Typical analysis options are the method of solution, stress stiffening on or off, and Newton-Raphson options for nonlinearities.

Any of seven analysis types offered in Mechanical APDL: static, modal, harmonic, transient, spectrum, eigenvalue buckling, and substructuring. Whether the problem is linear or nonlinear will be identified here.

Indicates which Mechanical APDL licenses can be used to run the example problem. Applicable products are determined by the discipline and complexity of the problem. Possibilities include: Ansys Multiphysics, Ansys Mechanical, Ansys Professional, Ansys Structural, Ansys Emag, Ansys PrepPost.

Boolean Operations (based on Boolean algebra) provide a means of combining sets of data using such logical operators as add, subtract, intersect, etc. There are Boolean operations available for volume, area, and line solid model entities.

Defining an element by defining nodes directly.

Any of five physical (engineering) disciplines may be solved by the Mechanical APDL program: structural, thermal, electric, magnetic, and fluid.

Many element types also have additional element options to specify such things as element behavior and assumptions, element results printout options, etc.

Indicates the element types used in the problem; over 100 element types are available in Mechanical APDL. You select an element type which characterizes, among other things, the degree-of-freedom set (displacements and/or rotations, temperatures, etc.) the characteristic shape of the element (line, quadrilateral, brick, etc.), whether the element lies in 2D space or 3D space, the response of your system, and the accuracy level you're interested in.

Lists the noteworthy Mechanical APDL features demonstrated in the problem.

The Gaussian or normal distribution is a very fundamental and commonly used distribution for statistical matters. It is typically used to describe the scatter of the measurement data of many physical phenomena. Strictly speaking, every random variable follows a normal distribution if it is generated by a linear combination of a very large number of other random effects, regardless which distribution these random effects originally follow. The Gaussian distribution is also valid if the random variable is a linear combination of two or more other effects if those effects also follow a Gaussian distribution.

You provide values for the mean value μ and the standard deviation σ of the random variable x.

Information in the Mechanical APDL help system that is relevant to the overall topics covered in a particular tutorial.

Higher-order, or midside-node elements, have a quadratic shape function (instead of linear) to map degree-of-freedom values within the element.

This is an approximate range, in minutes, for you to complete the interactive step-by-step solution. Of course the amount of time it takes you to perform the problem depends on the computer system you use, the amount of network "traffic" on it, the working pace that is comfortable for you, and so on.

The file name prefix used for all files generated in an analysis. All files are named Jobname.ext, where ext is a unique Mechanical APDL extension that identifies the contents of the file. The jobname specified in the launcher when you start Mechanical APDL is called the initial jobname. You can always change the jobname within a Mechanical APDL session.

Three levels are offered: easy, moderate, and advanced. Although the "advanced" problems are still easy to follow using the interactive step-by-step solution, they include features that are typically thought of as advanced Mechanical APDL capabilities, such as nonlinearities, macros, or advanced postprocessing.

The lognormal distribution is a basic and commonly used distribution. It is typically used to describe the scatter of the measurement data of physical phenomena, where the logarithm of the data would follow a normal distribution. The lognormal distribution is very suitable for phenomena that arise from the multiplication of a large number of error effects. It is also correct to use the lognormal distribution for a random variable that is the result of multiplying two or more random effects (if the effects that get multiplied are also lognormally distributed).

Physical properties of a material such as modulus of elasticity or density that are independent of geometry. Although they are not necessarily tied to the element type, the material properties required to solve the element matrices are listed for each element type for your convenience. Depending on the application, material properties may be linear, nonlinear, and/or anisotropic. As with element types and real constants, you may have multiple material property sets (to correspond with multiple materials) within one analysis. Each set is given a reference number.

A state of stress in which the normal stress and the shear stresses directed perpendicular to the plane are assumed to be zero.

Mechanical APDL analysis phase where you review the results of the analysis through graphics displays and tabular listings. The general postprocessor (POST1) is used to review results at one substep (time step) over the entire model. The time-history postprocessor (POST26) is used to review results at specific points in the model over all time steps.

The Preferences dialog box allows you to select the desired engineering discipline for context filtering of menu choices. By default, menu choices for all disciplines are shown, with non-applicable choices dimmed based on a set of element types in your model. If you prefer not to see the dimmed choices at all, you should turn on filtering.

Mechanical APDL analysis phase where you provide data such as the geometry, materials, and element types to the program.

Simple predefined geometric shapes that Mechanical APDL provides. A rectangle primitive, for example defines the following solid model entities in one step: one area, four lines, and four keypoints.

Provide additional geometry information for element types whose geometry is not fully defined by its node locations. Typical real constants include shell thicknesses for shell elements and cross-sectional properties for beam elements. All properties required as input for a particular element type are entered as one set of real constants.

Mechanical APDL analysis phase where you define analysis type and options, apply loads and load options, and initiate the finite element solution. A new, static analysis is the default.

The standard deviation is a measure of variability (dispersion or spread) about the arithmetic mean value; this is often used to describe the width of the scatter of a random output parameter or of a statistical distribution function. The larger the standard deviation the wider the scatter and the more likely it is that there are data values further apart from the mean value.

The uniform distribution is fundamental for cases where no other information apart from a lower and an upper limit exists. It is useful to describe geometric tolerances. It can also be used in cases where no evidence exists that any value of the random variable is more likely than any other within a certain interval.

You provide the lower and the upper limit x_min and x_max of the random variable x.

An imaginary plane with an origin, a 2D coordinate system (either Cartesian or Polar), a snap increment, and a display grid. It is used to locate solid model entities. By default, the working plane is a Cartesian plane located at the global origin.