature results on screw boundaries do
not appear as non-dimensional in CFD-Post.
It is now possible to transfer the latest CSV file from a POLYFLOW sys-
tem that contains a setup with more than one task.
A fix was introduced to ensure that the correct memory requirements are
reported in POLYDIAG when you are using the AMF direct solver.
A fix was introduced so that the postprocessor evaluation of viscous dis-
sipation takes into account the friction along slipping boundaries.
It is now possible to impose species and pressure boundary conditions
through a CSV file.
A fix was introduced to ensure that you cannot define an MST setup with
a variable density in POLYDATA, since this combination is not supported.
A fix was introduced to improve the conversion of CutCell meshes.
A fix was introduced to allow more robust handling of named selections
that do not cover the whole border of the geometry.
A fix was introduced to avoid random crashes of POLYMAT when called
from POLYDATA.
A fix was introduced for shell simulations, so that density can be defined
as a template parameter.
A fix was introduced for the scenario when you are running POLYDATA
on Windows XP, so that importing a material data file does not cause a
crash. Consequently, you no longer need to ensure that the default TEMP
directory is not deeply nested in other directories.
The known limitations for ANSYS POLYFLOW 14.5 are as follows:
POLYFLOW
The Interrupt action in ANSYS Workbench has no effect on an ANSYS POLY-
FLOW solver run.
You cannot perform any actions that modify an ANSYS POLYFLOW system
(e.g., saving or closing a project, duplicating an ANSYS POLYFLOW system)
while an ANSYS POLYFLOW tool is open. In some cases, ANSYS Workbench
will allow such an action, but an error is generated.
CutCell meshes are not compatible with mixing or volume of fluid (VOF)
tasks, viscoelastic flow sub-tasks, contact detection, internal radiation, the
Narayanaswamy model, flow-induced crystallization, or the adaptive
meshing technique. Moreover, the interpolation for the velocity field is
limited: for a pure CutCell mesh, it must be the linear element; for a por-
tion of a CutCell mesh that has been converted into a sliceable mesh, it
can be either the linear element or the mini-element.
Due to some modifications of the contact algorithm to accommodate the
needs of the automatic contact release feature, you may need to make
small revisions to the contact parameters of a blow molding or thermo-
forming problem that was originally set up using version 13.0, in order
to run it using version 14.0 or later.
The boundary conditions for a moving interface that is by definition shared
by two sub-tasks must be modified in the sub-task in which they were
originally defined. Any modification performed in the other sub-task will
not be recorded by POLYDATA.
91
Known Limitations
Part III: ANSYS Electronics Products
Release notes are available for the following ANSYS Electronics products:
Icepak
Chapter 1: Icepak Release Notes
Release 14.5 of the ANSYS Icepak application offers most of the capabilities from
previous releases plus many new features and enhancements.
Introduction (p. 95)
New and Modified Features in ANSYS Icepak 14.5 (p. 95)
1.1. Introduction
ANSYS Icepak 14.5 is a release of ANSYS Icepak that has new features and defect
fixes. New features are listed in the following section of this document.
1.2. New and Modified Features in ANSYS Icepak 14.5
Graphical User Interface
Implemented scale to fit option in the right click menu. See Using the Context
Menus in the Graphics Display Window of the User's Guide.
Implemented rotation around mouse selected point. See Rotating a Model of
the User's Guide.
Implemented 3D mouse functions such as panning and zooming.
Implemented pop-up dialog boxes in all editable fields. See Text Entry of the
User's Guide.
ECAD Import/Export
Implemented display of trace layers in 3D.
Implemented import of die powermaps exported from Apache Sentinel TI. See
Gradient, Cadence, SIwave and Apache Sentinel Powermap Files of the User's
Guide.
95
Implemented export of temperatures, heat flux, and heat transfer coefficients
for packages to Apache Sentinel TI. See Write Sentinel TI HTC File of the User's
Guide.
Implemented import of TSV packages using ECAD files. See Adding a Package
to Your ANSYS Icepak Model of the User's Guide.
Implemented import of stacked die packages that consist of both wirebonds
and solder bumps. See User Inputs for Stacked Die Packages of the User's Guide.
Implemented PCB layer-by-layer specifications. See Adding a PCB to Your ANSYS
Icepak Model of the User's Guide.
Model Import/Export
Implemented simultaneous import of multiple IDF files. See Updating the Impor-
ted IDF File in ANSYS Icepak of the User's Guide.
Implemented one-way coupling between Ansoft (HFSS and Maxwell) and ANSYS
Icepak applications within ANSYS Workbench. Both volumetric and surface
mapping are possible. See Ansoft - Icepak Coupling in Workbench of the User's
Guide.
Modeling and meshing
Implemented radial and tangential conductivity as material property for objects.
See Editing a Solid Material of the User's Guide.
Implemented polygonal block for PCB object. See Adding a PCB to Your ANSYS
Icepak Model of the User's Guide.
Altitude correction of material properties and fan curves is available through the
Altitude option in the Advanced tab of the Basic parameters panel. See Includ-
ing Temperature-Dependent Density Effects of the User's Guide.
Implemented transient heat transfer coefficient boundary condition specification
for the individual sides of blocks. See User Inputs for the Block Surface Specific-
ation of the Users Guide.
Implemented separate solid fill options for object and plane cut meshes in the
Mesh panel. See Displaying the Mesh on Individual Objects of the User's Guide.
Implemented LED source option for block and source objects. See User Inputs
for Thermal specification and Solid and Fluid Blocks of the User's Guide.
Icepak
Implemented temperature dependent option for die power in the package object.
See User Inputs for BGA Packages of the User's Guide.
Implemented new controls for combining size function and per object level in
the mesh panel. See Global Refinement for a Hex-Dominant Mesh and Global
Refinement for a Hexahedral Mesh of the User's Guide.
Implemented additional mesh checks into Icepak. See Hexahedral Meshing Pro-
cedure and Hex-Dominant Meshing Procedure of the User's Guide.
Implemented Wedgelock, Bolt, and Stiffner macros. See Adding PCB Attachments
to Your ANSYS Icepak Model of the User's Guide.
Implemented library of common BGA components in the Libraries tab.
Solving
Writing .fdat and .dat files in transient runs at regular intervals. See User Inputs
for Transient Simulations of the User's Guide.
Implemented running the solver remotely on Linux nodes from Windows using
ssh. See Configuring Remote Linux Nodes of the User's Guide.
Postprocessing and reporting
Implemented option to change legend text. See Using the Context Menus in the
Graphics Display Window of the User's Guide.
Implemented color map data with changed color divisions. See Using the Context
Menus in the Graphics Display Window of the User's Guide.
Thermal resistance variable is available for reporting of heat sink objects. See
Variables Available for Reporting of the User's Guide.
97
New and Modified Features in ANSYS Icepak 14.5
Part IV: ANSYS Geometry & Mesh Prep Products
Release notes are available for the following ANSYS Geometry & Mesh Prep
products:
DesignModeler
Meshing
IC Engine
ICEM CFD
FLUENT Meshing
Chapter 1: DesignModeler Release Notes
This section summarizes the new features in DesignModeler Release 14.5. Topics
include:
1.2. CAD Integration
The following general enhancements have been made in Release 14.5:
Performance Enhancements
Improved performance for large models is the primary focus of this release.
Several enhancements have been made to:
load/save AGDB files faster,
improve performance for geometry import and modeling, and
data transfer between DesignModeler and other Workbench applications.
In addition, the import quality for some previously difficult cases has been im-
proved.
Support for Multiple Geometry Types
The Import/Attach feature now supports two formats for the geometry when
imported:
Workbench
DesignModeler
The Workbench format is native to Workbench applications such as Mechanical
and can be used for faster import while reading geometry from an external CAD
into DesignModeler. The DesignModeler format is the native format used for
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model editing in DesignModeler. Geometry is automatically changed to Design-
Modeler format during modeling, if/when needed.
For more information, see Geometry Representations (DesignModeler Help>
Geometry Representations) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Conversion Feature for Manual Conversion
A new Conversion feature is available to convert selected bodies from Workbench
geometry type to DesignModeler geometry type. This tool also supports healing
and cleaning options to repair faults in the geometry.
For more information, see Conversion (DesignModeler Help> 3D Modeling>
Advanced Features and Tools> Conversion) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Visualization and Suppression Controls for Named Selections
The Named Selection feature now supports additional visualization controls,
including, options to hide/show, and suppress/unsuppress entities associated
with the selection.
For more information, see Named Selection Suppress/Hide Body and Face
(DesignModeler Help> Menus> Context Menus> Named Selection Suppress/Hide
Body and Face) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Base Plane Support for Point and Curve Features
The From Coordinates File option of the Point and Curve features now supports
base plane selection to allow appropriate orientation of the input data.
For more information, see Point (DesignModeler Help> 3D Features> Point ) and
3D Curve (DesignModeler Help> 3D Modeling> Concept Menu> 3D Curve) in
the DesignModeler User Guide.
Plane Definition from a Centroid of Selections
A planes origin can now be specified by centroid of an arbitrary selection set.
More Intuitive Move and Align
The Body Operation feature now supports two new move types, i) by vertices
and ii) by direction. New move types offer intuitive options to move geometry
DesignModeler
to a desired location and align it to an existing geometry. Existing entities (ver-
tices) of the geometry can be selected to indicate translation, rotation, and plane
alignment.
For more information, see Body Operation (DesignModeler Help> 3D Modeling>
Advanced Features and Tools> Body Operation) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Slice Operation after Share Topology
The Slice operation can be applied after Share Topology. This helps ensure
proper connectivity while performing geometry decomposition.
For more information, see Slice (DesignModeler Help> 3D Modeling> Advanced
Features and Tools> Slice) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Operation Type Property Enhancement
The default setting of the Operation Type property for the Attach to Active CAD
Geometry and Import External Geometry File options has been changed from
Add Material to Add Frozen. This is done to enhance the effectiveness of the
multiple geometry types described above, and helps to avoid unnecessary Boolean
operations while generating the model.
For more information, see Attach to Active CAD Geometry (DesignModeler Help>
Menus> File Menu> Attach to Active CAD Geometry) and Import External Geo-
metry File (DesignModeler Help> Menus> File Menu> Import External Geometry
File) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Shrink / Expand Face Selection
Using the Expand Face Selection and Shrink Face Selection features, you can
now select adjacent faces from a model and hide all the other faces. In addition,
the hot key support has been added to enhance its usability. Ctrl+ + (positive
key) is now equivalent to Expand Face Selection and Crtl+ - (negative key) is
now equivalent to Shrink Face Selection.
For more information, see Expand/Shrink Face Selection (DesignModeler Help>
Selection> Selection Toolbar> Expand/Shrink Face Selection) in the DesignModeler
User Guide.
103
General Enhancements
Model Units and Large Model Support in Details View
The Details section of the Details View in Modeling Mode has been expanded
to include Model Units and Large Model Support fields to show whether it is
turned on or off.
For more information, see Details (DesignModeler Help> 3D Modeling> Details
View in Modeling Mode> Details) in the DesignModeler User Guide.
Face Selection Support for Axis of Rotation
For features which can define a rotation axis, the axis input can now be specified
by selecting a face. This option is available for cylindrical, elliptical, toroidal, and
conical faces. Axis is defined using the central axis of the surface.
Preview Circle for Feedback on Sizes
A preview circle is displayed to give feedback on gap or size for features that
use ranges, gaps or sizes. This can be used to help identify the proper gap/size
during modeling.
1.2. CAD Integration
The following general enhancements have been made in Release 14.5:
Cancel Option for Contact Detection
An option is now available to cancel automatic contact detection during the
detection process.
Smart Update Support for CAD Systems
PTC Creo and Autodesk Inventor now support smart update. Smart update sup-
port for Siemens NX has been dropped.
SpaceClaim Plug-In/Add-In Modes
Users of ANSYS SpaceClaim Direct Modeler may now choose whether they wish
to operate SpaceClaim as a Workbench add-in (add-in mode) or as a traditional
CAD plug-in (plug-in mode).
DesignModeler
Geometry Interfaces Update for New CAD Releases
Geometry interfaces are updated to support new CAD releases including:
Autodesk Inventor 2013
ACIS 22
CATIA V56R2012 (Spatial reader only)
Creo Elements/Pro (Pro/ENGINEER) Creo Parametric 2.0
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling 18.1
Parasolid 24.1
SolidWorks 2012
For more information, see CAD Integration.
105
CAD Integration
Chapter 2: Meshing Application Release Notes
This release of the Meshing application contains many new features and enhance-
ments. Areas where you will find changes and new capabilities include the fol-
lowing:
2.1. Resuming Databases from Previous Releases
2.3. Assembly Meshing Changes and Enhancements
2.4. Fracture Meshing
2.5. MultiZone Quad/Tri Mesh Method Enhancements
2.6. MultiZone Mesh Method Enhancements
2.7. Local Size Control Enhancements
2.9. ANSYS ICEM CFD Workbench Component
2.1. Resuming Databases from Previous Releases
Note the following when resuming databases from previous releases:
Models created in versions of ANSYS older than ANSYS 14.5 that have a MultiZone
mesh method defined on them will be resumed in ANSYS 14.5 with the Surface
Mesh Method set to Uniform so that the mesh is similar to what it was in previous
versions.
Models created in versions of ANSYS older than ANSYS 14.5 that have a Uniform
Quad/Tri mesh method defined on them will be resumed in ANSYS 14.5 as a Mul-
tiZone Quad/Tri mesh method with the Surface Mesh Method set to Uniform so
that the mesh is similar to what it was in previous versions.
Models created in versions of ANSYS older than ANSYS 14.5 that have a Uniform
Quad mesh method defined on them will be resumed in ANSYS 14.5 as a MultiZone
Quad/Tri mesh method with the Surface Mesh Method set to Uniform, and the
107
Free Face Mesh Type set to All Quad. This is done so that the mesh is similar to
what it was in previous versions.
Note
In the latter two cases, the Method control that appears in the Details
View will be set to MultiZone Quad/Tri, but the old mesh method
name (Uniform Quad/Tri Method or Uniform Quad Method) will appear
in the Tree Outline. To avoid confusion, it may be helpful to force the
software to rename the mesh method object in the Tree Outline. To
do so, set Method to a different value (for example, Quadrilateral
Dominant) and then reset Method to MultiZone Quad/Tri. In some
cases, you may also see messages containing references to the old
mesh method names. The names in the messages will be updated to
the new names if/when you re-mesh.
In Release 14.5, a new annotation preference, Plot Elements Attached to Named
Selections, replaces the Show Mesh object property in the Details view of the
Named Selections folder object. This option is off by default, so you will not
automatically see the mesh elements when you select a Named Selection.
Changes in Release 14.5 affect mesh interface handling during export to ANSYS
FLUENT. For this reason, you may receive an error message after resuming a
Release 14.0 project in which a mesh generated in the Meshing application was
exported to ANSYS FLUENT. Specifically, when you try to Update the Mesh cell,
you may receive an error message indicating the mesh file exporter failed. To
correct the problem, you can Reset the Mesh cell, define the mesh sizes and
controls, and then Update the Mesh cell.
2.3. Assembly Meshing Changes and Enhancements
The following assembly meshing changes and enhancements have been made
at Release 14.5:
Assembly meshing supports the Polyflow solver (Solver Preference is set to
POLYFLOW).
Meshing
Meshes generated using assembly meshing are not supported for Mechanical
solvers. If you try to use a Mechanical solver to solve an analysis of an assembly
mesh, the solution is blocked and an error message is issued. To proceed using a
Mechanical solver, you must first deactivate assembly meshing (set Method to
None) and then regenerate the mesh.
If you connect a Mesh component system to an analysis system and the mesh file
contains an assembly mesh, using Update requires that the mesh file be an ANSYS
FLUENT mesh file (*.msh) for it to be consumed by the downstream system's solver.
In cases where two parts/bodies overlap in space, the Intersection Feature Creation
control determines whether the intersection between faces is computed. When
activated, Intersection Feature Creation computes additional feature edges to
be respected during the snapping that occurs within assembly meshing. Activating
this feature is very useful for avoiding zigzag boundaries at an intersection, because
it ensures that the real intersection lines are respected. However, this operation
can be computationally expensive, so you should de-activate it if you have many
non-intersecting bodies in the model.
In the CutCell inflation algorithm, inflation layers are grown into the CutCell mesh.
The volume mesh is morphed so the boundary of the CutCell mesh matches the
cap of the inflation. The value set for the new Morphing Frequency control de-
termines how often the morphing is repeated.
2.4. Fracture Meshing
The Meshing application supports fracture meshing capabilities enabling you to
insert multiple surface cracks into a mesh. These fracture meshes can then be
used to analyze crack fonts in static structural analyses.
2.5. MultiZone Quad/Tri Mesh Method Enhancements
At Release 14.5, the functionality of the Uniform Quad/Tri and Uniform Quad
mesh methods has been combined into a single mesh method called MultiZone
Quad/Tri. The Uniform Quad mesh method has been retired. In its place, use the
MultiZone Quad/Tri mesh method with Free Face Mesh Type set to All Quad.
The following enhancements have been made in support of MultiZone Quad/Tri:
The new Surface Mesh Method option enables you to choose between a uniform
recursive loop-splitting method and a paving mesh method which creates a good
quality mesh on faces with high curvature, and also when neighboring edges have
a high aspect ratio.
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MultiZone Quad/Tri Mesh Method Enhancements
The new Free Face Mesh Type option enables you to choose between a mesh of
pure quad, pure tri, or a combination of quad/tri elements.
MultiZone Quad/Tri supports the Advanced Size Function.
MultiZone Quad/Tri supports the Behavior option for sizing controls.
MultiZone Quad/Tri supports the Inflation Algorithm control.
2.6. MultiZone Mesh Method Enhancements
The following MultiZone mesh method enhancements have been made at Release
14.5:
MultiZone meshing between the inflation layer and the swept/hex mesh has been
improved. When you use the Smooth Transition option with MultiZone meshing,
the local last inflation height of the O-Grid edge is now calculated, instead of a
local initial height calculated as a constant.
The new Surface Mesh Method option enables you to choose between a uniform
recursive loop-splitting method and a paving mesh method which creates a good
quality mesh on faces with high curvature, and also when neighboring edges have
a high aspect ratio.
Side face handling in MultiZone meshing has been improved. These improvements
include several situations where MultiZone could not properly submap side faces
into mappable regions required for a valid swept mesh. In these cases MultiZone
is more robust.
MultiZone supports the Advanced Size Function.
MultiZone supports the Behavior option for sizing controls.
2.7. Local Size Control Enhancements
The following local size control enhancements have been made at Release 14.5:
The new Bias Option drop-down menu provides better biasing options for edge
meshing by enabling you to set the following options:
Bias Factor. Defines the ratio of the largest edge to the smallest edge.
Smooth Transition. Defines the growth rate for the smooth transition.
Meshing
The MultiZone Quad/Tri and MultiZone mesh methods now support the Behavi-
or option for body, edge, and face sizing.
The following ease of use enhancements have been made at Release 14.5. These
enhancements are available in both the Mechanical application and the Meshing
application:
The new Object Generator enables you to make one or more copies of a template
object, scoping each to a different piece of geometry. When defining mesh controls,
you can use the Object Generator to make copies of a template mesh control,
which may reduce the necessity to manually define multiple related mesh controls.
You can use the new Mesh Visibility option to determine whether the mesh is
automatically displayed when the Mesh object is selected in the Tree Outline
(Automatic), or if it is displayed only when you toggle it on via the Show Mesh
button (Manual). Using the Manual setting and toggling off Show Mesh allows
you access to mesh controls without the mesh having to be drawn.
Section plane creation has been improved. Dynamic section plane editing is disabled
by default, but you can activate it by toggling a button in the Section Planes
window. Section planes now also remain activated over geometry and mesh views
thus cutting out operation times in re-activation.
For complex models with large trees, you can create tags to mark objects in the
tree with meaningful labels and then use the tags to filter the tree to include only
relevant data.
Using the Manage Views window, you can create and manage multiple model
views, each containing an orientation and zoom level.
2.9. ANSYS ICEM CFD Workbench Component
ANSYS ICEM CFD provides advanced geometry acquisition, mesh generation,
and mesh optimization tools used especially in engineering applications such
as computational fluid dynamics and structural analysis.
You can now use the ICEM CFD Workbench component to export Geometry and
Mesh data into ICEM CFD using any of the following methods:
Double-click the ICEM CFD system template in the Toolbox.
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ANSYS ICEM CFD Workbench Component
Drag-and-drop the ICEM CFD system template onto the Project Schematic.
Choose File>Import or click the Import button from ANSYS Workbench and
select a file of type .cdb.
Right-click on a Geometry project and select Transfer Data to New> ICEM
CFD.
For more information about the ICEM CFD System Component, see Component
Systems in the ANSYS Workbench User Guide.
For detailed information on working with ICEM CFD, see the online documentation
available under the Help menu within ICEM CFD.
Meshing
Chapter 3: IC Engine Release Notes
The IC Engine Analysis System is a customized tool that automates many of the
required steps for setting up and simulating the flow inside internal combustion
engines with moving geometry. It is used to examine the flow rate, swirl and
tumble, and other flow parameters during the engine cycle. The IC Engine system
uses ANSYS DesignModeler and ANSYS Meshing for geometry decomposition
and meshing steps of the simulation. The ANSYS Fluent solver for fluid flow
analysis and ANSYS CFD-Post is used for postprocessing. In this release IC Engine
System supports port flow simulation along with the cold flow simulation. Also,
the IC System is now available on Linux. The new features in this release are:
IC Engine System Properties
Option to choose the type of simulation: cold flow and port flow.
Geometry
Support of geometry preparation for port flow analysis.
Automatic insertion of cylinder decomposition planes.
Complete support for parametric study of cold flow and port flow geometries.
Meshing
Support of automatic meshing for port flow geometries.
Complete support for parametric study of cold flow and port flow geometries.
Solver
Automatic solver setup for port flow simulation.
Automatic tumble and swirl calculations.
Support for parametric study of cold flow and port flow geometries.
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Support for starting cold flow simulation from any crank angle.
Report
Tabular view of contours at different crank angles and/or at different parameters.
Ability to include user generated images in the report.
Usability Improvements
Flexible definition of post processing images.
Automatic view setting in ANSYS Meshing and in cut plane view.
IC Engine
Chapter 4: ICEM CFD Release Notes
This section summarizes the new features in ICEM CFD Release 14.5. Topics in-
clude:
4.1. Highlights of ANSYS ICEM CFD 14.5
4.2. Key New Features/Improvements
4.3. Documentation
4.1. Highlights of ANSYS ICEM CFD 14.5
Release 14.5 development efforts included enhancement of ANSYS ICEM CFD as
a standalone application as well as continued development of its underlying
technology exposed within the ANSYS Workbench-based Meshing application.
Specific enhancements are outlined in the following sections.
4.2. Key New Features/Improvements
ANSYS ICEM CFD 14.5 includes the following new features and improvements:
4.2.1. Workbench Add-In Component
4.2.2. General
4.2.3. Prism Meshing
4.2.4. Blocking
4.2.5. Ogrid Smooth Transition
4.2.1. Workbench Add-In Component
The ICEM CFD component system enables you to launch ICEM CFD from ANSYS
Workbench and use it to build a project using upstream data from Geometry, Mesh,
or combined Geometry and Mesh system components, and to use ICEM CFD to
provide data to downstream component systems, such as ANSYS FLUENT, ANSYS
CFX, ANSYS POLYFLOW, and FE Modeler.
The data-integrated ICEM CFD interface has been modified to provide additional
functionality that enhances the integration of ICEM CFD and Workbench. These
menu options include:
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Save Project: Saves the entire project, including Workbench data.
Refresh Project: Refreshes the upstream data in the ICEM CFD project.
Update Project: Brings the entire ICEM CFD system up to the most current status,
including upstream and downstream data.
Start Replay Recording: Begins recording the commands needed to generate
the block topology model. All of the steps in the mesh development process are
recorded, including blocking, mesh size, edge meshing, boundary condition
definition, and final mesh generation.
You can also click on the arrow to choose Pause Replay Recording, Run
Replay File, or Delete Replay File.
Output Mesh: All the previous output formats are still available under the output
tab, but within the Workbench environment, this pull-down provides and easy
way to generate an output file for FLUENT, CFX, or POLYFLOW projects. If this
file is not generated while in the FLUENT session, the FLUENT system will go out
of date when a solver is connected via the Workbench schematic. Updating the
system in the Workbench schematic will prompt FLUENT to automatically produce
the correct file in batch mode. If the output file is generated while in ICEM CFD,
it will already be available when the appropriate solver system is connected and
no update will be necessary.
You can also create and set input and output parameters using the Workbench
component and the data-integrated FLUENT interface. Setting Input and Output
parameters in Workbench enables you to pass parameters to ICEM CFD and other
downstream analysis tools. The interaction of parameters between applications
provides you with greater flexibility and capabilities to run optimization and what-
if scenarios.
4.2.2. General
Temporary Directory Setting
A new setting, Temporary Directory, is available under Settings > General to
define a temporary directory where ICEM CFD data files are written. To define
the location, list the path of an existing directory using UNIX notation (for ex-
ample, c:/users/temp instead of c:\users\temp). If the directory does
not exist, ICEM CFD will not create it.
ICEM CFD
4.2.3. Prism Meshing
A new Global Prism setting, Advanced Prism Meshing Parameters > Interpolate
Heights applies to prisms whose initial height is set to 0. When active, it will inter-
polate prism initial heights between prisms of set initial height. For instance, you
can set heights on the perimeter curves and the interior surface heights will be
interpolated across the surface. If this option is off, and the initial height is set to
0, the size of the triangle is used to calculate an initial height that will result in a
smooth transition between the last prism and the tetra volume mesh.
4.2.4. Blocking
The Blocking > Worst option has been changed to Blocking > Find Worst blocks
(range). You can now set the number of worst blocks to display by clicking on
Settings and choosing Meshing Options > Hexa Meshing, then setting a numer-
ical value for Find Worst. The default setting is 1-3, but you can choose any range
(for example, 2-5 or 1-9). The worst blocks are listed by their determinant values
and are shown in red in the model.
4.2.5. Ogrid Smooth Transition
The Ogrid smooth transition provides a smooth transition from the offset layer
to interior layers. This option uses transfinite interpolation to prevent intermediate
unprojected Ogrid splits from adversely affecting the smoothness of the mesh.
4.3. Documentation
All documentation for ANSYS ICEM CFD Release 14.5 including several tutorials
is accessible using the Help menu. Please visit the ANSYS ICEM CFD website for
more information.
4.3.1. Tutorials
To access tutorials and their input files on the ANSYS Customer Portal, go to ht-
tp://support.ansys.com/training. The Customer Portal also contains links for
training, for hard copies of the Tutorial manual, or for PDF format copies of the
tutorials.
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Documentation
Chapter 5: FLUENT Meshing Release Notes
The following sections contain release information for ANSYS FLUENT Meshing
Release 14.5:
5.1. New Features
5.1. New Features
FLUENT now includes an integrated volume mesher that you can use to create
high-quality unstructured grids from within FLUENT in the meshing mode. (ANSYS
FLUENT Meshing User Guide). The meshing mode in FLUENT comprises former
TGrid meshing capabilities integrated within the FLUENT solver along with sev-
eral new features, including support for importing CAD models using the CAD
readers or associative geometry interfaces (via plug-ins), a new meshing workflow,
improved prism meshing, enhancements to many existing features, and improved
robustness through defect fixes.
To start the meshing mode in ANSYS FLUENT, select Meshing Mode in FLUENT
Launcher or type fluent 3d -meshing at the Command Prompt.
User Experience
The following enhancements have been made:
The Mode toolbar contains the Switch to Solution button, which allows you
to switch from meshing mode to solution mode. You can thus, transfer all data
to the solver directly when the meshing process is complete.
You can alternatively use the switch-to-solution-mode command
to switch to the solution mode.
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The meshing capabilities are available in a single frame graphical user interface.
You can switch between embedded and detached graphics windows.
Note
When embedded graphics windows are used on Linux systems,
there may be issues with multiple entity selections made in
quick succession, resulting in messages indicating that the ap-
plication is busy.
A new graphics clipping tool has been added to allow you to interactively clip
the displayed mesh.
CAD Import
You can import CAD models using the CAD readers or associative geometry inter-
faces (via plug-ins).
Supported formats include:
ANSYS Workbench formats: *.agdb, *.meshdat, *.mechdat
ANSYS legacy formats: *.cmdb, *.dsdb, ICEM CFD (*.tin), GAMBIT (*.dbs)
Standard/Free CAD formats: IGES (*.igs, *.iges), STEP (*.stp, *.step), ACIS (*.sat,
*.sab), Parasolid (*.x_t, *.xmt_txt, *.x_b, *.xmt_bin)
Licensed Readers: Autodesk Inventor (*.ipt, *.iam), CATIA V4 (*.model, *.exp,
*.session, *.dlv), CATIA V5 (*.CATPart, *.CATProduct), Creo Parametric (*.prt,
*.asm), JTOpen (*.jt), NX (*.prt), SolidWorks (*.sldprt, *.sldasm)
Plug-ins: AutoCAD (*.dwg, *.dxf ), , Autodesk Inventor (*.ipt, *.iam), CATIA V5
(*.CATPart, *.CATProduct), Creo Parametric (*.prt, *.asm), Creo Elements/Direct
Modeling (*.pkg, *.bdl, *.ses, *.sda, *.sdp, *.sdac, *.sdpc), NX (*.prt), SolidWorks
(*.sldprt, *.sldasm), SpaceClaim (*.scdoc), Solid Edge (*.par, *.asm, *.psm,
*.pwd)
Non-CAD formats: STL (*.stl)
Native format: PMDB (Part Manager Database, *.pmdb)
Advanced options can be specified to use tessellation refinement parameters,
specify units, import part/body names/Named Selections, etc.
FLUENT Meshing
The conformal tessellation options allow you to produce size function driven,
CFD-ready mesh upon import, for single and multibody parts.
Objects will be created for each body/part during import.
Reading Files
The following enhancements have been made:
You can import FLUENT case (.cas) files and maintain all the FLUENT controls
within the meshing mode, as well as during transfer to solution mode.
You can read in polyhedral meshes and perform selected operations like dis-
playing the polyhedral mesh, performing limited mesh manipulation operations,
checking the mesh quality on the polyhedral cells.
Object Based Meshing Workflow
A new object based meshing workflow has been introduced:
Object definition:
Object definition has been modified to include edge zones.
Objects can be of type geometry, wrap, or mesh.
Object manipulation operations like deleting objects optionally including
face and edge zones, merging geometry objects, extracting edges from faces
comprising the object, separating faces comprising the object, etc. are
available.
A capping surface tool allows you to cap inlets/outlets based on edge or node
selection, and assign the appropriate name and zone type.
Size functions (previously used only for surface remeshing and CutCell meshing)
can be used for the object wrapping and sewing operations.
Object Wrapping:
The object wrapping operation allows you to create a good quality, well-
connected representation of each topological body.
The cut-wrap method uses the CutCell mesher to create the wrap object.
This method usually yields higher quality and better feature capturing.
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New Features
The shrink-wrap method uses the wrapper utility to create the wrap object.
This method allows you to walk over unnecessary features.
The following options are available:
For each geometry object, a conformal surface mesh suitable for further
repair operations or as the final surface mesh can be created (Individual
Object Surfaces).
Multiple solids can be merged into one and any interior voids and faces
can be ignored to simplify the geometry (Unified Solid Surface).
The flow volume can be extracted using a material point to identify the
wetted region comprising the flow volume (Fluid Surface).
Gaps between the wrap objects and/or thicknesses within a wrap object can
be removed.
Sewing:
The Sewing operation allows you to create a good quality, conformal surface
mesh ready for volume meshing by connecting the individual wrap objects
into a single mesh object. This operation is typically used for conjugate heat
transfer problems or models including porous media volumes.
A face zone group is automatically created when a mesh object is created
using the Sew operation. This allows easy selection of mesh object face zones
for various operations (improve, smooth, etc.).
The surface mesh resulting from the sewing operation is topology-verified
and normals are appropriately oriented for prism meshing.
The surface mesh quality can be improved further based on skewness, size
change, aspect ratio, or area.
Volume Mesh:
You can select a mesh object along with material point(s) and generate the
volume mesh (prism+tetrahedra, prism+hexcore) using the Auto Mesh options.
The cleanup operation cleans up the mesh for transfer to the solution mode
by removing unnecessary entities and renaming the zones as appropriate.
FLUENT Meshing
Prism Meshing
The following prism meshing enhancements have been made:
The post ignore operation allows you to remove bad prism cells and stacks
around them based on various criteria like quality, intersection, interior warp,
and features.
In cases where prism quality is adequate, but the quality of adjacent tetrahedra
is poor, you can create a cavity comprising the tetrahedral cells and (optionally)
the adjacent prism cells. The cavity can then be remeshed to improve quality.
For mesh objects, additional options are available to separate and select
boundary zones that correspond to the walls for which inflation layers are to
be created.
CutCell Meshing
The following CutCell meshing enhancements have been made:
You can select geometry or wrap objects along with material point(s) and
generate the CutCell mesh.
The objects defined include the corresponding edges which are used for cap-
turing features during the CutCell mesh generation. If you are starting from an
earlier setup, you need to use the options in the Manage Objects dialog box
to add the appropriate edge zones to the object before proceeding.
A group is created for the face zones of each fluid cell zone. You can use this
group for example, to determine the face zones for which prism meshing
parameters are to be specified.
Miscellaneous Enhancements
A faster face-face proximity size function algorithm replaces the earlier proximity
size function algorithm.
A new option allows you to create default size functions based on face and
edge curvature and proximity.
The Check Quality option allows you to verify the quality of the mesh before
transferring the mesh data to solution mode or writing out the mesh/case file.
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New Features
If you read a case file in meshing mode and then change to solution mode, you
must read the case file in again in solution mode before attempting to read in a
data file.
A case file written from meshing mode and read in solution mode may not support
previously saved data files.
In Workbench, if you read a case file into Meshing mode and then change to
Solution mode, only the mesh information will be transferred.
FLUENT Meshing
Part V: ANSYS Simulation Products
Release notes are available for the following ANSYS Simulation products:
Workbench
EKM
DesignXplorer
Chapter 1: Workbench Release Notes
The ANSYS Workbench platform offers many new features and enhancements.
Areas where you will find changes and new capabilities include the following:
1.1. ANSYS Workbench 14.5
1.2. Engineering Data Workspace Release Notes
1.3. External Data Release Notes
1.4. FE Modeler Release Notes
1.5. Remote Solve Manager (RSM) Release Notes
1.6. System Coupling
1.7. TurboSystem Release Notes
1.1. ANSYS Workbench 14.5
Enhancements have been made to the following ANSYS Workbench areas:
1.1.1. Design Point Enhancements
1.1.2. User Interface Enhancements
1.1.3. Licensing Enhancements
1.1.4. Tighter Integration Between ANSYS Workbench and EKM
1.1.5. Incompatibilities
1.1.1. Design Point Enhancements
Full Project Update for Exported Design Points
When you update design points for which the Exported option is selected,
Workbench now performs a full update of all cells and systems so that the project
resulting from the export is fully independent and up to date.
For more information, see Activating and Exporting Design Points and dpall
Subdirectory and Working with Design Points in the Workbench User Guide.
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Specify Maximum Number Jobs for Design Point Updates via Remote
Solve Manager
For design point updates submitted to Remote Solve Manager, a new Specify
Maximum Number of Jobs option is available for the Solution cell Job Submis-
sion property. When you select this option, design points are divided into groups
and submitted in multiple jobs, up to the specified maximum number of jobs.
The Maximum Number of Jobs property is also enabled, allowing you to specify
the maximum number of jobs that can be created.
For more information, see Updating Design Points via Remote Solve Manager
(RSM) in the Workbench User Guide.
Default Changed for Restarting the Mechanical and Meshing Applic-
ations During a Design Point Update
The defaults for the options During a design point update, periodically restart
the Mechanical application and During a design point update, periodically
restart the Meshing application have been changed. These options will now
restart the Mechanical (or Meshing) applications after every design point update
unless changed by the user. The new defaults provide better performance for
design point updates in computationally intensive solutions.
For more information, see Mechanical in the Workbench User Guide.
1.1.2. User Interface Enhancements
New Add/Edit Note Option
The Add/Edit Note option, available by right-clicking inside a Project Schematic,
system or cell, displays an editable panel where you can enter notes about the
project schematic, system, or cell. There is no limit to the amount of text you
can type into a note; as you type, the panel increases in length. You can also
edit an existing note by editing the Notes field in the Properties table, or by
left- or right-clicking on the green triangle in the upper right corner of a system
or cell. To close the note, click outside the panel. To delete a note, delete the
text within the panel or from the Properties view.
The content of notes are also included in project reports.
Workbench
For more information, see Common Context Menu Options in the Workbench
User Guide.
New ANSYS Logo Appearance Option
The Appearance section of the Options dialog includes a new ANSYS Logo
option. This option allows you to specify the color or disable the display of the
ANSYS logo on application windows. Available options are White, Black, and Off.
For more information, see Appearance in the Workbench User Guide.
New Space Claim Interaction Mode Option
The Geometry Import section of the Workbench Options dialog includes a new
Use SpaceClaim Direct Modeler as an External Cad option that allows you to
specify the interaction mode for the SpaceClaim application. When you select
this option, SpaceClaim is controlled as an External CAD system, with no direct
integration into the Project Schematic. When you leave the option deselected,
SpaceClaim is fully integrated into the Project Schematic as a geometry editor.
For more information, see Geometry Import in the Workbench User Guide.
Help Menu Links to the ANSYS Customer Portal
The ANSYS Workbench Help menu now has new links to the ANSYS Customer
Portal, providing you with more convenient access to online support and docu-
mentation from the Workbench interface.
For more information, see ANSYS Customer Portal.
1.1.3. Licensing Enhancements
License HPC Parametric Packs for Design Point Studies
ANSYS, Inc. now offers license options called HPC Parametric Packs for ANSYS
Workbench jobs requiring multiple design point updates. HPC Parametric Packs
enable you to simultaneously update multiple design points of a single design
study while using only a single license of each required base license. You must
use the new reserved license feature to use HPC Parametric Pack licenses. For
more information, see Using HPC Parametric Pack Licenses in the Workbench
User Guide.
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ANSYS Workbench 14.5
License Tracking and Reserve Capability for Design Point Studies
ANSYS Workbench users can now track license usage and then reserve specific
licenses for use during a design point study. License usage is automatically
tracked for any cell in a Workbench project when that cell is updated; however,
the application used by that cell needs to be closed for the license usage to be
tracked. To see which licenses were used for any cell, see the Last Update Used
Licenses field in the Properties table for that cell after its been updated. We
recommend that you first do a test run of your study with only one or few design
points and review the usage data so that you know which licenses need to be
reserved to complete the study. You can then reserve the necessary licenses
when you run the actual design point study. To reserve licenses, use the License
Checkout field from the Properties table of the Parameter Set bus bar. License
tracking is available for any project in Workbench, but reserving licenses is ap-
plicable only to design point studies. For more information, see Reserving Licenses
for a Design Point Update in the Workbench User Guide.
1.1.4. Tighter Integration Between ANSYS Workbench and
EKM
Version Control for Workbench Projects Saved to EKM Repository
Version control is now available for ANSYS Workbench Projects saved to an EKM
repository. The Access control menu in the Workbench EKM dialog now offers
two new options: Get Exclusive Control and Place under Version Control.
The Get Exclusive Control option gives you exclusive control of the project,
preventing other users from editing it.
The Place under Version Control option allows you to place the project under
version control so that it can only be checked out and edited by one user at
a time. Once a project is under version control, you can check it out of the
repository if you have permissions to the project and the project is not locked
or checked out by another user. You can also update your local copy of the
project with recent changes to the repository version of the project.
Once you have checked out a project, you can send changes to the repository
version of the project. When saving changes to the repository, you have the
option of keeping the project checked out, checking the project back in, or
checking the project in and then checking it back out. The version of the project
is updated upon check in.
Workbench
Note that once a project has been saved with either of these settings, the settings
cannot be changed from the Workbench user interface.
For more information, see Working with ANSYS Workbench and EKM in the
Workbench User Guide.
Improved Performance for Send and Get Transfers
Send and Get transfers from Workbench to EKM have been reworked for improved
efficiency.
1.1.5. Incompatibilities
There are the following changes in behavior in Release 14.5.
The "My Processes" View in EKM Becomes the "My Processes" Folder
In the Release 14.0 version of EKM, "My Processes" was just a view that showed
all processes created by the current user in any folder.
In Release 14.5, "My Processes" is a standard Windows folder (just as "My Reports"
and "My Saved Queries" are) and is the default location for the storing of any
process. Of course, you can still store processes elsewhere.
As a consequence of the change, the process objects created in Release 14.0 will
still exist in their original location, but will not appear in the new "My Processes"
folder.
Migration Affects Saved Search Queries
After migration from EKM 14.0 to 14.5, the search criterion for a saved query will
have been changed from "Contains" to "Equal To". This causes the query to fail.
You need to manually change the search criterion back to "Contains" in EKM
14.5.
1.2. Engineering Data Workspace Release Notes
The following new material models are now available in Engineering Data:
Shape Memory Alloy- This material model is always available for Static Structural
and Transient Structural analyses. Available for Modal, Linear Buckling, Random
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Engineering Data Workspace Release Notes
Vibration and Response Spectrum analyses when performed using linear perturba-
tion.
Superelasticity
Shape Memory Effect
Hyperelastic Material Models- These material models are available for Static Struc-
tural and Transient Structural analyses.
Ogden Compressible Foam Hyperelastic Material
Extended Tube
Special Hyperelastic Material Models
Mullins Effect (an extension to existing nearly and fully incompressible existing
hyperelastic models to model softening or damage)
Enthalpy property is available for Transient Thermal analysis.
Material Damage - These damage models are available for Static Structural and
Transient Structural analyses.
Damage Initiation Criteria
Damage Evolution Law
1.3. External Data Release Notes
The following new features are now available in External Data:
External Data now supports the selection of MAPDL CDB formatted files as an input
for providing mesh information for data transfers.
Support for Displacement and Force Data. Displacements and forces can now
be imported from text files and applied as loads in a Mechanical analysis.
1.4. FE Modeler Release Notes
The following changes to FE Modeler have been made in Release 14.5:
Beam elements imported from Mechanical are shown as line elements. The
cross section shapes are no longer shown.
Workbench
1.5. Remote Solve Manager (RSM) Release Notes
The following enhancements have been made to the Remote Solve Manager:
New ANSYS Remote Solve Manager Setup Wizard
In this release, the ANSYS Remote Solve Manager Setup Wizard can guide you
through the process of setting up and configuring Remote Solve Manager. The
wizard will help you through tasks such as starting RSM services, configuring
machines to be used with RSM, performing various cluster configurations, define
queues, create accounts, and test the final RSM configuration.
For more information, see Using the ANSYS Remote Solve Manager Setup Wizard
in the Remote Solve Manager User Guide.
Redesigned Accounts Dialog
The RSM Accounts dialog has been redesigned to enhance usability in the cre-
ation and maintenance of RSM accounts. The dialog includes a button that allows
you to add primary accounts and a right-click context option that allows you to
add alternate accounts. For existing accounts, you can also change passwords,
assign Compute Servers, or delete the account.
For more information, see Accounts Dialog Box or RSM User Accounts and
Passwords in the Remote Solve Manager User Guide.
Exit Project During RSM Solution Cell and Design Point Up-
dates
When either a Solution cell update or a design point update has been submitted
to RSM, you can exit the project while the update is still in progress. If you have
never saved the project since the update job was initiated, you will be prompted
to do so. If you have saved the project at least once after the design point update
job was initiated:
All RSM jobs that are queued and running will continue to run after you exit the
project; results can be retrieved when the project is reopened.
Any results retrieved before the last Save operation will be saved to the project.
If results have been retrieved after the last Save operation, you will be prompted
to save them before exiting.
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Remote Solve Manager (RSM) Release Notes
For more information, see Exiting a Project during an RSM Solution Cell Update
and Updating Design Points via Remote Solve Manager (RSM) in the Workbench
User Guide.
Specify Component Execution Mode for RSM Updates
For design point or Solution cell updates submitted to RSM, a new Component
Execution Mode property allows you to specify serial or parallel solver execution
mode. If you select Parallel, the Max Number of Processes per Job property
is enabled, allowing you to specify the maximum number of processes to be
used in the solver for each job in the update.
Note
The parallel option is available only if the selected solver supports par-
allel execution mode. This option may not be available with all systems.
When design points are configured to be updated via RSM, the Solution
cell cannot also be updated via RSM. For special circumstances, however,
the update of both the Solution cell and design points via RSM can be
enabled. Contact your ANSYS Support Engineer for assistance with en-
abling this functionality and configuring your system to support it.
For more information, see Submitting Solutions for Local, Background, and Re-
mote Solve Manager (RSM) Processes and Updating Design Points via Remote
Solve Manager (RSM) in the Workbench User Guide.
Specify Maximum Number Jobs for Design Point Updates via
RSM
For design point updates submitted to RSM, a new Specify Maximum Number
of Jobs option is available for the Solution cell Job Submission property. When
you select this option, design points are divided into groups and submitted in
multiple jobs, up to the specified maximum number of jobs. The Maximum
Number of Jobs property is also enabled, allowing you to specify the maximum
number of jobs that can be created.
For more information, see Updating Design Points via Remote Solve Manager
(RSM) in the Workbench User Guide.
Workbench
New Context Menu Options for RSM Progress Pane
The RSM Progress Pane offers the following new context options:
Debug Messages: Allows you to view debugging information and toggle between
standard job log messages and debugging messages.
Save Job Report: Allows you to generate a Job Report for the job selected in the
RSM List view. You can specify whether debug messages is included, a log time
stamp is included, and where the report will be saved to. When saving, you can
browse to the directory in which the report will be saved, specify and report file-
name, and choose between HTML and text format.
For more information, see Progress Pane in the Remote Solve Manager User
Guide.
Released Indicator for Completed RSM Job Statuses
In the RSM List view, the Status column for jobs that have completed shows an
icon indicating the final status of the job (Cancelled, Finished, or Failed). The
addition of an asterisk (*) to the final status icon indicates that the job has been
released.
For more information, see List View in the Remote Solve Manager User Guide.
Split Configuration Files for RSM Versions
For different versions of RSM, the RSM.Config file is now stored in different dir-
ectories.
For details on the location of the configuration file for 14.5, see Accessing the
RSM Configuration File in the Remote Solve Manager User Guide.
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Remote Solve Manager (RSM) Release Notes
Improved File Transfer Performance
In this release, the Remote Solve Manager provides faster, more efficient file
transfers, reducing the overhead associated with performing solutions via RSM.
Note
The enhanced file transfer speeds are not available for configur-
ations using the SSH communication protocol.
Increased RSM Robustness
Enhancements to RSM improve the robustness of connections, the job submission
process, and job uploads and downloads.
1.6. System Coupling
New features and enhancements to System Coupling introduced in Release 14.5
are highlighted in this section.
New workflow for one-way steady thermal data transfers via an External Data
connection to System Coupling:
One-way transfer of temperature and heat flow to ANSYS FLUENT
One-way transfer of temperature and heat flow to Mechanical
One-way transfer of near wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient to
Mechanical
Enhancements for two-way fluid-structure interaction:
Support for linear ramping of all data transfers
Solution stabilization algorithm for System Coupling motion available in ANSYS
FLUENT
ANSYS FLUENT 6-DOF motion available for co-simulation with System Coupling
ANSYS FLUENT residual and MAPDL results tracker data available for System
Coupling chart monitors
Workbench
General Extensions:
Charting in the System Coupling user interface is now supported on all
Workbench platforms (previously disabled for Linux)
Charting of data transfer value diagnostics such as nodal minimum, maximum,
average and sum
Charting of data transfer convergence diagnostics added for source-side data
(previously limited to target-side)
The same participant, region and variable may be used on the source-side in
multiple data transfers. This is referred to as one-to-many transfers.
1.6.1. Numerics Changes
The changes noted below may affect either the convergence to the final solution
or the final solution itself.
Target-side values generated using the conservative mapping algorithm now only
include flows from the portion of source-side elements that were mapped. Full
flows from partially mapped source-side elements were previously applied. This is
most apparent when many-to-one transfers are used.
Sum of target-side values generated using the conservative mapping algorithm
now better matches the sum of source-side values for curved interfaces. Mapping
weights were previously calculated as an average of weights generated by mapping
source-to-target and target-to-source faces. The algorithm now only uses source-
to-target mapping weights.
Target points are more accurately placed on source-side mesh elements by the
profile-preserving mapping algorithm. Target points were previously placed on
one of several source-side elements that satisfied a given tolerance. Additional
criteria have been introduced to determine the best source-side element. This issue
was most evident with co-planar source-side elements.
Forces applied on Fluid Solid Interfaces in Static Structural analyses are now correctly
applied when the analysis is extended and restarted. Forces in excess of the correct
values were previously applied upon restarting the analysis, which led to incorrect
displacements.
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System Coupling
1.6.2. Known Limitations
ANSYS Workbench allows schematic connections from component and analysis
systems for which no sensible data transfers can be defined in the System Coupling
setup. For example, Transient Thermal and Fluid Flow (Fluent) systems may be
connected to the System Coupling system, however the Steady Thermal system
can only consume thermal data while the Fluid Flow (Fluent) system can only serve
forces.
System Coupling analysis runs on some clusters from within the Workbench envir-
onment will not start due to an invalid host entry in the System Coupling Server
(SCS) file. This is caused by a system call that returns an invalid host name for where
the coupling server is running. To work around this issue, please start the coupled
analysis from the command line, using the correct coupling server host name when
starting the solver participants.
1.7. TurboSystem Release Notes
TurboSystem is a set of software applications and software features that help
you to perform turbomachinery analyses in ANSYS Workbench.
ANSYS TurboGrid is a meshing tool for turbomachinery blade rows. The release
notes for the use of ANSYS TurboGrid in Workbench are located in this section.
The release notes for ANSYS TurboGrid without regard to Workbench are given
at TurboGrid Release Notes.
CFX-Pre, a CFD preprocesor, and CFD-Post, a CFD postprocessor, are part of the
ANSYS CFX product. Both of these products have Turbomachinery-specific fea-
tures. The release notes for CFX-Pre are given at ANSYS, Inc. Release Notes >
CFX Release Notes. The release notes for CFD-Post are given at ANSYS, Inc.
Release Notes > CFD-Post Release Notes.
Release notes for the remaining TurboSystem applications are provided in the
following sections:
Workbench
BladeEditor (p. 83)
Note
After reviewing these release notes, you are encouraged to see Usage
Notes, which describes some known TurboSystem-related workflow
issues and recommended practices for overcoming these issues.
1.7.1. New Throughflow Analysis System
In this release, TurboSystem offers a new Throughflow analysis system that is
essentially a Vista TF system with an added Geometry cell. A Throughflow ana-
lysis system provides a streamlined method for exploring and analyzing geometry
created from Vista RTD, Vista CCD, or Vista CPD. This system can be accessed by
selecting Create New > Throughflow in the context menu of the Blade Design
cell in a Vista RTD, Vista CCD, or Vista CPD system. For details, see Vista TF User's
Guide in the TurboSystem User Guide.
1.7.2. ANSYS TurboGrid in Workbench
1.7.2.1. TurboGrid New Features and Enhancements
TurboGrid can automatically generate meshes in batch, including turning on the
inlet and outlet domains as needed. For more details, see TurboSystem: ANSYS
TurboGrid in the TurboSystem User Guide.
You can now launch TurboGrid from ANSYS Workbench with the topology suspen-
ded. For more details, see TurboSystem: ANSYS TurboGrid in the TurboSystem User
Guide.
For the remaining TurboGrid release notes, see TurboGrid Release Notes.
1.7.3. Vista CPD
Vista CPD is a program that employs a 1D approach for the preliminary design
of pumps.
Vista CPD was developed by PCA Engineers Limited, Lincoln, England.
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TurboSystem Release Notes
1.7.3.1. Vista CPD New Features and Enhancements
Vista CPD is now available from Workbench. It is no longer available from BladeGen.
See TurboSystem: Vista CPD in the TurboSystem User Guide for details on using this
new version of Vista CPD.
The Quick Pump tutorial (Quick Pump Tutorial in the TurboSystem User Guide) has
been changed to make use of Vista CPD from Workbench. In addition, the tutorial
now uses TurboGrid to produce the mesh.
1.7.4. Vista CCD Limitation
The Angle Definition and Thickness Definition for intermediate camberlines
created using the Create New > Geometry option under a Vista CCD system in
Workbench do not behave as expected.
When you create a new geometry from Vista CCD in Workbench, the interme-
diate camberlines that are created show Angle Definition and Thickness
Definition to be set as User-Specified. However, you will not be able to
modify the control points to control the angle or thickness curves.
In order to modify the user-specified control points for the Angle Definition
and Thickness Definition parameters, you have to choose either of the other
two options and then switching back to User Specified.
Workbench
Chapter 2: EKM Release Notes
ANSYS Engineering Knowledge Manager (EKM) 14.5 consists of EKM, the EKM
server product, and EKM Desktop, its companion desktop client application. New
features that are available in ANSYS EKM 14.5 are listed in this section.
2.1. New Features
If you have used previous versions of EKM, Release 14.5 offers many significant
changes and improvements:
Product Installation and Setup
EKM Server can be installed directly by selecting the appropriate EKM server type
from the ANSYS Release 14.5 unified installer.
Integration with ANSYS Workbench
When you install ANSYS Workbench, the EKM Desktop client is automatically in-
stalled on your system. You can save your current Workbench project directly
to a selected repository, and search for a Workbench project and open it from
a selected repository. After updating the local copy of your Workbench project,
you can then send changes to the copy of the project that resides in the EKM
repository. Other users who have updated the same Workbench project can get
your changes in order to access the most-up-to-date project version. You can
also use the revision control options and set alerts while saving the Workbench
projects in the EKM repository. This tighter integration with Workbench facilitates
collaboration with ongoing projects and enables multiple users to leverage the
work being done by their colleagues.
ANSYS Workbench Project Representation in EKM
When an ANSYS Workbench project is saved to an EKM repository from Work-
bench or EKM Desktop, the project is automatically saved as a Workbench Project
Archive File (with a .wbpz extension), making it easier to manage and act on
the project as a single object in EKM. Project and component-system-level
141
metadata are extracted and an extensive Workbench Project Report that sum-
marizes component systems and all aspects of the Workbench project is auto-
generated. This data can be used to display, identify, search, and reuse Workbench
projects. When the Workbench Project is updated locally and changes are sent
to the EKM Repository from the Workbench, only the changed/modified files are
updated in the repository. This makes the send/get changes operation faster
and more efficient. From within the repository, users can also display the com-
ponent subsystem files from a Workbench Project Archive File and access/reuse
them, if necessary.
Graphical Interface to Create Simulation Templates
EKM Studio enables you to create multi-step web forms or simulation templates
by simply using Drop and Drop of standard widgets such as Text Boxes, List
Boxes, Buttons, Images, Grids, Tables, and so on. These templates or forms can
be published in EKM and used for the simulation what-if studies and parametric
scenarios.
Automated Migration
You can upgrade EKM Release 14.0 repositories to Release 14.5 by using the in-
teractive Server Upgrade procedure. This procedure supports repositories with
external databases such as Oracle, DB2, and MySQL. During this upgrade process
the Workbench Project Archive Files from the prior repository will be converted
to the newer representations of files of this type.
EKM Studio Enhancements
EKM Studio enables users to interactively create work flows and Web form tem-
plates. You can now save the work-in-progress work flows locally. The Error tab
will automatically display the errors, if any, from the work flow and help debug
and correct them. The Iterative work flow definition logic is made more robust
and efficient.
Usability Enhancements
Numerous other usability enhancements have been made to EKM. These include:
Support for Tablets/Mobile devices such as Android, iPad2 and so on
Support for Google Chrome 15, Internet Explorer 9 in compatibility mode, Safari
version in iPad2, and the stock browser in ANDROID 3.1 Honeycomb.
EKM
Improved security including, JSM (Java Security Manager) support and workflow-
approval mechanism
Metadata extraction and report generation support for ANSYS Maxwell format files
Enhancements to Record and Replay of Journals capability to include additional
features and actions.
Note
The Release 14 argument name changePassowrd has been re-
named to changePassword. Journals created in Release 14 need
to be edited to the new spelling in order to work in Release 14.5.
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New Features
Chapter 3: DesignXplorer Release Notes
Enhancements have been made to the following DesignXplorer areas:
3.1. Optimization Systems and Methods
3.2. Optimization Criteria and Properties
3.3. Design of Experiments
3.4. Candidate Points
3.5. Chart Enhancements
3.6. Design Point Enhancements
3.7. User Interface Enhancements
3.1. Optimization Systems and Methods
New Direct Optimization System
DesignXplorer offers a new Direct Optimization System as a second type of
Goal Driven Optimization. A Direct Optimization system is a single-component
system that utilizes real solves, and so is not dependent on the quality of a re-
sponse surface. It can retrieve information via data links from other components
that contain design point data, thus reducing the time needed for the optimiza-
tion without altering the original source of the design points.
To add a Direct Optimization system to your project, drag it from the Design
Exploration section of the Workbench Toolbox and drop it on your Project
Schematic.
For more information, see "Using Goal Driven Optimization" and Transferring
Design Point Data for Direct Optimization in the DesignXplorer User Guide.
New Adaptive Single-Objective Optimization Method
DesignXplorer offers a new Adaptive Single-Objective optimization method
for Direct Optimization systems. This gradient-based optimization method uses
automatic intelligent refinement, combining an LHS Design of Experiments, a
Kriging response surface, the NLPQL algorithm, and domain reduction to provide
a refined, global result.
145
The Adaptive Single-Objective method is available only for continuous input
parameters and can handle only one output parameter objective.
For more information, see Performing an Adaptive Single-Objective Optimization
and Adaptive Single-Objective Optimization (ASO) in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
New Adaptive Multiple-Objective Optimization Method
DesignXplorer offers a new Adaptive Multiple-Objective optimization method
for Direct Optimization systems. This iterative optimization method combines a
Kriging response surface and the MOGA algorithm, applying the Kriging error
predictor to reduce the number of evaluations needed to find the global optim-
um.
The Adaptive Multiple-Objective method is available only for continuous input
parameters and can handle multiple objectives and constraints.
For more information, see Performing an Adaptive Multiple-Objective Optimization
and Adaptive Multiple-Objective Optimization (AMO) in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
New Mixed-Integer Sequential Quadratic Programming
(MISQP) Optimization Method
DesignXplorer offers a new Mixed-Integer Sequential Quadratic Programming
(MISQP) optimization method for both Direct Optimization systems and Response
Surface Optimization systems. This gradient-based optimization method solves
mixed-integer linear programming problems by using a modified sequential
quadratic programming method. After linearizing constraints and constructing
a quadratic approximation of the Lagrangian function, mixed-integer quadratic
programs are successively generated and solved by an efficient branch-and-cut
method.
The MISQP method is available for both continuous and discrete input parameters
and can handle only one output parameter objective.
For more information, see Performing an MISQP Optimization and Mixed-Integer
Sequential Quadratic Programming (MISQP) in the DesignXplorer User Guide.
DesignXplorer
Initialize Screening Optimizations with Min-Max Search Res-
ults
For Response Surface Optimization systems, Min-Max search results are now
available to the Screening optimization method. The sample points obtained
from a response surface Min-Max search are now automatically added to the
sample set used to initialize or run the optimization, allowing for better optimiz-
ation results.
3.2. Optimization Criteria and Properties
Optimization Criteria Divided into Objectives and Constraints
The DesignXplorer Optimization component now divides goals into Objectives
and Constraints. For input parameters, you can define an Objective. For output
parameters, you can now define both an Objective and a Constraint. Objective
values, constraint values, and various parts of the user interface have been
modified and/or renamed to enhance consistency and usability.
See Defining Optimization Objectives and Constraints in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
Improved Naming Capabilities for Objectives and Constraints
With this release, DesignXplorer offers improved capabilities for naming optim-
ization objectives and constraints. By default, objectives and constraints are now
assigned a descriptive name based on defined properties and which is updated
each time the objective or constraint is modified. In addition, you can now edit
the name of an objective or constraint, giving it a descriptive name that persists
and is no longer changed by modifications to its definition. To resume the
automated naming system, delete the custom name and leave the property
empty.
Guide.
New Constraint Definition
When defining a constraint for a continuous output parameter, a new constraint
type, Lower Bound <= Values <= Upper Bound, allows you to specify that
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Optimization Criteria and Properties
values should fall inside a defined range. You can enter values for the Lower
Bound and the Upper Bound, defining an acceptable range for the output.
Guide.
Additional Optimization Properties
DesignXplorer now offers additional optimization properties that provide you
with greater control over the optimization process. In this release, the following
properties have been made available.
Input Properties:
Derivative Approximation: Allows you to control the way the NLPQL optimizer
calculates its gradient.
Maximum Number of Points: Allows you to specify the maximum possible number
of candidates to be generated by the algorithm.
Output Properties:
Converged: Indicates whether the optimization has converged.
Number of Iterations: Indicates the number of iterations executed in the optimiz-
ation.
Number of Evaluations: Indicates the number of evaluations performed in the
optimization.
Obtained Pareto Percentage: Displays a percentage representing the ratio of the
number of Pareto points obtained by the optimization.
For a full listing of the properties for each optimization method, see Goal Driven
Optimization Methods in the DesignXplorer User Guide.
3.3. Design of Experiments
New Latin Hypercube Sampling Design DOE Type
DesignXplorer has added Latin Hypercube Sampling Design as a new Design
of Experiments type. When selected, the DOE is generated by the LHS algorithm,
an advanced form of the Monte Carlo sampling method that avoids clustering
DesignXplorer
samples. In a Latin Hypercube Sampling, the points are randomly generated in
a square grid across the design space, but no two points share input parameters
of the same value (i.e., so no point shares a row or a column of the grid with
any other point).
Improved Performance for Optimal Space-Filling Design DOE
Type
This release contains visible performance improvements for the generation of
an Optimal Space Filling Design DOE and the creation of a large number of
design points.
3.4. Candidate Points
Improved Candidates Table Display
Candidates data is now available to view and edit in the Candidate Points Table.
To access this table, select Candidate Points under the Results node of the
optimization workspace Outline view. Each candidate point, whether generated
by the optimization or manually added as a custom candidate, is displayed, along
with its input values, output values, and candidate rating.
For each parameter with an objective defined, the table also calculates the per-
centage of variation for all parameters with regard to an initial reference point.
You can set any candidate point as the initial reference point by selecting the
radio button in the Reference Point column. A percentage value displayed in
green text indicates that the variation is in the expected direction, while a per-
centage value in red text indicates that the variation is not. When there is no
obvious direction (as for a constraint), the percentage value is displayed in black
text.
See Viewing and Editing Candidate Points in the Table View in the DesignXplorer
User Guide.
Create Custom Candidate Points
You can now create custom candidate points to represent the existing design
of a product, the initial design of the parametric study, or other points of interest.
In the Optimization workspace, when Candidate Points is selected under the
Results node of the Outline view, you can add a custom candidate point via
either the Table or Charts view.
149
Candidate Points
Once created, the point is automatically plotted in the Candidate Points chart
and can be treated as any other candidate point. You have the ability to edit
the name, edit input parameter values, and select options from the right-click
context menu.
For more information, see Viewing and Editing Candidate Points in the Table
View in the DesignXplorer User Guide.
Intermediate Optimization Candidates
If your optimization criteria have been met midway through the optimization
process, you can now stop the optimization and retrieve the results without
needing to run the rest of the optimization. When the optimization is stopped,
candidate points are generated from the data available at that time, such as
solved samples, results of the current iteration, the current populations, etc.
For more information, see Retrieving Intermediate Candidate Points in the
DesignXplorer User Guide.
3.5. Chart Enhancements
New History Chart for Objectives, Constraints, and Input
Parameters
DesignXplorer now provides a History Chart that allows you select a single en-
abled objective, constraint, or input parameter and view its evolution throughout
the optimization process. Color coding and a legend make it easy to distinguish
the history of an object, as well as those of any constraints applied to it.
Additionally, the History chart gives you the option of monitoring the progress
of the selected object while the optimization is still in progress; if you select an
object during an update, the chart refreshes automatically and shows the evolu-
tion of the objective or input parameter throughout the update. You can select
a different object at any time during the update in order to plot and view a dif-
ferent chart.
For more information, see Using the History Chart in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
DesignXplorer
Sparkline Views of Optimization History Charts
In the Optimization workspace, a sparkline version of the History chart is dis-
played for each objective, constraint, or input parameter object in the Outline
view. During the optimization update, the sparkline image is refreshed dynamically
along with the History chart, providing you with an additional means of monit-
oring the progress of the optimization. When constraints are present, a green
sparkline indicates that the constraint is being met, while a red sparkline indicates
that the constraint is being violated. Otherwise, sparkline images use the same
coloring convention as the History chart.
For more information, see Viewing History Chart Sparklines in the Outline View
in the DesignXplorer User Guide.
New Candidate Points Chart
DesignXplorer now provides a Candidate Points Chart that allows you to view
a graphic rendering of different types of candidate point information. You can
select one or more parameters for which candidate point data will be displayed,
and also have the ability control the visibility of each axis, feasible samples,
candidates youve inserted manually, and candidates with verified output values.
Color-coding and a legend make it easy to view and interpret samples, candidate
points identified by the optimization, candidates inserted manually, and candid-
ates for which output values have been verified by a design point update.
For more information, see Using the Candidate Points Results in the DesignXplorer
User Guide.
Create Correlation Scatter Chart from Correlation Matrix Chart
In a Parameters Correlation component, you can now easily create a Correlation
Scatter chart from any cell in the Correlation Matrix chart. Right-click on the chart
cell and select the new Insert <input parameters> Scatter Chart context option.
A Correlation Scatter chart is generated for the associated parameter combination
and added beneath the Charts node in the Outline view.
Improved Default Resolution for Response Surface Charts
The Chart Resolution option (previously called Number of Gridlines) now de-
faults to 25, increasing the default number of points used by continuous input
parameter axes in the 2D and 3D Response Surface charts. Increasing this value
enhances the viewing resolution of these charts. For clarity, the Number of
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Chart Enhancements
Points on X and Number of Point on Y chart properties have been renamed
to Chart Resolution Along X and Chart Resolution Along Y.
For more information, see Design Exploration Options in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
3.6. Design Point Enhancements
View Raw Optimization Data
While a Direct Optimization system is being updated, the design point data cal-
culated by DesignXplorer is displayed in the Table view and refreshed dynamically
as design points are submitted and updated. Once the update is complete, the
final raw design point data is saved. You can view this data in the Table view
by selecting the Raw Optimization Data node of the Outline view.
For more information, see Raw Optimization Data in the DesignXplorer User
Guide.
Retry Update of Failed Design Points
A new Retry All Failed Design Points option has been added to the Options
dialog. This option specifies that DesignXplorer will automatically make additional
attempts to update design points that failed during the first run. When it is se-
lected, the Number of Retries and Retry Delay options are enabled, allowing
you to set the desired number of update attempts and the number of seconds
to elapse between each attempt.
This option is available for all DesignXplorer components except for Six Sigma
Analysis and a Parameters Correlation that is linked to a response Surface.
Guide.
Default Changed for Restarting the Mechanical and Meshing
Applications During a Design Point Update
The defaults for the options During a design point update, periodically restart
the Mechanical application and During a design point update, periodically
restart the Meshing application have been changed. These options will now
restart the Mechanical (or Meshing) applications after every design point update
DesignXplorer
unless changed by the user. The new defaults provide better performance for
design point updates in computationally intensive solutions.
For more information, see Preventing Design Point Update Failures in the
Workbench User Guide.
Exit Project During Design Point Updates via RSM
When all design points in a DesignXplorer component are submitted to Remote
Solve Manager for update, you can exit the project while the update is still in
progress. If you have never saved the project since the update job was initiated,
you will be prompted to do so. If you have saved the project at least once after
the design point update job was initiated:
All RSM jobs that are queued and running will continue to run after you exit the
project; results can be retrieved when the project is reopened.
Any results retrieved before the last Save operation will be saved to the project.
If results have been retrieved after the last Save operation, you will be prompted
to save them before exiting.
For more information, see Exiting a Project during an RSM Design Point Update
in the Workbench User Guide.
3.7. User Interface Enhancements
Redesigned Optimization User Interface
The user interface for the DesignXplorer Optimization component has been
redesigned to provide enhanced usability and a richer and more scalable optim-
ization experience.
The optimization Outline view has been modified to include nodes for Objectives
and Constraints, Domain, Raw Optimization Data, and Results. Respectively,
these nodes allow you to select objectives and constraints, select input paramet-
ers, view design point data from the optimization, and view different results
types, such as Candidate Points or the various optimization charts. Your selection
in the Outline view drives the content of the Properties, Table, and Chart views.
Each of these views has been redesigned, populated with additional content,
and given new functionality to provide better control over the optimization
process.
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User Interface Enhancements
Coloring Convention to Differentiate Outputs by Source
In the Options dialog, a new Color for Response Surface Based Output Values
option allows you to select a custom color for the display of output values that
are calculated from a response surface. The selected color will be applied to re-
sponse surface-based output values in the Properties and Table views of all
components, in the Results view of the Optimization component convention,
and certain optimization charts. Simulation output values that have been calcu-
lated from a design point update are displayed in black.
Guide.
DesignXplorer

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