Finite Element Study On Mesh Discretization Error Estimation For Ansys Workbench

ANSYS is the most widely used simulation software in Aerospace, Automotive and Electronic industries. Meshing is a process of discretization of continuous body into finite number of elements. The accuracy of the results obtained from an analysis are dependent on the number of elements. A very fine mesh will lead to higher solution time whereas a coarse mesh may result in stress error. It is always tricky for an CAE engineer to decide on the number of elements to be used in an analysis. A balanced approach has to be taken wherein optimum number of elements are used to achieve results with good accuracy. The errors due to mesh discretization can be addressed by evaluating the quality and adequacy of the mesh. Four different methods namely Stress Energy Error (SERR), Element Stress Deviation (SDSG), Percentage Error in Energy Norm (SEPC) and Maximum and Minimum stress bound (SMXB/SMNB) are used to estimate mesh discretization error. These four approaches are directly available in ANSYS Classic to estimate Mesh Error. The literature available on these Mesh Error estimation methods using ANSYS Workbench is scant. A Mesh Error estimation approach using ANSYS Workbench has been explored and the same has been compared with that of ANSYS Classic in this paper.