AUTODYN® Quick Start Guide

Version 12.0

ANSYS, Inc. Release 12.0

Southpointe April 2009
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© 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use, distribution or duplication is prohibited.

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THIS ANSYS SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION INCLUDE TRADE

SECRETS AND ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PRODUCTS OF ANSYS, INC., ITS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
2. Installation of Software ........................................................................................... 2
3. Installation of License Server ................................................................................. 3
4. What will be installed .............................................................................................. 4
4.1. Windows Platforms .......................................................................................... 4
4.2. Linux Platforms ................................................................................................ 5
5. Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms ............................................................ 6
5.1. First use ........................................................................................................... 6
5.2. Subsequent use ............................................................................................... 8
5.3. AUTODYN as part of ANSYS Workbench ....................................................... 9
6. Starting AUTODYN on Linux Platforms ................................................................ 11
7. User Subroutine Compilation ............................................................................... 12
8. Running AUTODYN in Batch Mode on Windows Platforms ................................. 13
9. Documentation and Help ...................................................................................... 15
10. Technical Assistance.......................................................................................... 16

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 Introduction

1. Introduction

ANSYS AUTODYN is a uniquely versatile explicit analysis tool for modeling the non-
linear dynamics of solids, fluids, gas and their interaction. ANSYS AUTODYN
version 12.0 on Windows platforms is integrated into ANSYS Workbench, further
enhancing its overall capabilities with the new capabilities for importing CAD
geometry and powerful new meshing technology. For more information please see
our product web site at http://www.ansys.com.

This document provides an overview of the AUTODYN version 12.0 installations on

Windows and Linux platforms.

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Installation of Software

2. Installation of Software

On Windows platforms the AUTODYN software package is installed as a component

of the ANSYS Workbench installation. Simply run the installation package and follow
the on-screen instructions.

On Linux/Unix platforms, AUTODYN is similarly included in the ANSYS installation

but as a server version rather than an interactive application. To install AUTODYN
on Linux, enter the full path to the installation program on the media or to the
downloaded installation files and follow the on-screen instructions e.g.:
/dvdrom/install

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 Installation of License Server

3. Installation of License Server

The 12.0 License Manager is required to run ANSYS 12.0 products. The ANSYS,
Inc. License Manager and its associated processes have changed significantly at
Version 12.0. Please carefully review the ANSYS, Inc. Licensing Guide for more
information on these changes. The new Version 12.0 licensing process will continue
to support ANSYS Workbench and AUTODYN licensing from prior releases.

The licensing installation process is now separate for the server and the client. The
client portion is installed automatically during a product installation and requires no
further action. The server portion is a separate installation and must be installed for
your ANSYS, Inc. products to run.

With AUTODYN Version 12.0 no distinction is made anymore between a 2D or a 3D

AUTODYN solver license.

A single ANSYS AUTODYN solver license will allow you to run one instance of an
AUTODYN system or ANSYS Explicit Dynamics system or Meshing system.

The ANSYS License Server version 12.0 may be installed locally or on any other
computer running an operating system supported by FLEXnet available on your
network.

The machine running AUTODYN must be set up as an ANSYS Licensing client and
have the appropriate license files in place on the license Server for ANSYS
AUTODYN to start.

The authorization codes required to run the main ANSYS AUTODYN program and
other ANSYS products, along with installation instructions, will be supplied
independently of the software. Depending on individual user requirements these will
usually be distributed by E-mail.

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What will be installed

4. What will be installed

4.1. Windows Platforms

The latest version of AUTODYN version 12.0, Help, Documentation, and user
subroutines will all be installed along with other supporting applications and modules
from the ANSYS product family.
By default the base installation directory will be:

C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\

License files will be installed with:

C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing

ANSYS AUTODYN specific files will be installed in:

C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v120\AISOL\AUTODYN\intel

ANSYS AUTODYN Help files in:

C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v120\CommonFiles\help\en-us\AUTODYN

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 What will be installed

4.2. Linux Platforms

The AUTODYN version 12.0 Linux server will be installed alongside the other
products installed from the ANSYS product family.
By default, the base installation is:
\usr\ansys_inc\

A symbolic link is created to the installation directory and is located at:

\ansys_inc

License files will be installed with:

\ansys_inc\shared_files\licensing

ANSYS AUTODYN specific files will be installed in:

\ansys_inc\v120\autodyn

With further sub-directories:

\bin\<platform> - executables for each supported platform
\lib\<platform> - runtime libraries for each supported platform
\usrsub\<platform> - user subroutine files for each supported platform

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Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

5. Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

5.1. First use

When AUTODYN version 12 is run for the first time by the logged on user,
AUTODYN will perform a few additional initialization steps to create user specific
settings.

In previous versions you also would have been prompted for a location for user-
subroutine files which would have been created after the initial step. This step is no
longer performed and the generation of the user-subroutine project is now available
as a user action from within AUTODYN from the Options Menu instead.

After selection of the location for the user-subroutines AUTODYN will install the user
subroutine project in a sub-directory with name AUTODYN user_subroutines.

You must choose a directory that you have read and write access to. Each user may
now have a unique user subroutine directory. No write access is required in the
AUTODYN executable installation directory (a requirement of previous versions of
AUTODYN).

AUTODYN will use the user temporary directory for temporary files and log file
creation. This directory must also have read/write permission for the user and is by

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 Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

default in the location C:\Documents and Settings\<user logon>\Local Settings\Temp

(where <user logon> is the ID used to log onto Windows).

Configuration files are kept in a user specific directory called the config directory.
These include autodyn.ini, savedirs.dat and datadir.dat plus other files relating to the
set up of problems run in parallel. These files are required for AUTODYN to function
correctly and will be created with default settings the first time AUTODYN is run.
The default location is C:\Documents and Settings\<user logon>\Application
Data\Ansys\v120\AUTODYN

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Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

5.2. Subsequent use

After the initial user settings have been created, starting ANSYS AUTODYN via
Workbench will launch the application and use the settings previously created for the
logged on user. Once the AUTODYN application has been started from within
Workbench you will see a familiar GUI layout similar to previous versions of
AUTODYN.

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 Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

5.3. AUTODYN as part of ANSYS Workbench

After installation, a review of on-line Help will introduce you to the software. The on-
line Help can be started from Start/All Programs/ANSYS 12.0/Help/ANSYS
AUTODYN Help.

ANSYS AUTODYN version 12 user interface is hosted within ANSYS Workbench.

To start AUTODYN interactively choose Start/All Programs/ANSYS 12.0/ANSYS
Workbench.

The AUTODYN system is located in the Component Systems toolbox of the

Workbench GUI. Double click the AUTODYN system, which will bring up the
AUTODYN application in the Project Schematic window.

To start-up the AUTODYN application simply double click the Setup cell, which will
start AUTODYN in the New Model mode.

To open an existing AUTODYN model or SAVE file, right mouse click the Setup cell
and select Import Model.

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Starting AUTODYN on Windows Platforms

Please refer to the document "What’s New In AUTODYN version 12.0" for further
details.

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 Starting AUTODYN on Linux Platforms

6. Starting AUTODYN on Linux Platforms

Once AUTODYN has been installed onto a Linux system, a script called
AUTODYN120 (AUTODYN_dp120 for the double precision version) is provided that
sets up the required runtime environment variables. This script is located within the
<Installation directory>\v120\autodyn\bin directory. It can be run by either adding this
directory path to your system path environment variable, or by typing the full path to
the script.

The arguments to the script control which model is executed:

AUTODYN120 –I{ident-name} –C{cycle-number}

The Cycle argument is not required, and will default to cycle zero if not present.

In order to run a parallel calculation, you should place the parallel configuration file
(parallel.cfg) in the same directory as the model file. For further details regarding the
setup and execution of parallel simulations, please see the Parallel Documentation.

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User Subroutine Compilation

7. User Subroutine Compilation

The following compilers and associated runtime libraries are required to compile and
link user subroutines. Please see the User Subroutine tutorial documentation for
further information on using User Subroutines.

ANSYS AUTODYN v12

System C++ Fortran

Windows XP Pro, 32 bit Microsoft Visual Studio C++.NET 2005 Intel Fortran 10.1
Windows Vista, 32 bit
Windows XP Pro, 64 bit Microsoft Visual Studio C++.NET 2005 Intel Fortran 10.1
Windows Vista, 64 bit
RedHat EL 4 (Update 5) Intel Fortran 10.1
SUSE 10 Intel Fortran 10.1

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 Running AUTODYN in Batch Mode on Windows Platforms

8. Running AUTODYN in Batch Mode on Windows Platforms

AUTODYN, by default, runs in interactive mode, with the graphics window and
interface displayed. If desired, you may also run AUTODYN in batch mode where no
graphics interface is shown. You may experience an increase in speed since the
graphics does not need to be generated or refreshed. Also, by running AUTODYN in
batch mode it is possible to stack jobs to run consecutively while your PC is
unattended (e.g. overnight).

On starting, AUTODYN will check for the existence of a file SETBAT.DAT located in
the same directory as the data files you wish to run.

The file: C:\Documents and Settings\<user logon>\Application Data\Ansys\v120\

AUTODYN\savedirs.dat specifies where the data files to be run are and is installed in
the config directory.

SETBAT.DAT should contain the ident and cycle of the file to run. All this will
normally be done via a BATCH file. Once run, AUTODYN will delete SETBAT.DAT
and it must be re-created to run a subsequent simulation in batch mode.

An example Batch file below shows how to start 2 AUTODYN jobs (alexp1 and
alexp2) in data directory D: \Analysis Data, one after another.

REM define the data directory

cd /D "C:\Documents and Settings\<userlogon>\Application Data\Ansys\v120\AUTODYN"
echo D:\Analysis Data> savedirs.dat

REM write out ident name and cycle number to file setbat.dat in the data directory
cd /D "D:\Analysis Data"
echo alexp1> setbat.dat
echo 000>> setbat.dat

REM Start autodyn

cd /D "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v120\AISOL\AUTODYN\intel"
autodyn.exe

REM write out ident name and cycle number to file setbat.dat in data directory
cd /D "D:\Analysis Data"
echo alexp2> setbat.dat
echo 000>> setbat.dat

REM Start autodyn

cd /D "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v120\AISOL\AUTODYN\intel"
autodyn.exe

Putting a file named "endbat.dat" in either the config directory or data directory will
cause a simulation to stop at the end of the current cycle. Once stopped, AUTODYN
will delete the "endbat.dat" file.

Putting a file named "savenow.dat" in either the config directory or data directory will
force the simulation to write a restart file at the end of the current cycle. Once the

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Running AUTODYN in Batch Mode on Windows Platforms

restart file has been written out, AUTODYN will delete the "savenow.dat" file and it
must be re-created to write out a new restart file.

An example Batch file below shows how to stop an ident that is running in batch
mode.

REM write out endbat.dat in data directory

cd /D "D:\Analysis Data"
echo null>endbat.dat

Note: The file location for your installation may vary depending on the directories that
you specified when installing.

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 Documentation and Help

9. Documentation and Help

The AUTODYN Documentation and Help are based around an online context
sensitive system that can be accessed from any of the question mark buttons within
the AUTODYN version 12 user interface. Alternatively, the Documentation and Help
may also be launched by selecting the appropriate ANSYS 12.0 AUTODYN program
folder icon Start/All Programs/ANSYS 12.0/Help/ANSYS AUTODYN Help.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 installs a new security feature that does not allow active
content to run locally. AUTODYN help files are files that contain active content. The
option 'Allow files with active content to be shown on my computer' in the advanced
tab of Internet Options needs to be checked. AUTODYN or even the PC may need
to be restarted for this to take effect.

Further AUTODYN documentation is also available from the ANSYS Customer

Portal in printable electronic format. The Adobe Acrobat reader is used to view,
search, manipulate, and print this format of the AUTODYN documentation.

The latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader may be downloaded through the
Internet from:
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html

For compatibility with the AUTODYN documentation, use version 5 or later of the
Acrobat Reader.

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Technical Assistance

10. Technical Assistance

If you encounter any difficulties, contact your local ANSYS support organization.

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