Transient Structural Analysis on the Universal Joint 

Transient Structural Analysis on the Universal Joint

Aim :

• To perform Transient Structural Analysis on the Universal Joint.

Objective :

• To define appropriate materials to the Universal Joint Model.
• To define connections between them.
• To perform mesh on the Universal Joint Model.
• To define appropriate Boundary Conditions to the Model.
• To solve and compare the results of the three cases for Total Deformation, Von-Mises Stress, Equivalent Elastic Strain.

Figure 1-Universal Joint Animation.

Procedure :

Phase 1- Material Set-Up :

• To set up the material for the Slider Crank Mechanism Model. First, drag and drop the transient structural analysis workspace into the project schematic from the analysis system. This is shown in below Figure 2.

Figure 2-Ansys Workbench Workspace.

• After deploying the transient structural analysis system in the project schematic workspace.
• Define the Engineering Data and geometry, To define the Geometry and Engineering Data, Right Click on the Engineering Data and click to edit, it will take to the Engineering Tab.
• There Right Click on the Material Tab, A window will Pop-Up stating Engineering data sources.
• Click on the Engineering Data Sources, There go and select the material to define the engineering data. This is shown in Figure 3,4,5.

Figure 3-Right Click on the Engineering Data.

Figure 4-Right Click on the Material Tab.

Figure 5-Select these Materials to define the Model.

Phase 2-Geometry Set-Up :

• Next set up the geometry. To set up the geometry, Right-Click on the Geometry option >> Import Geometry. This is shown in below Figure 6.

Figure 6-Importing Geometry.

Figure 7-Selecting the Geometry to Import.

• Next double click on the geometry to check, Whether the model imported, is Slider Crank Mechanism Model or not. Space Claim Workspace will open. The model will be imported in the space claim, Which is shown in below Figure 8.

Figure 8-Universal Joint Model in the Space Claim.

Phase 3-Model Set-Up :

• Next, define the model, Double click on the model, The Mechanical Workspace will open, There go and define the material, set up the load case for the model.
• The Model loaded in the mechanical workspace is shown in below Figure 9.

Figure 9-Model Loaded in Mechanical Workspace.

3:1 Assign Material :

• Next, define the material as Structural Steel for the whole Universal Joint Model which is shown in below Figure 10.
• To assign a material, Click on the Geometry >> Select all the Geometries of Universal Joint Model >> Parameter Window >> Assignment >>Structural Steel.
• The mechanical properties of the material are shown in below Figure 11.
• Similarly, for Case-2 and Case-3, In Case-2 assign Stainless Steel as material for the Shaft with Spring and in Case-3, assign Titanium Alloy as material for the Shaft with Spring alone.

Figure 10-Assign Material to the Universal Joint Model.

Figure 11-Mechanical Properties of Structural Steel.

Figure 12-Mechanical Properties of Stainless Steel.

Figure 13-Mechanical Properties of Titanium Alloy.

3:2 Define Connections :

• For this Universal Joint Model, We have to Create Joint Connections.

1) Fixed Joint :

• Select the end face of the spring to give a fixed joint to the model, Which is shown in below Figure 14.

Figure 14-Defined Fixed Joint.

2) Revolute Joint for Shaft with Gear :

• Select the outer face of the shaft with gear and give the revolute joint for the shaft with gear, Which is shown in below Figure 15.

Figure 15-Defined Revolute Joint for Shaft with Gear.

3) Revolute Joint for Shaft with Spring :

• Select the outer face of the shaft with spring and give the fixed support, Which is shown in below Figure 16.

Figure 16-Defined Revolute Joint for Shaft with Spring.

4) Revolute Joint for the Trunnion and Intermediate Link :

Figure 17-Defined Revolute Joint.

• Similarly define the revolute joints for other regions also, Which is shown in below Figures 18 and 19.

Figure 18-Defined Revolute Joint.

Figure 19-Defined Revolute Joint.

3:3 Meshing :

• After defining the connections, We have to define mesh for the Universal Joint Model.
• Mesh the model with 4 mm element size with tetrahedral elements, Which is shown in below Figure 20.

Figure 20-Defined Mesh for the Universal Joint.

Figure 21-Final Meshed Model.

3:4 Analysis Settings :

• Here for this Universal Joint Model, We are giving 5 steps to run the simulation.

Time-Step 1-5 :

• Auto Time Stepping-OFF.
• Weak Springs-Program Controlled.
• Large Deflection-ON.
• Solver Type-Program Controlled.
• The Time-Step-0.1 sec.
• Output Controls-Keep Yesfor all options.

Figure 22-Analysis Settings.

3:5 Boundary Conditions :

• After giving some parameters in the analysis settings, We have to give boundary conditions.
• Here we have to create only one boundary condition, Joint Rotation.
• To give Joint Rotation, Right Click on the Static Structural >> Insert >> Joint Rotation. This is shown in below Figure 23.

1) Joint Rotation :

• Select the Revolute-Ground to Component for the type of joint.
• Select Rotational for the type of definition.
• The Shaft with Gear should rotate from 0 degrees to 150 degrees with an equal interval of 5 steps.

Figure 23-Defined Rotational Connection Joint.

Phase 4-Request for the Outputs :

• Here we have to request outputs for the VonMisses Stress, Strain, and for Total Deformation.
• To request Output for Stress,Right Click on the Solution >> Insert >> Stress >> Equivalent Von Misses Stress.
• To request Output for Strain,Right Click on the Solution >> Insert >> Strain >> Equivalent Von Misses Strain.
• To request Output for Total Deformation,Right Click on the Solution >> Insert >> Deformation >> Total Deformation.
• This is shown in below Figure 24.

Figure 24-Requesting Outputs for the Stress, Strain, and Deformation.

• Next request output for the contact.
• To request Contact Tool >> Right Click on the Solution >> Insert >> Contact Tool >> Pressure >> Status,Which is shown in below Figures 25 and 26.

Figure 25-Requesting Output for Contact.

Figure 26-Requesting Outputs for Contact Tool.

• Similarly request the output for the probe.
• The Output requested for the Universal Joint Model is shown in Figure 27.
• After requesting all the outputs, Run the Simulation.

Figure 27-Required Outputs Requested.

• To run the simulation, Right Click on the Solution >> Solve. This is shown in below Figure 28.

Figure 28-Solve all the Outputs Requested.

• After solving the outputs requested, the simulation results for all three cases are shown below Figures.

Case 1 [Equivalent Von Misses Stress] :

Figure 29-Case-1 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress.

Figure 30-Case-1 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress Simulation Animation.

Case 2 [Equivalent Von Misses Stress] :

Figure 31-Case-2 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress.

Figure 32-Case-2 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress Simulation Animation.

Case 3 [Equivalent Von Misses Stress] :

Figure 33-Case-3 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress.

Figure 34-Case-3 Equivalent Von-Misses Stress Simulation Animation.

Case-1 Total Deformation :

Figure 35-Case-1 Total Deformation.

Figure 36-Case-1 Total Deformation Simulation Animation.

Case-2 Total Deformation :

Figure 37-Case-2 Total Deformation.

Figure 38-Case-2 Total Deformation Simulation Animation.

Case-3 Total Deformation :

Figure 39-Case-3 Total Deformation.

Figure 40-Case-3 Total Deformation Simulation Animation.

Results :

Cases	Equivalent Von-Misses Stress (MPa)		Total Deformation (mm )
	Max.	Min.	Max.	Min.
Case-1 (Structural Steel)	1464.3 MPa	6.4402e-009 MPa	38.637 mm	0
Case-2 (Stainless Steel)	1419.3 MPa	6.462e-009 MPa	38.637 mm	0
Case-3 (Titanium Alloy)	722.98 MPa	1.3833e-008 MPa	38.637 mm	0

Table-1

• Here the Maximum Stress is developed at Case-1 with Structural Steel, The structural steel has maximum stress when compared to the other two materials, which means, it will be having more respective force. So the preferred material is structural steel, I'm concluding that structural steel is the preferred material according to the question, Anyhow it depends on the application. The Total Deformation is equal for all three cases.