Hydrostatic Pressure in ANSYS Mechanical – Illustrated Explanation

In this article, we will show you how to define hydrostatic pressure on a part surface in ANSYS Mechanical. Hydrostatic pressure is a very important phenomenon for various kinds of mechanical applications such as bridge piers.

So the correct definition of Hydrostatic pressure is very important in engineering systems. Also, hydrostatic pressure is a boundary condition in finite element analysis. So correct definition of hydrostatic pressure is very important to obtain realistic results from finite element analysis.

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You will learn how to define hydrostatic pressures to part surfaces in ANSYS Mechanical.

How to Insert Hydrostatic Pressure to Parts in ANSYS Mechanical?

Firstly, to assign hydrostatic pressure to a part in ANSYS, you need to open the ANSYS Mechanical from Workbench. In the ANSYS Mechanical interface, right-click on the analysis system(Static Structural in this example). Hover your mouse on the Insert tab as shown by the blue box then click on Hydrostatic Pressure from the opened list as shown by the blue arrow.

And then, you can select the face that hydrostatic force will be applied from the geometry tab as shown by the blue box above in ANSYS Mechanical. As you can see with a blue arrow above, you can only select faces or surfaces of the parts. This is because the pressure application needs a geometric area in physical means.

Select your face of the geometry that Hydrostatic pressure will be applied as shown by the blue arrow in ANSYS Mechanical. Then click on the Apply button.

Enter the Pressure Values

You need to enter the fluid density that touches the surface of your parts as shown in the red box above. Then you can enter the hydrostatic acceleration of this fluid as components or vectors as shown by the blue box above. Also, the program will compute the hydrostatic pressure according to the values that you entered in ANSYS Mechanical.

For example, we entered acceleration values to X, Y and Z coordinates 3, 5, and 7 m/s^2 respectively as shown in the blue box above. Also, you can see the result of these values as shown by the blue arrow above in ANSYS Mechanical.

Also, you can define your acceleration value in ANSYS Mechanical by Vector. You need to enter your acceleration value and you need to select a vector for it in the Vector method.

Conclusion

The defining Hydrostatic Pressure is like that in ANSYS® Mechanical.

Do not forget to leave your comments and questions below about defining hydrostatic pressure on parts in ANSYS.

NOTE: All the screenshots and images are used for educative and informative purposes. Images used courtesy of ANSYS, Inc.

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