Learning Forum

[warrensu]

When looking at results, Solution>Total Deformation would show min, max and average deformation. I am curious how ansys calculates the average deformation value. Thanks!

[Sai Deogekar]

Hello The average deformation is calculated by taking the mean of total deformation for all the nodes under consideration. When Total Deformation is defined, it is scoped to either all the bodies or some subset of the assembly. This means that there are generally multiple nodes at which Total Deformation is being plotted. The average of Total Deformation values at all such nodes is the average deformation. Similar logic can be applied for the max and min (i.e. the maximum or minimum value from among all the nodes under consideration).

Hope this helps Sai

[mrife]

To add to what Sai described; the averaging is done by some weighted average definition. For example in a 3D model the weighing would be the volume associated with each node.
MIke

[Indu Modala]

Is it accurate to say that the deformation value provided by ANSYS may not correspond to the total deformation experienced by the geometry as a whole? In other words, can the average deformation at all nodes be different from ΔL, which represents the overall displacement?

[Nanda Veralla]

Hello Indu,

Yes, you are correct. The average deformation does not represent the ΔL value. You can test this on a simple bar fixed at one end and being pulled on other end and compare it with analytical result.  ΔL is given by maximum deformation. For more information on deformation, please refer to this help link:

Deformation (ansys.com)

Regards,

Nanda.

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[Indu Modala]

Is it possible to determine ΔL, which represents the overall displacement, by considering the maximum deformation value in ANSYS? Or would it still be an average of the maximum deformations at individual nodes? How can we accurately determine ΔL using ANSYS?

and I am unable to access the link you shared because I don't have the necessary account information for ANSYS.

[Nanda Veralla]

Hello Indu,

As Sai and Mike commented earlier, average value would be mean of total deformation of all nodal values. Whereas, maximum deformation reports the highest deformation a particular node has. Consider a single element with 4 corner nodes. Each node has a,b,c and d deformation values. Average deformation is the mean of a,b,c & d. Maximum deformation is the highest among a-d. 

Yes, it is possible to determine ΔL by considering the maximum deformation value. Here is a quick test I did. A steel bar elongated, F=2000N, L=500mm, D=10mm, E=200GPa. Analytical results of ΔL match with max deformation value of 0.06366mm, with default mesh setting. 

Here's how you can access the Ansys Online Help from within the Ansys Student products:

1. Open Ansys Workbench (or any other Ansys product) and go to Help > Ansys Workbench Help. A browser window will open.
2. Copy the link to the Ansys Online Help from the post on the Ansys Learning Forum.
3. Paste the link into the address bar of the browser window opened in step 1, and you'll be able to access the desired page.

Best,

Nanda