From CAD to VABS input file

[Si1verBe11]

Hi,
I would like to generate a blade cross section geometry in CAD tool (CATIA, Solidworks, etc.) and use it to generate a VABS input file.
Is it possible to do this with the Ansys-VABS GUI if I have an igs or stp file?
I could not find a way to import external geometry in the manual or example files for the Ansys-VABS GUI.

Most hopefully, I want to create a VABS input file directly from CATIA.
On AnalySwift's VABS introduction page, I saw that VABS integrates directly with CATIA.
I would appreciate any guidance on how this is possible.

[wenbinyu-PU]

The best way will be just generating VABS inputs from CATIA. Please contact your CATIA Expert for more details. We will also work with CATIA to add simple instructions into VABS manual.

[Si1verBe11]

I have additional questions.
Is it possible to perform meshing in Ansys Mechanical and then use the Ansys-VABS GUI to create a VABS input file on the Ansys Mechanical APDL?
Also, I am having trouble getting the Ansys-VABS GUI to install. Even I replaced menulist###.ans with menulist242.ans in the Ansys-VABS GUI folder (My current Ansys version is 2024 R2) Prevabs menu was not on the Ansys Mechanical APDL menu.

[wenbinyu-PU]

The Ansys-VABS GUI was developed by a student about 10 years ago. It is used to build a cross-section model layer by layer using APDL, then generate inputs for VABS. At this time, it is not possible to directly convert Ansys mechanical mesh to an input for VABS.

Generate inputs from CATIA will be the best approach. Or you can use PreVABS to directly generate the geometry, mesh and VABS input files. If you really need to use Ansys, can you describe in more detailed about your user case why Ansys must be used? We might can add it to our future development.

[rhig2000]

CATIA FEM export options include:

• ABAQUS Input file (*.inp)
• NASTRAN Bulk Data (direct conversion) (.nas,.bdf)
• SIMPACK Fbi File (*.fbi)

Are any of these compatible with VABS? Does a conversion utility exist?

[wenbinyu-PU]

I will ask @unitasium to answer specific question related to PreVABS (ramps from thick to thin segments are not very well defined and I'm not sure if it could handle an oval spar inside an airfoil with a variable thickness LE abrasion srtip). PreVABS has no problem generating several similar sections at different radial stations.

Will CATIA support is willing to adopt what they already have to what you need? It looks to me a simple matter since they already have it for CPD.

The last option will be for us to develop such a utility converting from CATIA to VABS along with your folks.

[rhig2000]

Sounds good. Good point regarding CATIA support.

[rhig2000]

I reached out to DS

[unitasium]

@rhig2000 We recently developed a python package called sgio to manage and operate cross-sectional data for different tools. You can find it here: https://github.com/wenbinyugroup/sgio.

One capability of this package is to convert mesh data between different formats, including Abaqus inp and VABS input. There is an example to show this. With this, you can export your model to the .inp file and then convert it to VABS input.

However, this functionality handles one specific way of creating meshed cross-sections in Abaqus at this moment. Considering that there could be multiple ways to create a model (different ways to assign domain, material section, local orientation, element type, etc.), this tool may not be immediately workable for your case. If not, you can send me an example of your case and we will update the code for better compatibility.

[rhig2000]

I ran into an issue with installing the package. Please help diagnose:

× Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> [54 lines of output]

[rhig2000]

Thanks @unitasium, I'll check that out.

Dassault Systems was contacted regarding incorporating the VABS compatibility into the workflow. DS is open to this possibility, but full implementation may be a year away. Meanwhile, DS advised VABS should be upgraded to accept standard FEM file formats. The advantage of defining the mesh in native CATIA is that it can be associatively updated automatically with any geometry changes.