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Now, we wonder about the simplifications we can make in the model.  We notice that the truss bars can be modeled as beams, and so we will replace the solid geometries with line bodies with a cross-sectional area. This will reduce and simplify the model, decreasing the computational time while keeping the same validity.

Start-Up

The Geometry of the Tertiary Truss is the most complicated part of the design process.  Many hours were spent creating the Solidworks geometry for the truss. This requires much time and practice in Engineering Design. However, this tutorial focuses on properly analyzing the structure, not creating it from scratch, so we will provide the created geometry.  ANSYS is able to import Solidworks files directly, however, it also requires the Solidworks program to be installed on the same machine, so we provide the file in .STEP format, the "neutral" format for computer modelling.

Click here to download the geometry file.

Unzip the folder, and open up ANSYS.  Use the import button to open up the file. (Remember to select "geometry file" from the drop down menu, so you can see .STEP files.)

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After opening and generating the import, you should see the entire geometry has been detailed in the window.  You should take this time to familiarize yourself with the structure.For this tutorial, the Start-Up step is located at the start of the Geometry step. 

Engineering Data

For simplicity's sake, we will let our geometry be defined as Structural Steel.

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