Phase 1

Orientation

Before running any simulation, two questions need answers: which tool to open, and how to keep the project organized. This phase covers the ANSYS product family, how Workbench connects those tools, and the file structure you will work with throughout every subsequent phase.

1.1  ANSYS Product Landscape

ANSYS groups its simulation tools by physics domain. For mechanical engineers working on power electronics products, five tools cover the essential work:

ANSYS SpaceClaim
The geometry preparation environment. Every analysis in this walkthrough starts here. SpaceClaim imports geometry from any major CAD source, provides tools to simplify and repair it for simulation, and connects directly to the Workbench project.
ANSYS Workbench
The integration framework. Workbench does not run analyses itself — it connects analysis systems, manages data flow between them, and tracks what needs to be updated when an input changes. Think of it as the project coordinator.
ANSYS Mechanical
The finite element analysis (FEA) solver for structural and thermal problems: static stress, modal analysis, random vibration, steady-state thermal, and coupled thermal-structural analyses.
ANSYS Icepak
The thermal computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. Icepak computes fluid flow and heat transfer simultaneously — it is the right tool when airflow path, flow rate, or enclosure geometry affects the thermal result.
ANSYS Maxwell
The electromagnetic finite element solver. Three solver types cover the range: magnetostatic for DC field and force problems, eddy current for AC losses at a single frequency, and transient for time-varying field solutions.

A standard workflow moves in one direction: CAD → SpaceClaim → Workbench → solver → results. Multi-physics workflows link solvers within Workbench, passing output from one (Maxwell electromagnetic losses) as input to the next (Icepak heat sources). A forced-air enclosure product, for instance, uses SpaceClaim for geometry, Mechanical for the wall-mount bracket qualification, Icepak for heatsink airflow, and Maxwell for inverter transformer losses — all from one geometry source in the same Workbench project.

1.2  Workbench Project Structure

The Workbench project schematic is a visual map of the analysis chain. Each block is a component system. Each system contains cells — Geometry, Mesh, Setup, Solution, Results — representing sequential steps in that analysis.

Linked systems

When two systems are linked, they share one or more cells. The most common link connects a Static Structural system to a Steady-State Thermal system, sharing geometry and mesh between them. A change to the geometry propagates automatically to both analyses.

Sharing a mesh cell means the thermal analysis and the structural analysis use the same mesh. This is efficient, but it means mesh decisions are shared — refining the mesh for thermal accuracy also refines it for the structural analysis. Plan the mesh for the more demanding of the two analyses.

Cell state indicators

Each cell displays a state indicator. Reading these indicators correctly prevents acting on stale results:

  • Up to date — the cell's output matches its current inputs.
  • Needs update (lightning bolt) — an upstream input changed; the result is not current. Do not interpret results in this state.
  • Incomplete — the cell setup is not finished; the analysis cannot run.
  • Refresh required — an external file (geometry, material) changed on disk.

Update from the top of the dependency chain, not from the bottom. Updating the Results cell before updating Mesh gives you results on a stale mesh.

1.3  File Types and Project Organization

Workbench project structure on disk

A Workbench project consists of two parts that must remain together:

  • ProjectName.wbpj — the project file. Contains project metadata only. Small, text-based. Opening this file without its accompanying directory opens an empty project.
  • ProjectName_files/ — the project data directory. Contains all geometry, mesh, solver input files, and result files. This is what makes a project large.

Moving or sharing a project means moving both. A common mistake is archiving only the .wbpj file and losing all project data.

File types by tool

Extension Tool Contains
.wbpj Workbench Project metadata. Requires _files/ directory to be useful.
.mechdat Mechanical Full Mechanical setup and results. Can be opened independently of Workbench.
.agdb SpaceClaim / DesignModeler ANSYS native geometry database.
.aedt Maxwell Complete Maxwell project — geometry, mesh, setup, and results. Self-contained.
.stp / .step Any (import) STEP — neutral CAD format. Most reliable for import from any CAD source.
.igs / .iges Any (import) IGES — older neutral format. Use STEP when available.

Archive format

Workbench includes a built-in archive function: File → Archive. This creates a .wbpz file — a compressed ZIP archive of the entire project.

The archive dialog asks whether to include result files. This choice has a meaningful impact on archive size:

  • A Mechanical result file for a moderately complex model is typically 200 MB to 2 GB.
  • An Icepak result set for a full-enclosure CFD model is typically 500 MB to 5 GB.
  • A Maxwell .aedt result set is typically smaller — 50 to 500 MB — because the mesh is sparser than a Mechanical mesh for comparable geometry.

When to include results

Include results in the archive when:

  • The solve takes more than 30 minutes and will not be re-run for the archive's purpose.
  • Archiving at a project milestone for record-keeping — the result is part of the record.
  • Sharing with someone who cannot re-run the analysis (no license, different hardware).

Exclude results when:

  • Sharing the setup for a colleague to solve independently.
  • The result can be regenerated in under 30 minutes from the saved setup.
  • Disk space or transfer bandwidth is constrained.

For Maxwell projects, the archive is File → Save As → .aedtz (compressed Maxwell archive). To exclude results before archiving: Tools → Clean Up Project removes result data from the .aedt before saving the archive.