Getting Started with Workbench

Why Ansys?

Ansys is not a program like Solidworks. Rather than having a single viewport to your model open at all times that lets you perform a wide variety of functions, Ansys is segmented into different programs such as mesh, mechanical, and ACP that are accessible through whatever systems you drop into your workbench project.

While this may seem more obtuse than Solidworks where you can quickly take your part and set up a basic simulation, there are many advantage to using Ansys. For example, chassis and roll cage require over 20 simulations of 50+ individual bodies that need to be imported through 3 different part files. Solidworks would require a full reset of the entire model every time a change is made, but with Ansys precise automatic control over what is updated can be done. It also posses much more optimized meshing and solving software that will run better on most computers with less errors. Therefore, we try to use Ansys as much as possible.

Starting from scratch

To start a project, either 1) open Ansys Workbench, or 2) use the Workbench button in Solidworks on whatever model you would like to import. Option one will open a blank project, while option 2 will open a project with a geometry system that is linked to the Solidworks part file. If you chose option one, we will cover how to catch up to option 2 later in the guide.