ANSYS Workbench

The ANSYS Workbench platform is based around an innovative project schematic view which ties together the entire simulation process. You are guided through even complex multiphysics analyses with a drag-and-drop approach to selecting the modules and capabilities required for each simulation task. ANSYS Workbench Geometry Interfaces provide a bidirectional connection with all major CAD systems, enabling efficient simulation-driven design decisions. From easy, automatic meshing to carefully crafted mesh, ANSYS Meshing compresses the analysis process and helps ensure accurate solutions. Bridging the gap between CAD data and simulation, ANSYS DesignModeler provides analysis-specific geometry modeling tools. To fully leverage the power of parametric analysis, ANSYS DesignXplorer enables Design of Experiments, goal-driven optimization, min/max search or even Six Sigma analysis.

With the release of ANSYS 12.0, the underlying ANSYS Workbench platform has been re-engineered. An innovative project schematic view changes the way engineers work with simulation. Projects are represented as connected systems in flowchart form. This allows engineering intent, data relationships and the state of the analysis project to be understood at a glance.

The new schematic view shows an overall look at the entire simulation project. Engineering intent, state and data relationships are visible at a glance, even for complex analyses involving multiple physics.

The new schematic view shows an overall view of the entire simulation project. Engineering intent, state and data relationships are visible at a glance, even for complex analyses involving multiple physics.

Working with the new project system is straightforward. Drag the desired analysis type from the toolbox at left, and drop it into the project schematic. Complete analysis systems contain all the necessary components, helping to guide you through the analysis process, working through the system from top-to-bottom. The entire process is persistent.

fter dragging the desired analysis type into the project schematic, work through the system from top to bottom to complete your analysis. State icons in the right of each cell clearly indicate progress; here the analysis is complete through meshing.

Changes can be made to any portion of the analysis and ANSYS Workbench platform will manage the execution of the required applications to update the project automatically, dramatically reducing the cost of performing design iterations.

Building up more complex coupled analyses involving multiple-physics is as easy as dragging in a follow-on analysis and dropping it on the source analysis. Required data transfer connections are formed automatically. As an example, consider the one-way fluid/structure interaction simulation shown schematically below.

Drag-and-drop multiphysics: connections in the project schematic (at left) correspond to data transfer between the different physics, and correspond to imported loads in the downstream simulation (shown inside the Mechanical application at right).

As always, the applications hosted in the ANSYS Workbench platform support parametric variations, including: CAD parameters, material properties, boundary conditions and derived result parameters. Parameters defined within the applications are managed from the project window, making it easy to investigate multiple variations of the analysis. From within the project window, a series of design points can be built up in tabular form and executed to complete a what-if study with a single operation.

Drag-and-drop multiphysics: connections in the project schematic (at left) correspond to data transfer between the different physics, and correspond to imported loads in the downstream simulation (shown inside the Mechanical application at right).

To fully leverage the power of parametric analysis, ANSYS DesignXplorer can be used with the parameter set to drive design of experiments, goal driven optimization, min/max search or even perform Six Sigma analysis to investigate design robustness. All of this power is available across all applications, all physics and all solvers available within the ANSYS Workbench platform (including Mechanical APDL).