The content of this article is a compilation of various sections on the topic of Probes from Ansys Workbench help documentation.
What are probes in Ansys Workbench?
In Ansys Workbench Probes enable you to find results at a point on the model, or minimum or maximum results on a body, face, edge, or vertex; to find results on objects in the tree, such as elastic support or weak springs; or to obtain reaction forces and moments at supports.
How to Insert Probes in Ansys Workbench?
You insert probes from the Solution object. Probes are available from the Probe drop-down menu on the ribbon or through the right-click context menu. You specify the probe using the properties of the Details pane. Following the solution, the display of the probe reveals the displaced mesh for the specified time. The probe result shows values over time and for a specified time. Based on the probe type, the Details pane displays result data specific to that type, such as maximum or minimum values over time, emitted radiation, etc.
Note: You cannot turn off the time history for result probes.
Structural Probes
he following structural probe types are available.
| Probe Type | Applicable Analysis Types | Output | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deformation | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Explicit Dynamics, LS-DYNA | Deformation: X axis, Y axis, Z axis, Total | Scope to: Flexible bodies, a single rigid body, or Remote Point.Scope by: Bodies (single body only if rigid), location (Hit Point Coordinate), vertex, edge, face, user-defined Coordinate System, or user-defined Remote Point.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Strain | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Explicit Dynamics | Strain: Components, Principals, Normal X, Normal Y, Normal Z, XY Shear, YZ Shear, XZ Shear, Minimum Principal, Middle Principal, Maximum Principal, Intensity, Equivalent (von-Mises) | Scope to: Flexible body only.Scope by: Bodies, location (Hit Point Coordinate), vertex, edge, face.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Stress | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Explicit Dynamics,LS-DYNA | Stress: Components, Principals, Normal X, Normal Y, Normal Z, XY Shear, YZ Shear, XZ Shear, Minimum Principal, Middle Principal, Maximum Principal, Intensity, Equivalent (von-Mises) | Scope to: flexible body only.Scope by: Bodies, location (Hit Point Coordinate), vertex, edge, face.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Position | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Explicit Dynamics | Result Selection: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Rigid body only.Scope by: Bodies, coordinate system.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Flexible Rotation Probe | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, and Transient Structural | Rotation of X, Y, and Z axes (in the Global Coordinate System only) | Scope to: User-defined Remote Point or a Body. Note that this probe requires rotational degrees of freedom data (ROTX/ROTY/ROTZ), which is commonly associated with shell and beam bodies, but not solid bodies. If unavailable, the application displays result values of 0.[a] |
| Velocity | Coupled Field Transient, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Explicit Dynamics, LS-DYNA | Velocity: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Flexible or rigid body.Scope by: Bodies (single body only if rigid), coordinate system (rigid bodies only), location (Hit Point Coordinate), vertex, edge, face.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Angular Velocity | Coupled Field Transient, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics | Angular Velocity: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Rigid body only.Scope by: Bodies.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Acceleration | Coupled Field Transient, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Explicit Dynamics, LS-DYNA | Acceleration: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Flexible or rigid body.Scope by: Bodies (single body only if rigid), coordinate system (rigid bodies only), location (Hit Point Coordinate), vertex, edge, face.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Angular Acceleration | Coupled Field Transient, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics | Angular Acceleration: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Rigid body only.Scope by: Bodies.Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Energy | Coupled Field Harmonic, Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, Explicit Dynamics | For Static Structural and Transient Structural: Kinetic, Strain, Damping, Artificial, and Nonlinear Stabilization.For Rigid Dynamics: Kinetic, Potential, External, and TotalFor Coupled Field Harmonic: Kinetic, Potential, and DampingFor Coupled Field Static and Coupled Field Transient: Kinetic, Strain, Damping, Artificial, Nonlinear Stabilization, and Total.For Explicit Dynamics: Internal, Kinetic, Plastic Work, Hourglass, Contact, and Total | Scope to your model using the Geometry property: System Energy is the default setting. Otherwise, only body scoping is supported for either flexible or rigid bodies.Scope by using the Result Selection property:For Transient Structural and Static Structural: All (default) energy types or per body for the Kinetic, Strain, Damping, Artificial, or Nonlinear Stabilization options.For Transient Rigid: All (default) energy types or per part for the Kinetic, Potential, External, and Total options.Note: For the External and Total options, you must use the System Energy setting for the Geometry property setting.For Coupled Field Harmonic: All (default) energy types or per body for the Kinetic, Potential, and Damping options.For Coupled Field Static and Coupled Field Transient: All, Kinetic, Strain, Damping, Artificial, Nonlinear Stabilization, and Total.For Explicit Dynamics: All (default) energy types or per body for the Internal, Kinetic, Plastic Work, Hourglass, Contact, and Total options. |
| Volume | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Steady-State Thermal, Transient Thermal, Electric, and Thermal-Electric. | Volume | Scope to: Body.Scope by: Body. |
| Force Reaction[b] | Coupled Field analyses, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Modal, Harmonic Response, Random Vibration, Response Spectrum, Explicit Dynamics[c] | Force Reaction: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Flexible body, vertex, edge, or face[d]. In Explicit Dynamics analyses probes can also be scoped to faces, edges, and vertices of a rigid body. You can also scope to a section plane on a body by specifying Surface as the Location Method.Scope by: Boundary Condition[e], Contact Region, Remote Points[f], Beams[f], Springs[f], Mesh Connection, and Surface[g].Orientation coordinate system: Any Cartesian: defaults to Global Cartesian. Solution Coordinate System is the only valid option for Random Vibration and Response Spectrum. |
| Moment Reaction [b] | Coupled Field analyses, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Modal, Harmonic, Random Vibration, Response Spectrum, Explicit Dynamics[c] | Moment Reaction: X axis, Y axis, Z axis | Scope to: Flexible body, vertex, edge, or face[d]. In Explicit Dynamics analyses probes can also be scoped to faces, edges, and vertices of a rigid body. You can also scope to a section plane on a body by specifying Surface as the Location Method.Scope by: Boundary Condition[e], Contact Region, Remote Points[f], Beams[f], Mesh Connection, and Surface[g].Orientation coordinate system: Any Cartesian: defaults to Global Cartesian. Solution Coordinate System is the only valid option for Random Vibration and Response Spectrum.Summation point: Centroid or orientation coordinate system. |
| Joint | Static Acoustics, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Explicit Dynamics, LS-DYNA, LS-DYNA Restart Analysis, Rigid Dynamics Analysis, and Ansys Motion[h] | See Joint Probes | Scope to: Joint only.Orientation coordinate system: The Orientation Method property for a Joint Probe defaults to the read-only setting, Joint Reference System. This option is the same for all outputs. Only Cartesian coordinate systems are valid for a Joint Probe.Summation point: Always at joint for Moment. |
| Spring | All analysis types including Rigid Dynamics and LS-DYNA[h] | Elastic Force[i], Damping Force[j], Elongation, Velocity[k] | Scope to: Spring only.Orientation coordinate system: Spring axis only. |
| Bearing | Coupled Field analyses, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Modal, Harmonic Response, Random Vibration, Response Spectrum | Elastic Force 1, Elastic Force 2, Damping Force 1, Damping Force 2, Elongation 1, Elongation 2, Velocity 1, Velocity 2 | Scope to: Bearing only.Orientation coordinate system: Bearing axes only. |
| Beam | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, LS-DYNA[h] | Axial Force, Torque, Shear Force at I, Shear Force at J, Moment at I, and Moment at J | Boundary Condition: Select beam. |
| Bolt Pretension | Coupled Field Static, Coupled Field Transient, Static Structural, Transient Structural, Random Vibration, Response Spectrum | Adjustment (Static and Transient Structural), Tensile Force | Scope by: Boundary condition (Y pretension bolt condition).Orientation coordinate system: Along pretension direction only. |
| Generalized Plane Strain | 2D: Static Structural, Transient Structural | Rotation: X, Y: Moment: X, Y: Fiber Length Change: Force | Orientation coordinate system: Any: defaults to Global Cartesian. |
| Response PSD [l] | Random Vibration | X axis, Y axis, and Z axis.Displacement, Stress, Strain, Acceleration, Velocity | Scope to: Flexible body only.Scope by: Location (Hit Point Coordinate) and vertex.Orientation Coordinate System: Solution Coordinate System is the only valid option for Random Vibration. |
| Contact Distance | Rigid Dynamics Only | The varied distance between the Contact and Target sides of the specified Contact Region for each time point in the analysis. | Scope to: Contact Region.Scope by: Contact Region. |
[a] Solid bodies, which are composed of solid elements, have no rotational degrees of freedom, and therefore calculate maximum x, y, and z values as zero (Axis specified under the Results category equals 0). However, if a solid body shares nodes with shell bodies or line bodies and if the scoping includes the solid body only, then this probe can report non-zero values (resulting from the shared nodes). But these rotation values may not represent the rotation of the body as a whole. Furthermore, if the body shares nodes with an element whose nodes include rotational degrees of freedom, such as contact or spring elements, or some condition that has inherent motion, the probe may also produce rotation values that do not represent the rotation of the body.
[b] Force Reactionand Moment Reaction probes:
- Will not solve if scoped to a Contact Region that includes a rigid body.
- Do not support Mesh Connections for Modal and Harmonic Response analyses.
- Do not support the Location Method option Contact Region when the corresponding Contact Region is scoped to element faces.
- A limitation exists when the scoping of a probe is applied to a geometric entity (Location Method = Geometry Selection) that shares more than one body. The (unscoped) elements that are adjacent to the scoped body contribute to the probe’s results.
[c] For Explicit Dynamics, the only valid options for the Location Method property are Geometry or Boundary Condition.
[d] When you scope this result to geometry, including contact surfaces and cut surfaces, the application calculates the probe using element-nodal data. These calculations are equivalent to those of the FSUM command. That is, the sums for each component direction for the total selected node set and the nodal force and moment contributions of the selected elements attached to the node set.
Recommendation: You should examine your results carefully for geometry scoping. If all elements are selected, the sums of the result are usually zero except where constraints or loads are applied. Element-nodal results for geometry-based scoping should be the same as the node-based results when you specify Boundary Condition as the Location Method if the geometry-based scoping is the same as the boundary condition scoping. However, because of certain limitations associated with how Mechanical calculates scoping, and perhaps based on a model’s geometry, the application may produce unexpected element-nodal results.
[e] When you specify Boundary Condition as the Location Method, the application calculates Force Reaction or Moment Reaction probes using nodal data. These calculations are equivalent to those of the PRRSOL command, which provides the total reaction solution for the selected nodes.
[f] Remote Points must be constrained and Beams and Springs must be grounded.
[g] Setting the Location Method to Surface requires that you specify the following additional properties:
- Surface: Select a construction Surface created using the Construction Geometry feature.
- Geometry: Select the body or bodies that the construction Surface intersects (slices through).
- Extraction: Option include Mesh From Positive Side (default) and Mesh From Negative Side. The probe only examines the elements cut by the plane and only the nodes of those elements which are on specified side of the plane, positive or negative. The positive side is in the positive local Z direction from the construction surface and negative side is in the negative local Z direction.
Note: Surfaces used for reaction probes do not currently intersect all geometries. For example, the feature does not intersect line bodies or bodies that include a joint, spring, or MPC contact.
Limitation: This option has certain inherent limitations. The probe’s results can be affected by:
- An application employed tolerance as you cut through the mesh. This calculation creates a small thickness value. This could allow nodes not included in the construction surface to be used in the solution.
- Facets shared by elements included in the construction surface.
- Loads and constraints that produce a solution in the body that is essentially zero.
If you experience doubts about your result values, compare reactions scoped to a surface against the reaction solutions scoped to boundary conditions and scoped to contact elements.
[h] For LS-DYNA, if your project was solved in a version earlier than 2020 R1, you will not be able to evaluate the following probes: Spring, Beam Connection, and Joint.
[i] Random Vibration and Response Spectrum analyses support the Elastic Force result only.
[j] The Damping Force result is calculated for Transient Structural analysis only when damping is defined.
[k] Velocity result is calculated only for Static Structural, Transient Structural, Rigid Dynamics, and LS-DYNA analyses.
[l] The Response PSD Probe provides an excitation response plot across the frequency domain of an input PSD load. It also evaluates the root mean square (RMS) and expected frequency of a response PSD. It is assumed that the excitations are stationary random processes from the input PSD values.