Learning Forum

[tortju]

I am modelling a water pipe going through a concrete block in SpaceClaim. The concrete will be casted around the outer boundaries of the pipe. In order to "wrap" the concrete block around the pipe I have modelled the block as an enclosure. However, this is not suitable when running the analysis in Ansys Mechanical. Is there a way to convert such an enclosure to a solid? Or maybe a better way of achieving what I have want to do?

See the attached picture.

Thanks!

[peteroznewman]

Why is an enclosure not suitable when running the analysis in Mechanical?  What problem does it cause?  Isn't it just a solid?

If you don’t like the solid the enclosure created, add a component, select the solid pipe and type Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V which will put a copy of the pipe in the new component. Add a sketch and draw the concrete block and pull it into a solid. Then use the Combine tool to subtract the pipe from the block. Finally, delete the solid inside the pipe.

[tortju]

The solid the enclosure created is perfectly fine. However, it's a massive solid (fills through the pipe) and it's not possible to subtract the outer boundary of the pipe from it using the combine tool. I only get the message "Unable to intersect bodies" when trying to do so. The problem it causes in Mechanical is related to the meshing because of the intersection between the concrete block and the pipe (in addition to being physically incorrect, of course).

 

When trying your alternative suggestion the solid is not split correctly. It divides the concrete block in two: One piece remains as the complete block, while the other solid consists only of the intersecting volume between the block and the pipe. This is illustrated in the attached screenshot.

[peteroznewman]

Can't you just delete the intersecting solid?

[tortju]

Yes, I can do that but then I'm still left with this:

I know it looks like I then can delete the area inside the circle in order to get the hole in the concrete I'm looking for but this is (for some reason) not possible to do.

I wish I could upload the SpaceClaim-file for you to try...

[peteroznewman]

You can upload the SpaceClaim file to a file sharing site such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Jumpshare. Reply with the link to that file and I can download it.

[tortju]

Good idea!

Here's the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_4l-30PaU8hq1BRoBnwpuYA6HpOK1bJU/view?usp=sharing

[peteroznewman]

You can't delete the inner solid of the pipe encolosure because it is connected to the outer solid of the pipe enclosure by this thin web.

Fix the crack in your pipe and you will be able to delete the inner solid of the enclosure.

[tortju]

That worked!

Thank you so much! ?