In this module, you learn the basics of FEA, various types of simulations along with their significance, and also develop a mathematical understanding of the implicit and explicit schemes.

The topics that will be covered in this module are, 

• Introduction to FEA 
• Type of FE Simulation 
• Explicit and Implicit mathematical definition

In this module, you will learn about the LS-PREPOST, the LS-DYNA user manual. You will also be learning about the file handling in LS-PREPOST, an overview of various cards, and finally running  a Tensile-Test simulation.

These are the topics that are covered in this module,

• Brief about the Pre-Process
• Hands-on training on the LS-DYNA User Manual
• Running an example 
• Post-Processing the results 
• Input and output files in LS-DYNA
• Keywords and input text editing 
• Multiple RUN on the same file in the same folder
• Hands-on the out files (ASCII output) in the text editor
• Exploring binary and ASCII options in database keyword
• Node keyword – Brief 
• Part keyword – Brief
• Materials
• Section
• Control cards – default parameters
• Contact
• LS-PREPOST
• Building the solver deck for a simulation (Plate Model)
• Post-Processing the results
• Modeling of  a cube under pressure
• Modeling the cube under pressure
• Modeling the tensile stress of a specimen

In this module, you will learn a few new keywords in detail, you will learn about the hourglass energy, material keywords in LS-DYNA, methods for calculating Young’s Modulus, basics of Timestep concept, and various control keywords.

These are the topics that are covered in this module,

• Brief on keywords
• Brief on INCLUDE keyword
• Insight of NHTSA 
• Hourglass energy
• Materials introduction 
• Elasto-plastic material and various cards
• Material testing
• Calculation method for Young’s Modulus
• Power law
• Verification 
• Deploy
• Timestep basics
• Control card
• Control timestep 
• Control termination 
• Control shell 
• Control solid 
• Control hourglass
• Control energy 
• Control contact 
• Control accuracy 
• Boundary condition 
• Constrain
• Specifying output files
• Understanding contacts  
• Various types of contacts 

In this module, you will learn in-depth about the LS-PREPOST GUI, you will be introduced to Weld modelling in LS-DYNA and methods to model the Spot Welds and debugging, how to model a cross-section and its application.

The following topics are covered in this module,

• LS-PREPOST GUI
• LS-DYNA GUI application
• Node and element selection
• Application crash, metal forming 
• Element direction align 
• Post-processing 
• Node intrusion depending on the regulation
• Introduction to Spot-Weld in LS-DYNA 
• Hands-on practice on Spot-Welds 
• Solving a simple problem to learn the Spot-Welds and then Post-Processing it.
• Modelling Spot-Weld using Spot-Weld constraint card.
• Modelling Spot-Weld using Spot-Weld generalize constrain card
• Debugging Spot-Weld
• Spot-Welds modelling using solid elements
• Introduction to Cross-Section 
• Modelling a Cross-Section 
• Application of Cross-Section 

In this module, you will learn about the implicit problem and how to set up an implicit simulation, you will also learn about the memory allocation in LS-DYNA, you will learn the concept of convergence in implicit, various keywords used in an implicit simulation, you understand about MORTAR contact and defining the loading in implicit simulations. 

These are the topics that you will learn in this module, 

• Introduction to implicit problems
• Implicit and explicit comparison 
• Memory in LS-DYNA
• In core / out-of-core 
• Double precision and MPP
• Tensile test - simple implicit problem
• Timestep in implicit problems 
• Convergence in implicit 
• Implicit keywords 
• Implicit and explicit switching 
• Timestep adjusting 
• Control-implicit-solver (Non-linear solver)
• Implicit problem, hands-on with a bumper demonstration 
• Power law plasticity 
• MORTAR contact
• MORTAR contact theory 
• SOFT card - intro 
• Implicit loading 
• Element formulation for implicit analysis

In this project, you will hands-on experience in using the *INCLUDE, *INCLUDE_TRANSFORM,*DEFINE_TRANSFORMATION and understand how to model a pedestrian head impact simulation and calculate the HIC value. 

• Overview of the pedestrian impact simulation
• Understanding the HIC value 
• HIC calculation - LS-PRE-POST
• Understanding *INCLUDE, *INCLUDE_TRANSFORM,*DEFINE_TRANSFORMATION 

In this module, you will learn about the best practices in LS-DYNA that are particularly relevant for CAE simulation engineers in the industry, you will also understand the concept of mass scaling in-depth, and the difference between verification and validation.

The topics that will be covered in this module are as follows, 

• Best Practices in LS-DYNA
• Setting up the model 
• How to decide the type of analyses (static, quasi-static, dynamic) 
• Dealing with the coupled problem 
• Deciding the ELFORM for the problem
• Solving the model - types of error and their Fix
• MASS scaling 
• Post-Processing - Introduction (verification and validation) 
• Post-Processing a typical explicit model 

This module mainly deals with material modelling using LS-DYNA. You will understand how to model a material card from the raw data from the material testing lab. You will understand in-depth about material modelling techniques and will also learn how to model a hyperelastic material in LS-DYNA. You will also learn about the contact mechanics and the various contact types in LS-DYNA.

The topics covered in this module are, 

• Material introduction 
• Material testing 
• modelling materials 
• Elastic-plastic materials 
• Material modelling from the raw data
• Hands-on hyperelastic material ( Mat-law 77 )
• Contact mechanics
• Types of contacts
• Full contact parameters
• Contact parameter - SOFT 
• Segment projection 
• Initial penetration 
• Tied contacts 
• Contact output 

This module focuses on the crash and safety domain where you will be introduced to the industry trends in crash and safety.

And the topics you will learn are, 

• Vehicle crash safety 
• Crash mechanics
• Design for crash 
• Vehicle development process
• Knowledge of simulation engineer 
• Regulation and NCAPS 
• Score calculation 
• Model preparation static vs crashworthiness 
• General guideline for crash model preparation 
• Meshing and mesh quality 
• Model organization and integration 
• Parameterization
• Forming data  

The first module you learn will learn about different types of analysis, the difference between Implicit and Explicit analysis, different non-linearities and along with this you will also bust the myth that ‘strong structure equates safe structure’ by teaching you about:

• Meaning of crash safety for a vehicle

• Law of conservation of energy applied to a car crash

• Basic concepts of FEA such as linear-nonlinear, static-dynamic, Implicit- Explicit analysis, their differences and the guidelines on how to choose a method for a given FEA problem

HyperMesh is one of the most popular Finite Element Preprocessor used to generate meshes

of complex models. In this module, you will learn the GUI of HyperMesh, various elements available in FEA like 1D, 2D and 3D elements, how to choose the element depending on the geometry by covering topics such as:

• Overview of Pre-Processors and their importance in FEA Processes

• Primary introduction to GUI of HyperMesh, toolbars and basic operations

Learning to mesh geometries is an important step in performing FEA. Therefore, we will extensively cover the topic by which the students can understand, geometry clean up, tools available for geometry cleanups, 

• Using an edited geometry to generate mid-surface and appropriate 2D mesh with regards to mesh flow, trias and mesh size, by various methods

• Using the geometry tools to clean up the distorted geometry

In this section, you will learn what is 1D, 2D, and 3D meshing, what is mesh quality and how to improve them and then exporting the meshed model to the specific solver.

• Using an edited geometry to generate mid-surface and appropriate 2D mesh with regards to mesh flow, trias and mesh size, by various methods

• Using the geometry to create a 3D mesh using various methods

• Meaning of mesh quality and ways to control and improve it

• Types of 1D elements, their specifications, and creation

• Exporting a meshed model from HyperMesh in the specified solver format

In this section, you will learn what is an Explicit Solver, what is an engine file and a starter file and their significance and also what is an out file and how to read this out file.

• Overview of Radioss- An Explicit FEA solver for crashworthiness

• Essential Radioss input files, their significance, and format

• Overview of output files and their significance

In this section, you will learn about the various element formulations available for different types of elements in the Radioss and their applications, how to assign thickness for the component and also you will understand various parameters available in the property card and their significance. 

Similarly, you will also learn various material cards available in Radioss and their use cases along with their failure criteria.

• Application of thickness and dimensional properties, integration points for 1D, 2D and 3D elements

• Study and application of concepts such as material intrinsic properties, failure criteria, non-linearity, plasticity, and hyper-elasticity into a material model

In this section, you will learn a new application that is developed by Altair exclusively to set up the crash simulations and along with this, you will be learning the GUI of Hypercrash. You will also be introduced to Hyperview and HyperGraph where you will learn how to post-process the simulation results

• Introduction to HyperCrash, a specialized pre-processor for Radioss

• Introduction to HyperView and HyperGraph as post-processing tools in the FEA process

Interface modelling will be a complex topic that you can find in any solver. Here you will learn what is a contact and how it works, what are the different parameters you need to look into while defining a contact in a model, what are the different types of contacts and their use cases. 

• Concepts of an interface between given components, penalty formulation method, contact stiffness, gap, penetration, interference, and tied interfaces

• Creation of various types of interfaces and removing any errors or interferences

In this section, you will understand how to set up a proper boundary condition for any given simulation, what are the different types of loading conditions and different types of joints available in Radioss

• Setup of static and dynamic loading conditions such as velocity, acceleration, a constraint on degree of freedom, rigid walls, spot welds, and seam welds

In this section, you will learn about the concept of the time step and how it can be optimized to increase the speed of the simulation and also the concept of mass scaling. You will also understand the various control cards available in Radioss and their use cases.

• Control of simulation in terms of the time step, accuracy, run time, types of outputs

In this section, you will the various check you to do before running the simulation and also you will understand how to debug a simulation along with its approach 

• Checking and debugging any errors in the model using diagnostic methods

In this section, you will exclusively learn about the Physics of an airbag in crash scenarios and how to model them in Radioss. You will be learning about two types of Airbags ( with vent and without vent ) 

• Concept of an airbag in FEA, its modelling methods and challenges with an example

In this section, you will learn about how the injury criteria are calculated in the actual crash test environment and how it affects the rating of the vehicle. You will also learn about the dummy standards that are used in crash testing. 

• Various occupant injury criteria currently being considered while determining the crashworthiness and safety performance of a car

In this section, you will learn about the standards followed in different ENCAPs 

• Study of basic elements of most popular crashworthiness standards, the criteria used while determining the crashworthiness performance and ways to measure this in the FEA model

In this module, you will study the fundamentals of Finite Element Analysis (FEA). FEA is a generic technique used to solve boundary value problems. FEA finds a lot of applications in structural analysis. In this module, we will discuss the math behind FEA, along with the following topics

• 5Ws of Finite Element Analysis 
• Types of engineering problem-solving methods
• Types of CAE process
• Model setup 

In this module, you will study the meshing software - HyperMesh. HyperMesh is a highly capable simulation software and in this module you will learn the various tools and features that HyperMesh has to offer. 

In this module, you will learn of the following topics

• Geometric tool and tools menu introduction
• Basic geometric tools
• Geometry cleanups (includes auto cleanup) 
• Midsurface creation

While dealing with complex 3D components, it is important to remove small features and holes that are inevitable when designing a CAD model. You will be introduced to the batch mesher macro that will be instrumental in accomplishing this. 

In this module, you will study the following topics

• Criteria files for geometry cleanup 
• MNode's creation & node edit
• Point edit
• Edge edit

1D Meshing is a great way to speed up the simulation time without compromising on accuracy. There are different types of 1D elements - each featuring its own shape function and characteristics.

In this module, you will learn the following

• 5Masses, Bar, Rod, Rigid, RBE3, Springs, Gaps 
• Connectors, HYPER BEAM, Linemesh, Linear 1D
• Edit, Element, Split, Replace, Detach
• Order change, configuration edit, element type

In this module you will learn to perform surface clean-up on a given geometry and to extract the mid-surface using an in-built tool - Auto-mid-surface. You will also learn how to clean up the surface manually because relying only on the Auto-mid-surface option may give rise to a distorted surface while dealing with a complex geometry

Here is a list of topics that you will learn in this module.

• Surface clean up 
• Midsurface generation 
• Handling distorted surfaces

In this module, you will learn the basics of 2D meshing, how to mesh a surface, how to re-mesh a meshed surface using Elements, and how to attain mesh flow in the geometry. You will also learn how to handle the Tria elements in the model.

• 2D meshing introduction 
• 2D basic tools
• Mesh flow
• Handling Tria Elements

In this module, you learn what a quality check is and understand the different quality-checks that HyperMesh offers. You will also learn how to fix areas that failed the quality check.

Here, is a list of key concepts that you will learn in this module.

• 1D Element quality check
• 2D Element quality check
• Understanding the quality parameters for 2D meshing

In this module you will learn how to do manual mid surfacing when the auto-mid surfacing option fails. You will also learn how to handle geometry if they are symmetrical, normals check in the model and its significance, and free edges along with their significance.

The following topics are covered in this

• Manual mid surface 
• Handling symmetric geometry 
• Free edge checks
• Normals check

In this module, you will learn the different tools and techniques to generate a hexamesh for a given geometry. You will also learn a variety of techniques to generate tetra meshes. You will also understand the quality-checks for tetra elements and how to rectify areas that have failed these checks.

The following topics are covered in this module.

• Hexa meshing 
• Tetra meshing
• Different methods of tetra mesh generation.
• Quality check 3D element 

Sometimes, meshes are made with both 2D and 3D meshes that are interspersed. Connectors help the computer understand that the interface is between two different kinds of meshes. Connectors are time-saving features that are a must in large models. In addition to this, connectors offer a way to let the computer know that two components have been seam welded.

• Seam weld
• Spot weld 
• Bolt connection 
• Spring element 
• Adhesive modelling - HEXA 

In this module, you will understand the uses of batch meshing and its applications in industries. You learn about the parameter file and criteria file, how they can be optimized for the requirement. 

Here is a list of key concepts that you will learn in this module.

• Understand quality parameter and criteria files
• Optimizing these files according to the requirement

In this module, you will learn about morphing which can be done using constraints, volumes, and geometry. Also you will be working with manipulation of TCL commands, running a TCL command using the inbuilt run options. 

• Morph constraints
• Morph volumes
• Map to geometry
• Basic macro generation using TCL commands

WEEK 1 & 2

In this module you will be introduced to the CAE domain along with introduction to FEA basics. You will learn the Graphical User Interface(GUI) of the ANSA tool. You will get to know about different solvers and types of analysis carried out using them You will be introduced to basic tools that will help you with geometric cleanups and other deck setups in ANSA.

The topics covered in this module are, 

• Introduction to FEA,

• ANSA GUI,

• Geometric Tools and Topology cleanup

• Types of CAE process Tools for structural CAE, 

• Types of elements, 

• Different Tools used in TOPO deck

  
  

WEEK 3

In this module, you will study the basics of 2D meshing. You will also learn how to extract mid surface, deploy 2D mesh on the mid surface, reconstruct already meshed areas, along with various techniques for achieving the mesh flow. You will also learn how to eliminate the tria concentration present in the geometry, capture the important features in the geometry.

You will be working on a sheet metal component in this module. You will also be taught how to achieve mesh quality for the component by assigning the quality criteria parameters.

You will study the following topics in this module,

• Manual Mid Surfacing for Sheet metal components, 

• 2D meshing on sheet metal components, 

• Quality checkup and taking measures to achieve quality, 

• Introduction to different Tools used in Mesh deck

• Revising the basic commands

• Basic commands used in TOPO and MESH deck,

• Practice model provided 

  
  

WEEK 4

Manual Mid-Surfacing-Plastic Trims and Cast Parts

In this module you will be learning about extracting the mid surface and working on a plastic part. Plastic parts are of variable thickness therefore, extracting the mid surface and assigning the thickness is more tricky while compared to the sheet metal component.

You will study the following topics in this module,

• Manual mid-surfacing for plastic trim components & cast parts, 

• 2D meshing, quality checkup 

• Different tools used in mesh deck

• A plastic part is given for practice

WEEK 5

Solid Meshing(Tetra & Hexa)

In this module, you will learn the different tools and techniques to generate the Tetra mesh for a given geometry. You will also learn the different methods involved in generating a Hexa mesh. You will also understand the quality checks for Tetra elements and how to rectify failed tetra elements.

You will study the following topics in this module,

Establishing Solid (Tetra) meshing on 2 different components

• Solid (Tetra) Meshing, 

• 3D meshing quality criteria,

• Volume mesh deck

Introduction to Solid (Hexa) meshing

• Solid (Hexa) meshing,

• Volume mesh deck

  
  

  
  

WEEK 6

In this module, you will be introduced to connections in ANSA. This enables the user to generate FE models for durability, NVH, and crash analysis. Connections are now efficiently designed with the help of the tool. You will also generate connections for the automotive seat & front door.

These are the topics that you will learn in this module,

   Different types of connectors such as:

 - Two Nodes RBE2 

 -  Cluster RBE2

 -  RBE2-CBUSH-RBE2

 -  RBE2-HEXA-RBE2

 -  Nut and Bolt representation

 -  Seam weld data representation

   Different operations such as

 -  Converting and Realizing operations 

 -  Connection Manager operations

 -  Assigning mass to a node.

WEEK 7

In this module, you will learn about batch meshing, casting methods, and its applications in industries. Batch meshing/casting method will help you to model the component efficiently and quicker than if you tried to model them manually. But these tools do not guarantee the best results always, there will areas where you need to manually check the results.

You will study the following topics in this module

      -       Introduction to casting & batch meshing operations 

• Auto mid surfacing and meshing by using casting and skin methods

  
  

  
  

WEEK 8

In this module, you will learn about a few morphing techniques in ANSA. ANSA allows a full-fledged morphing menu which is completely integrated with ANSA's interface. The functions of the morphing menu can be used to efficiently re-shape both FE and/or geometry-based models.

You will study the following topics in this module,

• Direct morphing

• Box morphing 

• Hatches

• Morphing was done in FE model

• Morphing done in CAD geometry.

  
  

  
  

This section gives an overview of FEA, 

• The different solving techniques available
• Meaning of Finite Element Analysis
• Introduction to nodes and elements
• Need for meshing and different types of meshing

Workbench is one of the industry-leading software from ANSYS that houses multiple analyses under one roof. 

• Getting to know the basic GUI of ANSYS
• Overview of different analysis systems available in ANSYS Workbench
• Overview of different component systems in ANSYS
• Creating and saving your first project

ANSYS Workbench has its own library of engineering materials with its corresponding material properties built-in. Therefore, we will work to look into various options available under engineering data. These include:

• Going through various material libraries provided by ANSYS
• Understanding where and when to use particular materials
• Creation of new material
• Adding a material for analysis

ANSYS SpaceClaim is an inbuilt design tool with enhanced GUI and accessibilities. Provides varying options to the user for creating simple extrude, sweep and extrude cut.

You will learn:

• Creation of simple geometry in SpaceClaim
• Adding and removing material using SpaceClaim
• Merging component faces using SpaceClaim

• Importing and assigning material to the geometry
• The meshing of the components
• Creating local coordinate systems for the model
• Defining contacts and joints if there are any to the model

Static structural analysis is the first analysis system we will be studying in-depth. Static structural analysis is used in cases where the load acting on the body is very slow, not varying with time and not considering the inertia effects. So we will look into

• Setting up and running a simple spur gear model
• Performing mesh convergence for a bevel gear model
• Determining the effect of a sheet on a die and punch system
• Performing a bending of wires
• Simulating a three-point bending for an iPhone and determining its life and factor of safety for various components involved
  

• Determining the frictional effects in a slider-crank mechanism
• Effects of friction in a piston cam setup
• Moving of worm gear over a large gear from one end to the other
• Material suitability for a universal joint model

Explicit dynamics is the third part of the study in this course. Explicit dynamics is applied in the cases where high energy generation, acceleration is involved i.e high energy generated at a very small instant of time. ANSYS uses Autodyn software to solve explicit analysis. Here we will be looking at,

• Performing tension and torsion test for a given specimen
• Determining the effect of thickness for a car body
• Capturing the effect of a bullet striking on a bucket
• Effect of velocity on a workpiece in a planar machine

In this module, you will learn HyperMesh GUI, What is TCL compiler and hands-on practice of the TCL commands in Notepad++

• HyperMesh GUI overview
• TCL compilers
• Notepad ++
• “Hello World” TCL code

In this module, you will learn TCL commands like loops, arrays and how TCL is linked with HyperMesh 

• Looping structures
• Array manipulation
• TCL wiki
• HyperMesh and TCL linkage

In this module, you will learn several commands and how they can be used in HyperMesh to perform operations

•  “ * ” and “hm_” commands

In this module, you will learn how to build a GUI using Tk for the TCL command used in HyperMesh 

• Introduction to TK
• creating TK popup box
• creating TK buttons
• creating TK input boxes

In this module, you will be able to understand the problem of normals in pre-processing and how it will affect the results in a simulation. You will also learn how to automate to align the normal in a few quick mouse clicks.

• Element normals and their  significance
• Fixing normals: code vs. standard

In this module, you will learn how to handle a null case when you write a code in HyperMesh to automate a process 

• Handling null cases
• Delete displayed
• Delete empty
• Isolate displayed

In this module, you can understand the concept of free edges and how it will affect the simulation, and also you will be able to write a code to automate the fix for the Free edge issue that occurs during meshing.

• Free edge and their significance
• Detecting free edges using available tools

In this module, you will learn the significance of a collector, property card, and material card along with a manual method to assign them. Once you understand that you will also be writing code to automate the process.

• Different collectors and prop and material assignment
• Renaming- as per thickness

In this module, you learn the importance of Reflect command for the symmetrical models along with the manual renaming of the components and their material and property cards. Once you understand that this method is time consuming and tiring, you will also learn how this can be automated with a few lines of codes. 

• Explain the physics
• Explain procedure
• CAD manipulation using TCL

In this module, you will understand the significance of numbering  in a model for nodes, elements, components, sets, etc., and learn how to automate them with learn the code and its logic

Creating ordered sets

• “Remembering” the selection order
• Midline generation

In this module, you understand the importance of mesh quality. You also understand the importance of automating this process

• Quality criteria check
• How to highlight these elements
• Popup and report generation

In this module, you will learn how to code to automate the part list and how to read and understand the Userpage.mac

• Auto part list
• Userpage.mac understanding
• Automatic deck setup