Project 3- Study of cantilever beam with different cross-sections like circular, rectangular and I section and to find out the effect of cross-section on the deflection of the beam using FEA technique using Ansys Workbench and results has to be verified using strength of material deflection equations.
Aim: Finite Element Analysis and comparison of 3 different beam cross section under point load at one end using Ansys Workbench and validation of the results.
Introduction: Three beams of different cross section is modeled and fixed at one end and the load is applied on the face of minimum dimension to check the values of maximum deflection.
Case1:
Circular Cross section of 50mm radius and 1000mm length
Case2:
Rectangular Cross section of 40X40mm and 1000mm length
Case3:
I Cross section of area equal to rectangular cross section as above and 1000mm length
Procedure:
Intially the static structural system is loaded in workbench.
1. Then the material is selected from Engineering data and here
2. the model made in Spaceclaim
Case1:
The circle of 50mm radius is drawn and pulled to 1000mm
Case2:
The Rectangle of 40X40mm is drawn and pulled to 1000mm
Case3:
The I section with flange of 40X13.333mm and web of 40X13.333 is drawn and pulled to 1000mm
3. After importing model, the model is upadated to model and the next model, setup and solution is done in mechanical modeler.
Here, meshing, boundary condition setup, and solution output request are given for analysis.
Meshing:
Case1: Default mesh size is taken.
Case2: Mesh size of 10m is chosen to get proper bending results
Case3: Mesh size is taken as same as the web thickness to get uniform mesh
Boundary Conditions:
The boundary conditions for all cases are taken same
One end is fixed:
Other end is given force of 1000N:
4. Solution output request
After setting the boundary conditions, the soultion outputs as requested is included from
solution -> insert -> Deformation -> total
After this is done the Analysis is run using Soultion -> Solve
Results:
The solving is taken place and can be checked from
The results are taken for deformation for all cases
Total deformation:
Case 1: Circular cross section
Case 2: Rectangular cross section
Case 3: I section
Validating the results with the analytical data from deflection equaations of catilever beam
| Cross Section | Simulated Deformation mm | Calculated Deflection mm | Error (%) |
| Circular | 0.3232 | 0.3233 | 0.03 |
| Rectangle | 7.4266 | 7.44 | 0.18 |
| I-Section | 1.8928 | 1.87738 | 0.8 |
Conclusion:
Comparison of 3 different beam cross section under point load at one end and validation of the results is completed successfully using ANSYS WORKBENCH.