What Every Beginner Should Know About The Steps To Be Followed in ANSA?

ANSA is a preprocessing tool which is specifically used to Mesh the CAD files as per the given Quality criteria. As a beginner, there are a few steps to be followed while working with ANSA. These steps are discussed in detail with suitable images as below:

Beginners must be aware of the following steps in ANSA

Step 1: Open ANSA Software and Import the CAD model

In Toolbar, go to File > Open > select the file > ok

After following this step, the Model can be opened in ANSA. Just after opening ANSA, One should check the compatibility of the Graphics card for using the ANSA tool.

Step 2: Check the Compatibility of the Graphics card for ANSA

In order to see the CONS (boundary lines of CAD) and Hot Points (points at the end of each line) properly one should check the compatibility of the Graphics card. If the Graphics card is compatible then all CONS and Hot points will be visible in the model while moving the model. (See image below for Reference)

                          Figure 2: CONS and Hot Points are not visible in model (i.e. Graphics card Incompatibility)

 If this is the case, then there should be a few additional steps to be followed in order to fix this issue. Let us check What needs to be done. (Refer below image for fixing this issue)

          Figure 3: Syntax to be written in ANSA Launcher

• As shown in the above image, One should write the syntax every time while opening ANSA. The syntax is -performance_mode 3  (Care should be taken for spacings)
• After writing this syntax and before clicking on OK, make sure you don't tick on Do not ask me again. If the tick mark is done then the launcher will not launch while opening ANSA again. 
• After this, let ANSA open and then import the same CAD file again and check with CONS and Hot points. (It should appear now as shown in below image)

             

                Figure 4: CONS and Hot Points are visible in model (i.e. Issue resolved)

Types of Cons (Lines) in ANSA

Generally, there are three types of CONS (lines) available in ANSA.

1. Single CONS (represented by Red Colour lines)
2. Double CONS (represented by Yellow Colour lines)
3. Triple CONS (represented by Cyan Colour lines)

Ideally, 

• Edges which are shared with only one surface should be single CONS. 
• If any edge is shared with two surfaces, that line is called Double CONS 
• If any edge is shared with three or more than three surfaces, that line is called triple CONS.

 Let's understand this with the below example.

Step 3: Perform TOPO to connect the surfaces of a CAD model

After opening the model, one should check with the single CONS in the model. Generally single CONS will be represented by Red colour lines which shows there is no connectivity between the surfaces in the model. (Refer to the below image to understand the single CONS in the model)

• From the above image, it is clear that the model is having only single CONS. Basically, every CAD model that’s being imported in ANSA should have double CONS (yellow lines). 
• In order to get double CONS from single CONS, TOPO operation should be carried out. (Refer to below image to understand this)

Topo tool is present in Faces. 

• Selection of the whole model can be done by box selection (For box selection use Shift + Left click). 
• Selection Lines will convert into White colour lines which is a preview of the selected region. 

After confirming the selection preview, the Middle mouse button (scroll button) needs to be pressed for finishing the operation.

From the above image, it is clear that connectivity has been applied by performing the TOPO operation. (Double CONS represents the connectivity between two surfaces)

Step 4: Increase the CONS resolution

Let’s understand the CONS resolution by the below examples.

From the above images, we can understand that the circular holes are much more accurate in shape in the second image than the first. So, We can say the CONS resolution of the second image is better.

Now, Let’s see how to do this with example shown below:

Note: 

• By changing the distance between the nodes (i.e. Mesh Length) from 20 to 1, we can increase the CONS resolution of a model. This will help us to understand the actual shape/geometry of a CAD model.
• Make sure before meshing, this length should be again changed to the Target element length given in the Quality criteria.

Step 5: Assign PID and delete the unnecessary PIDs

PID is a short form of Part ID or Property ID. PID can be assigned to a surface or group of surfaces as per the thickness of a parent geometry CAD.

Note: 

• There should be a separate PID for the Midsurface of components/Parts which has different thicknesses. (i.e. If a model has 6 different parts of 6 different thicknesses then there should be 6 PIDs for their mid surfaces.)
• Let’s understand how to create a new PID and assign it to a desired part/surface. (Refer to the below demonstration)

• In order to change the colour of PID, Double click on the colour box needs to be done. And then change the Model view to the PID view on the right bottom side.

Let’s understand how to delete any unwanted PID from PID Manager. (Refer to the below demonstration)

• Creating and deleting PIDs as per our requirement will help visualizing the required PIDs at a time.

How to set the White Colour Background in ANSA GUI?

In order to take images for creating reports, the white colour background can be preferred sometimes. It is important to understand how we can change the colour of the background as per our requirements. Let’s understand this with the demonstration shown below.

How to Set Mouse Controls in ANSA?

In ANSA, The mouse settings can be changed as per the user’s convenience. Inorder to change the Mouse settings,

Go to Tools>Settings>Mouse/Keyboard> Button Operations> (Do appropriate changes) > OK.

Below is a demonstration of the same:

Note: You can always save your settings and open the settings file every time you open ANSA.

How to Turn On Labels for ICONS in ANSA

Turning on Labels (i.e. Name of each Icon) will help to identify the tool with its technical name. It is recommended to turn on Labels while working with ANSA.

In order to do this, right-click on the free space at the bottom of ANSA GUI and then Click on Show labels. (Refer to the below image)

How to Search for any Tool in ANSA?

It is observed that there are so many tools available in TOPO, MESH, V.Mesh, etc. As a beginner sometimes it will be difficult to find the required tool, at that time the Search option in ANSA will help a lot to find out and enable the tool by searching in the search bar.

Let’s try searching for the Cut option from the search bar. (Refer below demonstration)