Mechanical (formerly Simulation)

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Bolt Pretension

Available for 3-D simulations only.

Applies a pretension load to a cylindrical face, to a single body, or to multiple bodies, typically
to model a bolt under pretension. If you apply the Bolt Pretension load to a body, you will
need to have a local Coordinate System object in the tree. The application of the load will be
at the origin and along the z-axis of the local coordinate system. You can place the coordinate
system anywhere in the body and reorient the z-axis.

Body scoping of a Bolt Pretension load can now be to more than one body. In this case all
the scoped bodies will be cut. There is still only a single Bolt Pretension load created but this
feature allows you to apply a bolt load to a bolt that has been cut into several bodies. This
feature is illustrated in the following figure.

This load is applicable to pure structural or thermal-stress analyses. You specify how the Bolt
Pretension load is applied by choosing one of the following options under the Define By
setting in the Details view.

Load: Applies a force as a preload. A Load field is displayed where you enter the
value of the load in force units.
Adjustment: Applies a length as a preadjustment (for example, to model x number
of threads). An Adjustment field is displayed where you enter the value of the
adjustment in length units.
Lock: Fixes all displacements. You can set this state for any step except the first
step.
Open: Use this option to leave the Bolt Pretension load open so that the load has
no effect on the applied step, effectively suppressing the load for the step. Note that
in order to avoid convergence issues from having underconstrained conditions, a
small load (0.01% of the maximum load across the steps) will be applied. You can
set this state for any step.

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and its subsidiaries and affiliates
Mechanical (formerly Simulation)
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Presented below is the same model showing a Bolt Pretension load as a preload force and
as a preadjustment length:

The following animation shows total deformation:

The following demo is presented as an animated GIF. Please view online if you
are reading the PDF version of the help. Interface names and other components
shown in the demo may differ from those in the released product.

Limitations

The following limitations apply to using Bolt Pretension loads:

Do not try to preload a body more than once, that is, do not apply multiple Bolt
Pretension loads to the same body, even at different locations.
If you try to apply a preload on the same face more than once, all definitions except
the first one are ignored.
Be sure that a sufficiently fine mesh exists on a face or body that contains Bolt
Pretension loads so that the mesh can be correctly partitioned along the axial
direction (that is, at least 2 elements long).
For simulating one Bolt Pretension through multiple split faces, you should apply
only one Bolt Pretension load to one of the split faces, as the Bolt Pretension load
will slice though the whole cylinder even though only part of the cylinder is selected.
Care should be used when applying a Bolt Pretension load to a cylindrical face that
has bonded contact. There is a possibility that if you apply a Bolt Pretension load to
a cylinder that had a bonded contact region, the bonded contact will block the ability
of the Bolt Pretension to deform properly.
The Bolt Pretension load should be applied to cylindrical faces that contain the
model volume (that is, do not try to apply the Bolt Pretension load to a hole).

Contains proprietary and confidential information of ANSYS, Inc.

and its subsidiaries and affiliates
Mechanical (formerly Simulation)
Page: 3

Release 12.0 - © 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contains proprietary and confidential information of ANSYS, Inc.

and its subsidiaries and affiliates