Last updated 03SEP2001 This article explains the standard document available for ANSYS. ANSYS does have a very rich good resource of documentation. Before you post your question to the user group like xansys, you should always try to search inside the document. 0) Introduction of the FAQ =========================== 0.1. Who creates this FAQ ? This FAQ was created by Shen-Yeh Chen. The the moment I am writing this FAQ, I am working for Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services in Phoenix, Arizona. However, I did this totally on my personal time (which means sacrificing my sleeping time). Therefore this document has nothing to do with any company. 0.2. Why creates this FAQ ? I created this FAQ for my friends, who want to learn ANSYS but do not know how to start. Based on the philosophy of "it is better to teach him how to fish rather than give him a fish", I created this FAQ so that they can begin the journey of learning ANSYS by themselves. The demand for a FAQ of ANSYS usually comes up in the community like xansys. My personal feeling is better to have a guide for the new users to begin the document search first, instead of listing hundreds/thousands of tricks and command. I created this FAQ just to help my friends. It does not mean that I know everything about ANSYS. 0.3. Is this FAQ copyright protected ? As I said, in the beginning, this was just a document floating among my friends and me, therefore I did not even consider this as an article worth for any copyright protection. However, from my experience of living in a country of pure capitalism, I think it is necessary to license the article before releasing it to the public. This license is for three purposes only. First, to protect the right of the public to distribute this document, but not to restrict it. Second, to keep myself away from any possible legal trouble. Third, to allow this FAQ to grow and accept any further modification freely by any readers. Therefore, this document is licensed by the GNU General Public License. I know it is strange to license a document by a software license. But this is the best I can find. The license can be found on www.GNU.org 0.4. Where can I find this FAQ ? You should always be able to find this FAQ through the web site www.FEA-Optimization.com Look under the item of "ANSYS Macros and Notes" or similar topics, you should be able to find this document. Currently I am using a free hosting service. Note that since this is a free service, it can be terminated anytime. However, I have bought the domain name. And hopefully I will keep on paying for it as long as I can afford it. So the address mentioned should always be the best place to find this FAQ. 0.5. How can I contribute to this FAQ ? Send you comments or additional material to s-y.chen@usa.net. And I will include a "credit" section into this FAQ. Also, your name will be mentioned on the beginning of the text you contribute. For example, I will put something like x.x Interesting information (contributed by Mr. Abc) For convenience of maintaining this FAQ, please consider following the structure of the original FAQ. 1) Available Documentation of ANSYS =================================== 1.1. Where to get/find the standard document/manual for ANSYS ? If you have access to ANSYS on a computer, typing "HELP,1" on the "ANSYS Input" window will bring out the ANSYS document of element type 1 in web browser. Or, on the Utility Menu, Select Help>Help Topics will also bring up the manual Check the top of the page, click the "CONTENT" icon. This will bring up another new browser window containing an index to all the manual available. Since 5.6, ANSYS put its manual on HTML files, distributed together with the package. After you install ANSYS, you should be able to find these HTMLs in your ANSYS directory. One of the typical path name you can find it under Unix for ANSYS 5.7 is /ansys57/docu/english/ansyshelptoc.html For physical copy of the manuals, you will have to buy it from your ASD or directly from ANSYS. You can also access the manuals through the web site http://www.ansys.com/services/documentation/manuals.html From my experience ANSYS changes the location of the document on its web site quite frequently. If you can not find it on the above URL, try to find it under "services" on ANSYS web site. Certain manuals can not be accessed through electrical format. For example, the "Programmers' Manual". You will have to buy them. 1.2. For beginners Even For beginners, ANSYS has many official documents to guide you through learning trip. One that I found especially useful when I just began using ANSYS, is "ANSYS Expanded Workbook Release 5.3" Release 5.3 is especially useful, because it contains about 16 examples, which guide you through the process step by step (including where to find the menu/button !!). In the manual index of ANSYS 5.7 (see previous section about how to bring up the ANSYS manual in ANSYS), you can find a training guide too. But that one only have 9 or 10 examples. Unfortunately, This Workbook for 5.3 seems to disappear suddenly from the earth. If you have ANSYS/ED 5.3, this Workbook comes with the CD. If you can not find it, contact you ASD. Some of them may still have the book. If you can not find release 5.3, you can just work on the "Training Guide" from the distributed CD. The examples are for GUI. However, when working on the examples, you can always hit the "help" button on the menu. This will bring up the manual page for the action (and, hence, the command) you are doing. This page also has a link to related commands. You can follow this link to see other useful and similar commands. All commands are also listed in the "ANSYS command reference manual". You will need this command heavily later if you will continue to use ANSYS for your analysis task. 1.3. For users with a little experience with ANSYS, or with FEA experience, but not much experience in ANSYS Some users actually already know what FEA is all about, and what to do with FEA packages. Some of them may have already used others packages for a while. If you fall into this group, there are also a lot of documents for you. On the ANSYS manual HTML index, click on the radio button of "Guide". Here you will see a lot of basic procedure for different kind of analysis. For example, buckling, thermal, stress, modal, etc. Eventually, all FEA packages are doing the same thing. So if you are familiar with any one package, all you have to figure out is how can the same task is completed in ANSYS. This analysis guide will give you a idea about what ANSYS is doing for certain kind of analysis. These manuals give you abstract procedure for certain analysis. If this is not enough for you, you may want to look at the "Verification" on the manual index. This is the verification manual, just like all other FEA packages. One thing good about ANSYS is, it is actually command-driven. So most actions in ANSYS can be described by commands. The examples in this manual all come with its only input file, listing the command procedure needed to complete this example. You will need the "ANSYS command reference manual" to understand each command. If, however, this is still not enough for you, you can read the "Theory Manual". It explains the theoretically aspect of ANSYS. Of course, like all other packages, it assumes that you already know what is happening inside FEA. Finally, if you want to know more about how ANSYS works, you can call you ASD. I have found my ASD extremely helpful, if you really want to know the detail inside ANSYS. 1.4. Reference Manual Experienced users usually find the following manual useful and necessary for their daily jobs. ANSYS Command Reference Manual ANSYS Element Manual Actually, some of the packages only have these two manuals. Because one is nothing but a input file format manual, another one is the supported mathematical formulation list. 1.5. ANSYS macros Simple ANSYS macros are nothing but a file that collects a bunch of commands into one file, and carry out certain task. If you know how each command in ANSYS works, you can begin to write macros. However, if you are serious about macros, you may want to read the "APDL guide" This is under the "Guide" button of the HTML index. 1.6. For specific task/action in ANSYS : Can ANSYS do this ? You should always look under the "ANSYS Command Reference Manual" when you are wondering "How do I do this ?" Or "Can ANSYS do this ?" ANSYS has tried to categorized its commands into several groups. However, just like all other documentation, it may or may not makes sense to you, since each human being usually has its own way of defining things. However, this manual is extremely useful. It also helps to read others' macro. By reading macros you can learn some "tricks" of using ANSYS. 1.7. To get advanced Personally, I think if you can do your job fast and accurate, you are an expert already. It really doesn't matter how you do it. However, it does help to know how others solve their problems. It is very interesting to notice that, each person is usually very good at utilizing certain commands only. By discuss with and learn from other users, you can figure out your weakness. As we said before, ANSYS is command-driven. Each command usually does very basic thing. By combining these commands you can accomplish a lot. This is more like programming, and I believe this is the power of ANSYS too. So, it is just like trying to become a hacker - read it, do it, and learn it by yourself. 1.8 Other resources One of the most famous places for ANSYS users is the "xansys" news group. You can access the email list either through web browser or by email list. See http://www.xansys.org for details There are also some sites that provide general tips/tricks/notes/macros/etc for ANSYS. To name a few www.ansys.net www.FEA-Optimization.com http://www3.sympatico.ca/peter_budgell/home.html http://www.mece.ualberta.ca/tutorials/ansys/ ANSYS also has a magazine called "ANSYS Solutions Magazine", which is published every quater. ANSYS users have found this magazine useful and non-trivial. If you have also bought the technical support service from you ASD, they are always vert helpful.