Before installing the Ansys application, install Creo Parametric and run the program at least once under the user login that you will use to install the Ansys Workbench.
The interface works in both a Plug-in and a Pseudo-Reader on Windows.
The existence of the Plug-in is recognized by Creo Parametric based upon an entry in the configuration file (config.pro) referencing a Pro/Toolkit registry file located in the Ansys Workbench installation (WBPlugInPE.dat). This is configured during the installation process whenever you select Creo Parametric as a geometry source, but can be modified to enable/disable the Plug-in by using the Product & CAD Configuration Manager. The Product & CAD Configuration Manager can also be used to change the Creo Parametric installation utilized by the Plug-In. If Creo Parametric was not selected in the original installation then the Associative Plug-In will not be available for configuration. In this case you can run the Product & CAD Configuration Manager and select Creo Parametric under Ansys Geometry Interfaces to make the Associative Plug-In available. Each version of Creo must be configured for the correct version of the geometry interface. Therefore, when switching your associative geometry interface configuration from one version of Creo to another you must unconfigure the old version before configuring the new version. For example if you were configured to work with Creo 7.0.0.0 and decide to migrate to 8.0.0.0, you must use the Product & CAD Configuration Manager to unconfigure 7.0.0.0 before configuring 8.0.0.0.
See Product & CAD Configuration Manager for usage information.
For detailed installation information about the Product & CAD Configuration Manager, see:
| Windows: Configuring CAD Products> Product and Using the CAD Configuration Manager |
Support
At the time of release, detailed version support information for the Linux and Windows platforms is accessible via Geometry Interface Support.
For information about post-release CAD system compatibility with Ansys Workbench, see the Platform Support section of the Ansys Website.
Document import supported by interface: Part (*.prt) and Assembly (*.asm)
Table 12: Import Preference Support for Creo Parametric Geometry Interface
| Import Solids | Yes | ||
| Import Surfaces | Yes | ||
| Import Lines | Yes - Datum Curves | ||
| Parameter Processing and prefix/suffix key | Yes | ||
| Attribute Processing and prefix | Yes - including Color | ||
| Named Selection Processing and prefix |
| ||
| Material Processing | Yes | ||
| Analysis Type |
| ||
| Associativity | Yes | ||
| Coordinate Systems | Yes | ||
| Work Points | Yes | ||
| Reader Save File | No | ||
| Instancing | Yes | ||
| Smart Update | Yes | ||
| Enclosure and Symmetry Processing | No | ||
| Mixed import Resolution | Yes - for parts that include both Solid and surface bodies AND the Import Solid and Import Surface preferences are set to Yes | ||
| Decompose Disjoint Geometry | Yes (for use with faces and bodies) | ||
| Import Facet Quality | Yes |
Notations
The Creo Parametric geometry interface also supports the Selective Update feature.
Assembly parts and sub-assemblies that are hidden or suppressed in Creo Parametric are automatically excluded from import into Ansys Mechanical and DesignModeler.
If you switch between the primary and simplified representations of
your geometry in Creo Parametric, you must use the Erase Not
Displayed option in Creo Parametric to remove the geometry not shown in
the Creo Parametric window (but resident in memory) before attaching or refreshing
in any Ansys consuming application, such as Mechanical, SpaceClaim, or DesignModeler, Discovery,
or Fluent.
Importing Feature Types as Line Bodies — The Datum Curve feature types can be imported from Creo Parametric into Ansys Workbench's Mechanical, SpaceClaim Direct Modeler, or DesignModeler, Discovery or Fluent application as line bodies.
Length Unit — The length unit specified in the Creo Parametric part or assembly is transferred into Ansys Workbench. It is preferable that assemblies and their component parts be constructed using the same length unit. However, when the Geometry Interface encounters a sub-assembly or component part with units different than the top level assembly it will attempt to scale that part to match the units of the root assembly. All converted assembly components will be noted via a warning in the Workbench messages panel. In the event that this unit conversion fails, the following steps can be taken in Creo Parametric to achieve consistent units among all assembly components:
Open the assembly within Creo Parametric
Open the Model Properties Utility (File> Prepare> Model Properties)
Specify the desired units by choosing Change Units, then select the desired unit type and check “Include Submodels”
Upon finalizing unit choice via the “Set” button, accept the required field informing you that the “Convert Dimensions” option is being used.
When using an assembly's offset as a parameter, a negative value will cause the direction of the offset to flip and the value will be returned with a positive sign.
In no particular order, the caveats and known issues are:
Security Warning
When starting Creo 7 or later an alert may be issued about ac4pro or WB<version>PluginProWF being from an unknown source. These can be addressed by selecting Yes and checking "Remember this decision".
Coordinate System Naming
When importing a Creo Parametric assembly with a coordinate system, default names starting with numbers are replaced with new names. During the import, typically a warning message is displayed that reads, "feature name not valid due to invalid characters."
In addition, the list of coordinate systems is not updated after refreshing the import operation.
Capturing a Body in a Named Selection
Solid bodies can be selected through the Named Selection Manager with Creo versions 7.0 and newer.
However, for previous releases of Creo the Named Selection Manager does not directly offer a mechanism for adding bodies to a Named Selection Group. However, any solid bodies, features, datum curve or quilts contained within a Creo Parametric Layer or Feature Group matching the named selection key will have its faces, edges, and or lines included in a Named Selection or Selection Set with the same name as the Creo Layer or Group. When importing to Mechanical, each Named Selection containing solid or surface bodies will be divided into two separate Named Selections. One containing each body’s faces, the other containing edges. When the Named Selection Key is left blank, layers and groups will not be processed for named selection. The method of defining named selections requires explicitly matching the prefix of the layer or group name. If you wish to capture all Creo layers as named selections use the Named Selection Key "Layer". If you wish to capture all Creo Feature Groups as named selections use the Named Selection Key "Group".
Surface Body Naming Convention
Surface bodies imported into the Ansys DesignModeler, Ansys SpaceClaim Direct Modeler, and the Ansys Mechanical application include numerical references to the parent part or assembly and Creo Parametric quilt ID. For example, a part named H103 with three Creo Parametric quilts 1, 2, and 3 will be identified as H103[1], H103[2] and H103[3].
Layer Considerations
Solid or Quilt bodies belonging to a hidden Creo layer will be not be imported when the layer is hidden.
Note that changing layer visibility in Creo Parametric does not mark a part/assembly as modified. To pick up such a change in state when importing to Mechanical, SpaceClaim or DesignModeler the Geometry cell's Smart Update preference must be disabled.
Updating Instances
Model Instances — If you wish to update a particular instance of a model, it is necessary that the active model in Creo Parametric be the desired instance, otherwise a generic version of the instance will be used for the update.
Part Instances — Within the Creo Parametric assembly, any component impacted by any assembly level feature will not be processed as an instance, but the full geometry will be imported. Note that for models where an assembly feature was modified so that component(s) are no longer impacted, you may still be required to update the intersection information manually otherwise the Plug-in will not be able to process them as instances. The following procedure describes the process of manual update of intersection data for Creo Parametric:
Enable feature visibility (Model Tree> Settings> Tree Filters> Display Features)
Select Assembly Feature for Edit
Navigate to the feature's Intersection tab
Disable Automatic Update
Remove all components in the list
Check Automatic Updates
Accept the feature changes
Material Data
Material data can be transferred into Ansys Workbench provided one or more of the material properties are defined for the Creo Parametric material. The properties for a Material are Density, Poisson's Ratio, Young's Modulus, Coefficient of Thermal Expansion, Specific Heat Capacity and Thermal Conductivity.
File Versions
Multiple versions of Creo Parametric files are designated with a .# extension that is appended to the .prt or .asm extension (for example, wrench.prt.1, wrench.prt.2 are names of two Creo Parametric file versions). You can access a specific version of a Creo Parametric file through the Ansys Workbench Project Schematic.
You are strongly advised to avoid stripping the version numbers from Creo Parametric files for the following reasons:
If you open a stripped version of the file in Creo Parametric and import the file via the Plug-in, it will indicate the wrong version if there is any other version of that part file in the same directory.
If you attempt to load a stripped version of the file by using the Pseudo-Reader, the highest file version of that model will be loaded.
Regarding the updating of Creo Parametric file versions, updating will be version specific if you use the reader or if you do not open a copy of that model with the same name in a Creo Parametric interactive session. However, if you open one version of a model in Creo Parametric and you request the same model, but a different version for attach or update, the currently active version will be assumed to be the one that you want. This assumption is necessary for the following reasons:
Creo Parametric does not allow two different versions of the same part to be active at one time, using the same name.
If you save a model in a Creo Parametric session, its version is incremented (for example, if you attach via the Plug-in with version 3, then save the model in Creo Parametric, the version of the active model would be version 4).
Configuration Considerations
If an active Creo Parametric file does not appear under Active CAD Files, either Creo Parametric is not running or the Ansys Workbench Plug-in for Creo Parametric is not loaded. For this last condition, run the Product & CAD Configuration Manager. See Using the CAD Configuration Manager in the Ansys, Inc. Windows Installation Guide for detailed information.
On some Windows systems, where the Plug-in was configured for only the current Administrator, the Ansys Geometry Interfaces to Creo Parametric are not loaded as expected after being selected for install. This is because Creo Parametric is not detecting the required configuration file in the user's login folder (either %HOME% or %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%). Work-around: Copy the file named config.pro from your login directory to Creo Parametric start-up directory which can be determined by either examining the properties for the shortcut used to launch Creo or by running <path to Creo Parametric install>\bin\parametric.bat, or by performing the following within Creo: File >> Manage Session >> Select Working Directory within Creo.
On the Windows platform, users without write access to their Ansys Workbench installation may encounter the following error when attempting to import Creo Parametric models without an active CAD session: "No write access, please choose another start-up directory for trail file creation". This issue can be addressed by specifying an alternate location for Creo Parametric to create trail files. The trail_dir directive for the config.pro file is the mechanism offered by PTC. For example, adding the line trail_dir $TEMP to the config.pro file will force Creo Parametric to create trail files in the location referenced by the TEMP environment variable.
Administrative users should avoid configuring the Creo Parametric Associative Geometry interface both for “All Users” and “Current User”. Non-Administrative users should avoid configuring the interface for the same Creo installation that an Administrator has already setup for “All Users”. When a non-Administrative user configures for a Creo version different than that already configured for all users, that user’s import will work normally for only the CAD version specified by the non-admin user.
Creo Parametric can potentially leave behind the Ansys ribbon tab after unconfiguring the Plug-In. In this case, the ribbon tab can be manually removed by deleting %APPDATA%\PTC\ProENGINEER\ Wildfire\.wf.\Settings\creo_parametric_customization.ui. In cases where the config.pro directive “load_ui_customization_run_dir” is set to yes this file will instead be located in the Creo start in directory.
This geometry interface is supported with a locally setup version of Creo Parametric using the CAD's official installer. It executes with a properly configured network installation of Creo Parametric, for specifics on complying with network requirements see the Creo Installation & Administration Guide: Strategies for the Mass Deployment of Creo Applications.
Decompose Disjoint Geometry
Creo Parametric supports surfaces with multiple external contours. Prior to Workbench 14.0 these were represented as a single, disjoint face when transferred to the Ansys Mechanical application. To add greater flexibility in the Ansys Mechanical, DesignModeler SpaceClaim Direct Modeler, Fluent, or Discovery application and preserve unique IDs, a preference has been added to break apart the Creo Parametric surfaces into a single face for each external contour during import. In DesignModeler SCDM, and Discovery decomposition will always be attempted. In Mechanical, decomposition is the default pre-selected behavior, but can be disabled when desired.
Associativity will be maintained for sub-faces as long as the edges composing the external contour are static. Adjusting the sketch elements from which the external contour is defined, such that their internal identifiers change, will likely result in lost associativity.
There is a significant slowdown of Decompose Disjoint Geometry feature in Creo 7.0 when operating in multi solid body mode. Efforts are underway with PTC to substantially speed-up this functionality. The two work-arounds are:
Use Creo's Split feature to separate each disjoint body into a body with one collection of connected faces, and turn off the decompose preference.
Disable multi-solid mode in Creo by adjusting the config.pro settings:
enable_multibody no
smt_creo7_multibody no
Decompose Disjoint Solids Instability
A very limited set of models have been observed to cause Creo Parametric to stop running when this preference active. The resolution is to upgrade to Creo 7.0.1.0 or later, where PTC has resolved a problem in their sorting algorithm.
DesignModeler Considerations
When a Creo Parametric model does not attach in the DesignModeler application but does attach in the Ansys Mechanical application,
A possible cause is a Round or Fillet radius in Creo Parametric that is failing to translate. You may find the cause by suppressing some or all of the Rounds or Fillets in the Creo Parametric model and then try to attach in the DesignModeler application.
Creo Parametric Model tolerance (Accuracy) is too loose. You may be able attach the model successfully by setting Creo Parametric to use Absolute Accuracy along with a tighter tolerance.
To do so, edit the file named "config.pro" in the Creo Parametric.
In Config.pro, add:
enable_absolute_accuracy yesaccuracy_lower_bound 1.0e-7Open the model in Creo Parametric
Accuracy>Absolute>[Enter new value]>-->-->Regen>Yes
For example, if the Absolute Accuracy Value is [1.2000e-03 mm], then try entering a new value that is 0.5 times that [0.6000e-04 mm]
Future Creo Parametric models can be created with tighter tolerance from the start (two orders of magnitude tighter than default) although may result in increased memory use and diminished performance. Note that after tightening a model’s tolerance it can fail to regenerate. If so, you can attempt less restrictive values until you find the one that will regenerate and translate into the DesignModeler application. However, not every model can regenerate at a tight enough tolerance to successfully translate.
In cases where adjusting the absolute tolerance does not work, you may need to defeature parts of the model until it imports successfully.
Parametric Updates
There is a known problem performing parametric updates of Creo Parametric models which contain parameters with "locked" access. The Creo Parametric API does not provide information regarding the access state of parameters and the Creo/Toolkit does not detect assembly parameter relationships driven by dimensions. This can result in refresh failure. Work-around: Ensure that locked parameters do not have a prefix/suffix corresponding to the existing parameter filter to prevent their import.
When working in Creo Parametric's Simulation environment (Applications->Simulate) specifying an out of range parameter value can leave the CAD model in an undesirable state following update.
Smart Update
In order for the Geometry Interface to effectively identify and skip retrieval of unchanged assembly components the following requirements must be met:
Mass Density must be defined for all assembly components.
Model must be fully regenerated.
Model must be saved before being retrieved using Reader mode (Creo Parameteric session is not active at time attach/refresh is initiated).
Note: Mass density can be applied to assembly components without a preexisting setting by either of the following methods:
Either: File> Prepare> Model Properties> Mass Properties> Change > Specify Density Value -> Generate Report. Then accept the prompts for each component to which the value is to be applied.
Or: Defining a model parameter MP_DENSITY and specifying the value in the column next to each component. The model parameter can be created from Setting Menu> Tree Columns> Type: Model Params> Name: MP_DENSITY> Click right arrow to move into Displayed Column.
2D Analysis Considerations. — Some surfaces which appear eligible for 2D analysis in Creo Parametric may be filtered during import, because their Z extent is beyond tolerance from the XY plane. Tolerance is considered to be 10e-5 multiplied by the surfaces diagonal length.
Using Seed and Boundary with Named Selections
The Associative Geometry Interface supports the Creo's Seed and Boundary selection technique as a means of adding groups of surfaces to a Named Selection. Seed and Boundary selection can be performed as follows:
Choose "Geometry" as the Creo selection filter.
Select a surface as Seed
Press SHIFT-Key (keep pressed)
Select another surface, or set of surfaces, as Boundary
Release the SHIFT-Key
The result is that all surfaces from Seed to the Boundary are selected excluding the Boundary surface. These can then be added to a Named Selection via the Create and replace options in the Named Selection Manager.
Limitations
Creo Platform Agent Corrupt — When the installation of this PTC utility is broken it will block the startup of the Ansys Creo plug-in. To work around this problem you can either (a) set the environment variable PROTK_DELAYINIT_NO_DELAY=TRUE, or (b) reinstall Creo to correct the problem with Creo Agent.
Creo Weld Import — Starting with Ansys 2019 R1 it is possible to import solid bodies belonging to welds, with the following limitations:
The Named Selection Manager will appear to insert solid weld geometry into a Selection Set, but this geometry will not be included in the set when translated to SpaceClaim Direct Modeler (SCDM), Mechanical, or DesignModeler. The same limitation applies to geometry contained in Surface welds.
Solid, Surface and Light weld geometry are included in a Named Selection when added to a Layer or Feature Group.
Prior to 2022 R1, light or surface weld body was named to match the part or assembly which contained it. Beginning in 2022 R1, these bodies are named to match their Creo Weld Feature.
Starting with 2022 R1, all Light Weld curves will be combined into a single line body, previously the translator created one body per curve.
Library Conflict — The following limitation is specific to the Ansys 2024 R2 Associative Geometry Interface to Creo Parametric. There is a known library conflict with earlier releases of this Plug-In, which causes the 2024 R2 Ansys Plug-In to fail to load into Creo Parametric when a previous release of the Plug-In is already loaded into Creo Parametric.
Use the following procedure to enable theese versions to be loaded side-by-side into Creo Parametric via Manual Method.
Open the config.pro file containing the registration of your Creo Parametric Associative Geometry Interface. This will be located one of the following locations:
When configured for just this user: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%
When configured for all users of this Creo Parametric Installation: <Path to Creo>\Common Files\text\
Reorder any PROTKDAT lines referring to the Ansys file WBPlugInPE.dat, so the line referencing v242 is listed in the file before all other Ansys lines in that file.
Save and close the file.
Use the following procedure to enable theese versions to be loaded side-by-side into Creo Parametric via CAD Configuration Method.
Open Ansys CAD Configuration Manager (CCM) for each version of the Plug-In desired to run.
Unconfigure the Creo Parametric Associative Geometry Interface
Use CCM 2024 R2 to configure the Geometry Interface.
Use CCM to configure the Geometry Interface for all other versions of Ansys.
Mixed Unit Support — It is recommended, but not required that all parts and sub-assemblies should be in the same unit as the root assembly. Models with mixed units imported into the Ansys Mechanical application will trigger a warning indicating the mixed unit. Note that Siemens NX and PTC Creo are the only CAD systems that can provide mixed unit assembly data correctly to Ansys Workbench.
Relationship Driven Sketch Parameters — Feature parameters linked to relation defined sketch or section dimensions will import to Workbench as Independent parameters due to a known problem in Creo. Any attempts to refresh/update the model with a changed value for such parameters will result in either an unexpected parameter value or aborted update due to a Creo regeneration failure.
Smart Update of Mixed Unit Assemblies — There are some situations where assembly components will fail to be smart updated due to the component(s) having different unit system than the root assembly. The work-around for this issue is to normalize model units with in Creo, see the Length Unit section of the Creo Parametric Associative Geometry Interface help for detailed instructions.
Unexpected Entities in Named Selection — In some situations, entities removed from a Creo box or group selection may not be excluded from a Named Selection creation/edit action. In such cases the work-around is to individually select desire entities.
Windchill Conflicts — The environment variable PTC_WF_ROOT, used to define the default workspace cache location, can break import models not residing in the Creo start-in folder. The workaround is to us PTC_WLD_ROOT instead of PTC_WF_ROOT.