Lecture 14

Summary
14.5 Release

ANSYS LS-DYNA
in Mechanical APDL
2012 ANSYS, Inc.

February 5, 2013

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Objectives
This lecture reviews the important contents covered in this course.
Topics:
A. Implicit versus Explicit

B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

Modeling Guidelines
Material Guidelines
Loading Guidelines
Contact Guidelines
General Guidelines
Table of Consistent Units

February 5, 2013

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A. Implicit versus Explicit

Computational efforts with implicit

Computational efforts with explicit

programs:

programs:

Model size
Degree of nonlinearity
Loading histories

Model size
Critical time step

Element edge length

Sonic wave velocity:
Youngs modulus
Density
Termination time

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

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... Implicit versus Explicit

Estimation of the ANSYS LS-DYNA computation time:

TCPU k N Elem t

c
l min

with
TCPU
k
Nelem
t
c
lmin

= total CPU usage in CPU-second

= system factor
= number of elements
= simulation time
= sonic velocity
= smallest length of element

e.g., 0.000033 CPU-second/element

e.g., 160 ms termination time
e.g., 5500 mm/ms in steel
e.g., 9 mm

Deviations depend on material laws, element types, contacts

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

February 5, 2013

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... Implicit versus Explicit

User efforts with implicit
programs:
Try to find convergence
criteria for the solution.
SOLVE
If the calculation has not
converged, repeat the first
task until the solution is done.

User efforts with explicit programs:

Tune up model to increase time step size:
Avoid small elements
Use rigid bodies
Employ mass scaling
Use higher velocities
In metal forming simulations, the punch velocity
can be significantly increased without reducing
accuracy too much.
Check the results to validate the kinetic, internal,
and hourglass energies.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

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B. Modeling Guidelines
Avoid small elements whenever possible. They significantly reduce the time
step size. If small elements are required, use mass scaling to increase the
critical time step.

Try to avoid using triangular or tetrahedron elements. Although these elements

are supported, they are not recommended. For better results, use cube-shape
bricks.

If the overall hourglass energy is more than 5% of the internal (strain) energy,
use some form of additional hourglass control in the model. The energies can be
monitored eith the GLSTAT and MATSUM files.

Alternatively, fully integrated elements can be used to combat hourglassing

problems. However, these elements can give poor results in cases involving
large deformation and/or bending.

Use rigid bodies when possible. Rigid bodies save significant amounts of CPU
time.
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C. Material Guidelines
Make sure to use consistent units when defining material properties.
Incorrect units will lead to wrong results.

Make sure that the material data is accurate. The precision of most nonlinear
dynamic problems depends on the quality of the material data entered.

Select the correct material model for a given application. If it is not certain
whether a parts physical response should include a particular characteristic
(e.g., strain rate effects), it is a better practice to use a material model that
includes all possible features.

2012 ANSYS, Inc.

February 5, 2013

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D. Loading Guidelines
Avoid single point loads because they excite hourglass modes. Which are
nonphysical.

List and/or plot load curves to ensure their accuracy.

Because LS-DYNA may overshoot a solution by a few microseconds, extend loads
out past the final solution (termination) time.

For quasi-static problems, a velocity higher than the true velocity may often be
used to significantly reduce the CPU time.

Constraints on the nodes of a rigid body are not allowed. The center of a rigid
body is constrained via the EDMP,RIGID command.
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E. Contact Guidelines
Initial penetrations between contact surfaces are not allowed. Make sure that
the a model is defined without any overlapping surfaces where contact is
defined.

Always use realistic material properties and shell thickness values. The
material properties and geometry of contacting surfaces are used to
determine the contact penalty stiffness.

Do not make multiple contact definitions between the same parts.

Use automatic contact for shells unless contact forces are required.

Use automatic general contact (AG) whenever possible. It is the easiest type
of contact to define, handles most contact applications, and doesnt cost
much in CPU time.

List the defined contact surfaces prior to solution to ensure that the contacts
have been properly defined.

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F. General Guidelines
Use mass scaling in most analyses to increase the critical time step and reduce
the solution time. Check the LS-DYNA output window to ensure that the
percentage of added mass increase is not significant.

Always output all energy data. Make sure that hourglass, damping, and
interface energies are calculated. This information is useful for monitoring
solution accuracy and debugging problems.

Use LS-DYNA control switches to monitor the solution. Periodically use sense
switch sw2 to check the progress of a run. If the model begins to diverge, use
sw1 to terminate the analysis.

Learn LS-PREPOST (use the EDOPT command to obtain d3plot and d3thdt files).
LS-PREPOST has no limitations, but is not supported by ANSYS.

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G. Table of Consistent Units

Mass
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
gm
gm
gm
gm
ton (1000 kg)
lbf-sec^2/in
slug

Length
m
cm
cm
cm
mm
cm
cm
mm
mm
mm
in
ft

Time
sec
sec
ms
ms
ms
sec
ms
sec
ms
sec
sec
sec

Force
N
1e-02N
1e+04N
1e+10N
kN
dyne
1e+07N
1e-06N
N
N
lbf
lbf

Stress
Pa

Energy
Joule

Gpa
dyne/cm^2
Mbar
Pa
Mpa
Mpa
psi
psf

kN-mm
erg
1e7Ncm
N-mm
N-mm
lbf-in
lbf-ft

r(steel)
7.83e+03
7.83e-03
7.83e-03
7.83e-03
7.83e-06
7.83e+00
7.83e+00
7.83e-03
7.83e-03
7.83e-09
7.33e-04
1.52e+01

E(steel)
2.07E+11
2.07E+09
2.07E+03
2.07E-03
2.07E+02
2.07E+12
2.07E+00
2.07E+11
2.07E+05
2.07E+05
3.00E+07
4.32E+09

* 1 slug = 14.594 kg; 1 ft = 0.3048 m = 12*2.54 cm; 1 N = 105dyne = 1 lbf/4.4482;

1 Mbar = 1012 dynes/cm2; 1 bar = 14.7 psi = 1.0 atm = 105 Pa;
1 kg/m3 = 10-3 gm/cm3 = 0.9112 slug/ft3

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