Performing Submodeling in Ansys Mechanical — Lesson 6

Submodeling, as the name suggests, is the modeling of a portion of a larger (global) model to capture the effects of refined mesh in a smaller model. This is done to avoid having the whole assembly meshed with fine elements.

We use coarse mesh in the global model, as the local features of the submodel do not have any impact on the overall response of the system. We then define a refined submodel with displacement and temperature results applied to the submodel. The most common utility of this approach is to refine a critical region or region of interest without solving for the whole model. Another important aspect is to study small changes like adding a fillet. With local design changes come the parametrization of the design, which is much easier in the smaller submodel. Apart from this, we can model localized nonlinearity that might not have been captured in the global model.

Alternate video link.

Video Highlights

1:20 – Introduction to Submodeling

2:37 – St. Venant’s Principle approach for Submodeling

3:01 – Advantages of the Submodeling Approach

6:24 – Creating a Local Coordinate System

6:59 – Defining a Remote Displacement Boundary Condition

8:45 – Changing the Upper and Lower Limits of the Legend Results

10:20 – Creating a Connection between Solution and Setup Model Cells

10:47 – Defining Mesh Size for a Body

11:33 – Creating a Named Selection

11:50 – Importing Cut Boundary Constraint into the analysis

12:35 – Turning On the Display Source Points

13:50 – Advantages of Submodeling

Simulation Files

Download the accompanying geometry and archived project file used in the video lesson here. Download Ansys Student for free here.