Learning Forum

[Ghost3507]

Hi, I have a very simple structure/design ( a circular beam with a length of 500mm and radius of 10mm) I only apply a normal load to the cross section and the support the body from the other side.
I want to change the element type(currently I don't know the default element type that will be applied) to Beam 188. I use the following line of code:
et,matid,BEAM188

it throws back me an error, when I read the solution information I found the error saying:
 Element type 1 is not the same shape as BEAM188.  Switching to a       
 different shape is not allowed while elements of type 1 exist.

I don't know how to fix it, plus I have zero knowledge in writing commands in Ansys, and I made no change to the meshing details everything is as default?

[peteroznewman]

BEAM188 is a 2 node element, which means a linear element.

By default, the Mesh generates quadratic elements.

Under the Mesh Details is Element Order, change it to Linear and it should work.

[Ghost3507]

Still persisting???

[peteroznewman]

I expect that is because under the Geometry branch, if you expand that, I will see a Solid instead of a Line body. Is that correct?

[Ghost3507]

Is that what You are looking for?

[peteroznewman]

Yes, as I expected, you have a solid body, you need a line body.

Close Mechanical. In Workbench, right click on the Geometry cell and Edit in SpaceClaim.

In SpaceClaim, click on the Prepare tab, click on the Extract button in the Beams palette, the select the solid. That will convert the solid into a Beam. Close SpaceClaim.

In Workbench, Refresh the project.

Open Mechanical, now you will have a beam. It will automatically be meshed with BEAM188 elements if you have Mesh set to Linear Element Order, so you can delete the Command snippet.