The External Data system enables you to import data from text files and feed that data into a Mechanical application or a System Coupling component system. You need to specify the data format in order to process the files in the External Data tab. This information can then be transferred to a downstream Mechanical application where the data can be applied as loads in an analysis.
Note: If a file imported into External Data is updated and you want systems connected to external data to use the updated data, then you must manually re-read the data and update the External Data and downstream systems. Care is consequently required when attempting to use parameters and design points with projects that include External Data systems. Specifically, these systems will not automatically re-read imported files or be updated as parameters and design points are updated.
To create an External Data system:
Drag an External Data system from the Component Systems Toolbox onto the Project Schematic.
To display the External Data tab, double-click the Setup cell, or right-click and choose from the context menu.
You can now add the files in the Outline view.
To add files:
In the Location column, you may browse to local files using the Browse option or to files stored on an EKM repository using the Browse from Repository option. For more information on Browse from Repository, see Importing Repository Files.
When you click , the selected file names, locations, and identifiers are automatically displayed in the Data Source column. You can enter descriptions for the files in the Description column.
Note: Importing files from design point folders within the same project directory (with the exception of the Current design point) is not supported.
Table 5: Data Source View: Definition Section
Property
Description
Identifier
A string that can be used to identify the file in the downstream Mechanical application.
Master
Enables you to choose a master file so that the system displays and uses the Properties for this file only. The nodal coordinate data for the selected master file will be processed by the Mapping Utility. Any nodal coordinate data contained in non-master files will be skipped.
You can select only one file to be the master file. If you multi-select a master file and non-master files, the Dimension, Length Unit and Transformation properties in the Properties > Definition view will be hidden. If you duplicate the master file, only one instance will be designated as the master file.
Description
Text that describes the file to you and to other users.
Optionally, you can right-click a file (or files) in the Outline view and use the context menu to duplicate them.
All files—whether imported or duplicated—can be sorted or filtered.
Once the files have been added, use the Properties view to input the information required to process the file and apply the data in the Mechanical application.
If you select multiple files in the Data Source column, the Properties view displays:
A value when that value is the same for all selected files
A blank field when values differ between selected files
A yellow field when a value is required, but not currently specified for at least one of the files.
If you edit any field in the Properties view when multiple files are selected, your change is applied to all files.
Note: Although you can multi-select files in the Data Source view, when you click away from that view the highlighting applied to those files disappears. However, the files remain selected and operations subsequently performed will be applied to all of the selected files.
Table 6: Properties View: Definition Section
Property Description Dimension You can choose to either import data from 2D or 3D models. If the 2D option is selected, you will be able to import data only at the X and Y coordinates. The Z coordinate is not supported for the 2D option. Start Import at Line The line number at which you want the data import to start. Line numbers start at 1. Format Choose either:
Delimited causes the Delimiter Character field to appear, which enables you to specify the character that delimits data elements in a line. The options are Comma, Semicolon, Space, Tab, or User-Defined. The latter choice enables you to specify any character as the data delimiter.
User-Defined enables you to specify the format specification for the file. The allowed format specifiers are given below.[a]
Note: For release 14.5, the default Format Type has changed to Delimited, with a Delimited Type of comma.
A second, related change has been made to the way that column data is numbered. Prior to release 14.5, data was numbered consecutively for each system, with numbers for new data always being incremented from the last number in the file. If any data was removed, the associated numbers for that system would be missing from the file even if new data was added. As of release 14.5, new data is numbered so that whenever possible there are no gaps in the data numbers in the file. This change may break scripts that read column data numbers.
Any file using the Delimited format type, must not contain the delimited character(s) at the beginning of each line.
Length Unit The unit system in which source point locations are defined. Coordinate System Type Specifies the nature of the source point locations. Options include Cartesian (X,Y,Z) or Cylindrical (R,theta,Z). The default value is Cartesian. Average Data at Midside Nodes If Yes, the data at Midside nodes, if not specified, is calculated as average of data specified at corner nodes. Note: This property is only available when Format Type is Delimited or User Defined and cdb file is chosen as Master.
[a] The format specification used here is drawn from the C format specification.
Table 7: Properties View: Analytical Transformation Section
Property
Description
X/Y/Z Coordinate
Enables you to apply scaling factors or functions to the corresponding column Data Type selected in the Table of File view. For example, to scale all values for the X Coordinate column by 90%, change the X Coordinate text entry to x*0.9.
When the Coordinate System Type is cylindrical, the X Coordinate will refer to the radius and the Y Coordinate refers to the angle. By default, each X, Y, and Z Coordinate is set to x, y, and z.
For a complete list of supported functions, see Parameters. For an example, see Source Point Analytical Transformations.
Note: When the Dimension type is 2D, the Z Coordinate is not shown.
Rotations, resulting from specified analytical transformations, do not get applied to mapped data (pressure, displacement, force) in a downstream Mechanical system.
Table 8: Properties View: Rigid Transformation Section
Property Description Origin X/Y/Z and Theta XY/YZ/ZX Enables you to apply a coordinate transformation to the source points. The source locations are transformed by the coordinate system defined by the Origin and Theta entries. For example, applying an X value of .1 meters would modify the x locations of all the source points by adding .1 meters to their values. The option Display Source Points on an imported load object inside Mechanical respects this transformation and can be very helpful in assuring proper alignment between the source and target points. This option is useful if the source points are defined with respect to a coordinate system that is not aligned with the target geometry system. Note: Rotation transformations (Theta XY/YZ/ZX) specified in the External Data system will be applied to the mapped data (pressure, displacement, force) in a downstream Mechanical system. Prior to release 14.5, rotation transformations were not applied.
Table 9: Allowed Format Specifiers
Type Specifier Decimal floating point F or f Scientific notation (exponent) using E/e character E or e Signed decimal integer D or d Signed integer I or i Character A or a Ignore flag X or x In the example below, the line has one integer followed by four exponential data types.
385 8.333333333E-003 9.375000000E-003 3.375000000E-001 0.000000000E+000
The corresponding format is
1i3,4e17.9
where:
The first entry is the number of occurrences
The second entry is the format specifier (from Table 9: Allowed Format Specifiers)
The third entry is the number of characters of data in the definition (including numeric values (0-9), the letter 'e' (for instances of scientific notation), and any white space and + or - signs)
The fourth entry is the number of digits after the decimal point.
Tip: By default, Excel puts a minus sign at the beginning of a negative number but it does not put a plus sign at the beginning of a positive number, which changes the number of characters in the negative version of a number. However, if you select a column in Excel and apply a custom format, you can have a plus sign added to positive numbers. In Excel's Format Cells dialog box, set the Type with an example of the format for a positive number and a negative number, separating the two types with a semicolon. For example:
+00.00E+00;-00.00E+00
Based on the format details you specified in the Properties view, you will need to define the data types and their corresponding units in the Table of File view. The allowed Data Type values are:
Not Used
X Coordinate
Y Coordinate
Z Coordinate
Element ID
Node ID
Temperature
Pressure
Heat Transfer Coefficient
Heat Flux
Heat Rate
Heat Generation
Thickness
Displacement
Force
Velocity
Stress
Strain
Body Force Density
Note: Thickness uses the
LengthData Unit and the Data Identifier should start withThickness.Tip: You can multi-select rows (from the left-most column in the Table of File view), then right-click to set all highlighted Data Type values or Data Unit values (where applicable) at the same time.
Column data is ignored if the Data Type is set to Not Used.
When Coordinate System Type is set to Cartesian in the Properties view, the Data Unit cell for the X, Y, and Z Coordinates will be read-only in the Table of File view. When Coordinate System Type is set to Cylindrical, the Data Unit cell for the Y will have a combo box that can specify its Data Unit string (either as Degrees or Radian).
You can change the data identifier from the default string for allowed data types. The data identifiers are appended to the file identifier, specified in the Properties view, so that you can pick the correct source data in the downstream Mechanical application.
A preview of the file is shown in the Preview view. The first ten imported lines are shown.
When you multi-select files, the Preview view is disabled and the Table of File view displays data in columns that you can sort and filter from the down arrow beside each column heading.
The Setup cell of the External Data system can be linked to a Model cell or to a Setup cell of a Mechanical system (except for Rigid Dynamics Systems).
You can modify any file in the Outline view by browsing to a new file using the browse option provided in the Location column
Note: If you modify an External Data system's data file outside of Workbench, you need to cause Workbench to re-read the data file: right-click the Setup cell and select Re-read Input Files.
Note that the Re-read Input Files operation will cause Workbench to regard the file as having changed whether the file has changed or not, and the status of the Setup cell will change appropriately.
You can also delete files that you have selected (or multi-selected) by right-clicking one of the files in the Outline view and then choosing Delete from the context menu.
To add a downstream Mechanical system, either drag a valid analysis system from the Toolbox and drop it on the appropriate Setup cell of the External Data system, or right-click the Setup cell and choose the Transfer Data To New context menu option.
For additional information for using the data in a downstream Mechanical application, refer to External Data Import.
To import a circuit board’s trace layout file (ODB++ TGZ, Ansoft ANF, Cadence BRD, MCM, SIP, BOOL + INFO, or Icepak COND
+ INFO) for use by a Mechanical system’s Model
cell, add an External Data component to your
project, then edit its Setup cell. In the Outline view, select the
trace file as the data source.
The External Data component enables you to perform rigid transformations to the trace file. When any required transformations are complete, drag the External Data Setup cell to a Mechanical system’s Model cell.
Note:
If you import a project from Release 16 that has an External Data system, you will not immediately be able to load in trace files. In order to import a trace file, you must delete the connection between the External Data Setup cell and the downstream Model cell, and then recreate the connection. The new connection will support the transfer of trace files.
For trace-file imports, the Table and Preview panes are disabled.
Prerequisites
BRD/MCM/SIP import uses your Cadence installation and accesses local environment variables. These environment variables were automatically set during the Cadence installation. If you access Cadence from your network, not locally, you need to set additional environment variables as described below.
If your Cadence installation is located in the mapped network location V:\SPB_16.6, add the following variables:
set CDSROOT=V:\SPB_16.6
set CHDL_LIB_INST_DIR=V:\SPB_16.6
set PATH=%PATH%;V:\SPB_16.6\tools\pcb\bin;V:\SPB_16.6\tools\bin;V:\SPB_
To import a Mechanical APDL-generated CDB file as a source file using the External Data component, select a file or files from the Location field in the Outline. Once selected, the Format Type property is automatically set to .cdb.
CDB files have certain restrictions:
The Start Import at Line setting is disabled as the entire file is read as data. Delimiter Type, Delimiter Character, and Format String are also disabled.
The data is always in the Cartesian global frame-of-reference.
The Table and Preview panes are disabled, so you cannot specify data types or preview data.
Mechanical APDL CDB files can be added as a master mesh in the External Data system. The file must be generated using ‘blocked’ formatting (see CDWRITE in the Mechanical APDL Command Reference). Files generated in unblocked format are not supported. Only NBLOCK and EBLOCK data will be read from the file. Elements defined in the EBLOCK command should also have a corresponding element type and number (ET command) defined in the CDB file. No load/data transfer information is read.
The following element types are ignored during reading of the file:
Solid168
Targe169,170
Conta171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178
SURF152,153,154,156
Data transfer information must be defined in separate files, which will also need to be added to the same External Data system. These files must have a column providing node identifiers that match the node IDs defined in the Mechanical APDL CDB file. If the data transfer file contains element nodal values, then both node and element identifier columns need to be defined. Element values are not supported.
Note:
An element defined in the CDB file will be ignored by the common mapping utility if any of the below conditions exist. The ignored elements will not be used when data is mapped in the downstream application.
One or more of the nodes forming the element are not defined in the NBLOCK command.
The element does not have a corresponding element type and number (ET command) defined in the CDB file.
Note:
CDB files must contain only solid elements or shell elements, but not both.
For nodal data transfers, the number of nodes in the Mechanical APDL CDB file must match the number of data transfer items in all slave files.
If data is not available at midside nodes, then Average Data at Midside Nodes property can be used to specify the data at midside nodes as an average of data at corner nodes.
To import an .axdt file as a source file, select Data Sources > Location. When you specify an ANSYS External Data file, the Format Type is automatically set to ANSYS External Data File. Also, the Length Unit property will not be available because this information is specified in the file. All length unit information in the .axdt file must be the same (all meters, for example).
ANSYS External Data files have the restriction that the Start Import at Line setting is disabled as the entire file is read as data. Delimiter Type, Delimiter Character, and Format String are also disabled.
This file format is described in the next section.
CFD-Post and the Mechanical application can export data files (.axdt) that can be used by the External Data system. Note that the Mechanical application does not export temperature data in units of K. The following is an example of an .axdt file that has been exported from CFD-Post:
[Name] Plane 1 [Data] X [m] (X coordinate), Y [m ] (Y coordinate), Z [ m ] (Z coordinate), Wall Heat Transfer Coefficient [W m^-2 K^-1] (Heat Transfer Coefficient), Wall Adjacent Temperature [K] (Temperature) -1.77312009e-02, -5.38203605e-02, 6.00000024e-02, 7.12153496e-06, ... -1.77312009e-02, -5.79627529e-02, 5.99999949e-02, 5.06326614e-06, ... . . . [Faces] 369, 370, 376, 367 350, 374, 367, 368 . . .
This file contains three blocks, each with one of the labels: [Name], [Data] and [Faces]. The [Name] block contains the name of the region contained/defined in the file.
The [Data] block contains node coordinates and values. The first line following the [Data] label is a header that contains a comma separated list of unique labels, units and quantity type for coordinates and values at each node. Units are contained in square brackets and quantity types are contained in parentheses. Subsequent lines, one per node, contain a comma separated list of data defined in the header. The [Data] block ends in the line before the [Faces] block label.
The [Faces] block contains definitions for topologically two-dimensional faces (small surfaces), each by 3 (triangle) or 4 (quadrilateral) points. The points must be ordered to trace a path going around the face. For proper rendering, the faces should have consistent point ordering, either clockwise or counterclockwise. Each face is automatically closed by connecting the last point to the first point. Face connectivity data is listed in the [Faces] block and references the points in the [Data] block, where the latter are implicitly numbered, starting with 0.
External Data can be configured to efficiently import multiple data sets (for example, from a transient analysis). It can handle multiple sets through a single file or via multiple files.
This section will guide you through the steps to set up such an analysis:
Create the External Data system by double-clicking External Data in the Component Systems toolbox. An External Data system appears in the Project Schematic.
Double-click the External Data system's Setup cell to edit it. The Outline view, Properties view, and Table view appear.
Using the Outline view, choose the data files. You can:
Perform multiple file add operations in the Outline view.
In the Location column, click the browse icon (circled in the figure that follows), multi-select files in the Open File(s) dialog box that appears, and click .
If you have a list of fully-qualified paths to the files you want, you can copy the list from a text file or an Excel file and paste it into the Outline view's Data Source field.
To paste from a flat-text editor such as Notepad:
List the paths to the files in the editor. Ensure that there are no trailing spaces in the lines.
Select all the files and copy them (Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C)
In the Outline view, click the asterisk. The line becomes highlighted, and the text Click here to add a file remains visible.
Press Ctrl+V to add the files.
In the Properties view, set the properties of the files.
If the files are of the same or similar format, you can make use of multi-selection of the files for quick settings of common properties:
Multi-select the desired files in the Outline view. You will see:
A value when that value is the same for all selected files.
A blank field when values differ between selected files.
A yellow field when a value is required, but is not currently specified for any of the files.
If you edit any field in the Properties view when multiple files are selected, your change is applied to all files.
If the X, Y, Z locations of the source points is common between all the files, you can make use of the “Master” Designation. By designating a “Master” file, all other files will use that file's values for the X, Y, Z locations. This leads to faster user interface set up, as well as much faster mapping times as the mapping weight calculations need to be done only once and then are shared for all slave files.
Use the Table view (which is populated from the Format String field in the Properties view) to specify the Column data in the file.
Here again you can make use of multi-selection of the files in order to fully populate the Table view. You can span data from all selected files and use various right-mouse button actions to efficiently define the column data.
In the Outline view, multi-select the desired files.
In the Table view, sort the table by Column to efficiently order the file data. For example, if you have four data fields and the first three specify the X, Y, Z locations, sorting by column will place the remaining data-field entries together at the bottom of the column.
Select all the rows for which you want to change data:
Select the first row to be changed by clicking on the row number (which is in the table boundary).
Press and hold Shift key.
Select the last row to be changed by clicking on the row number.
Right-click anywhere over the selected cells, choose , and set the desired data type. Repeat as required to set the data units via .
Tip: If or are not available, ensure that your mouse cursor is over the body of the table, not on the table boundary.
Select and copy the cell entries in the Combined Identifier Column that correspond to the multiple data sets (using Ctrl+C or right-click and select ). These data-identifier strings will be used to specify which data set will be imported at each load step inside Mechanical.
Link the External Data system into the desired Mechanical system/cell.
Update the External Data system.
Edit (or, if editor is already open, Refresh) the Mechanical system.
Set the desired Number Of Steps in Mechanical's Analysis Settings object. Set the step end times as desired (you can copy and paste).
As needed, create the desired Imported Load/Thickness in Mechanical.
Select the Imported Object, then paste the data identifier text into the appropriate cells inside the Data view on the imported object.
As required, copy and paste the desired step end times on the Analysis Settings Object and the Imported Data Object (in the Analysis Time(s) column).
Right-click Import Load to invoke the mapping calculations.
After mapping has completed, you can review the various mappings by adjusting the Active Row entry in the details view. The graphics will render a contour plot of the imported data at the specified row. Additionally, this data can be exported out of Mechanical by right-clicking the tree object and selecting .
Analytical transformation options can be applied to the source nodal locations. You can enter constant or functional values that will be applied to the x, y, and z (or r, theta, z for cylindrical) values read from the input file from within the External Data User Interface. For a complete list of supported functions, go to Expressions, Quantities, and Units. The order of operations for conversion of the original node locations into a format the common mapping utility uses must be taken into consideration when setting up analytical transformation functions, rotation, and translation information.
The nodal data, as well as any unit system information, is read into the common mapping utility. If any nodal analytical transformation values or functions are provided, they are applied directly to the nodal coordinates as they are read in from the file. If the data is provided in a cylindrical system, it is converted into Cartesian coordinates. Once the nodes are in Cartesian, all nodal data is converted into MKS, so that the mapping utility stores all data in the same unit system. If any rotational information is provided, this is applied next, followed by any translations.
The following example takes nodal data, written in a cylindrical system, from a ring with an inner radius of 8 mm and an outer radius of 10 mm and allows an analytical transformation value to be applied to the radius of the source data, such that it aligns with a smaller ring with an inner radius of 7.2 mm and an outer radius of 9 mm.
Thermal results on an expanded or stretched ring (inner radius is 8 mm and outer radius is 10 mm)
Sample cylindrical nodal data:
| Node Number | Radius (mm) | Theta (radians) | Z Location (mm) | Temperature (–C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8.914523065 | –0.247535105 | 1.6 | 99.983 |
| 2 | 8.914523065 | –0.247535105 | 1.2 | 99.984 |
| 3 | 8.914523065 | –0.247535105 | 0.8 | 99.984 |
| 4 | 8.914523065 | –0.247535105 | 0.4 | 99.983 |
| 5 | 8.917873803 | –0.192647608 | 1.6 | 99.983 |
| 6 | 8.917873803 | –0.192647608 | 1.2 | 99.984 |
| 7 | 8.917873803 | –0.192647608 | 0.8 | 99.984 |
| 8 | 8.917873803 | –0.192647608 | 0.4 | 99.983 |
| 9 | 8.927166575 | –0.137916029 | 1.6 | 99.983 |
If we simply import the nodal data, you can see how the source nodes are not contained within the target volume.
Imported temperature load with unmodified source points displayed:
Within the External Data System user interface, you can enter analytical transformation values as either constants, or as functions of x, y, or z. For our example, we want to scale the source radius (that is, X Coordinate) by 90%.
Applying a constant analytical transformation scale factor to the radius (that is, X Coordinate) of the cylindrical source nodal locations:
Updating the schematic and looking at the imported load we see the analytical transformation value has been applied to the nodal locations and now coincides with the target model.
Imported temperature load with "transformed" source points displayed:
Importing the load generates the following imported load:
You can use Workbench to perform coupled simulations using multiple Analysis or Component Systems. The External Data System may be used as a source of static (that is, unchanging) data for other co-simulation participants such as ANSYS Fluent or ANSYS Mechanical, as described in the System Coupling Guide.
System Coupling’s tutorial Heat Transfer from a Heating Coil is an example of a coupled analysis using External Data. To access tutorials and their input files on the ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/training.
Each External Data system that is connected to the System Coupling system is represented as a coupling participant in the System Coupling setup. The name of this participant will be the name of the External Data system specified in the Workbench Project Schematic. Note that since the External Data system acts as a source of static data, it can only be defined as the source in System Coupling’s Data Transfer definition.
Each input file added to an instance of the External Data system is represented as a coupling region for the associated coupling participant in the System Coupling setup.
In order to use the External Data system as a coupling participant, the "ANSYS External Data File" file format should be used. For information regarding use of this file format, see Importing an ANSYS External Data File as Input.
Data Types provided by External Data that are currently consumable by the System Coupling system include Temperature and Heat Rate.
Note that in the XML file transferred from the External Data System to System Coupling, if the units of the coordinates in are not all consistent, an error will be reported.