ANSYS Workbench Files

ANSYS Workbench Files

To view all files associated with a project, choose View>Files from the Menu bar. You will be able to see the name and type of file, the ID of the cell the file is associated with, the size of the file, the location of the file, and other information. Files added to the project will appear here. Files deleted from the project will be shown in red and will be marked with a “Deleted” icon. See Working with Views and Workspaces for more information on using the Files view. Database files associated with the various ANSYS Workbench applications are listed below.

Database Files. ANSYS Workbench applications create the following types of database files:

• ANSYS Workbench project database file = .wbpj
• Mechanical APDL = .db
• FLUENT = .cas, .dat, .msh
• CFX = .cfx, .def, .res, .mdef and .mres
• DesignModeler = .agdb
• CFX-Mesh = .cmdb
• Mechanical = .mechdb
• Meshing = .cmdb
• Engineering Data = .eddb
• FE Modeler = .fedb
• Mesh Morpher = .rsx
• ANSYS AUTODYN = .ad
• DesignXplorer = .dxdb
• BladeGen = .bgd

Workbench Journal and Log Files. ANSYS Workbench writes journal and log files for each ANSYS Workbench session. For more information on journal and log files, see Journals and Logs.

Design Point Log Files. During a design point update, the parameter values of each successfully updated design point are written to a CSV log file in the user_files directory. For more information, see Design Point Log Files in the DesignXplorer help.

Importing Legacy Databases

ANSYS Workbench offers several methods to import databases from earlier releases:

1. Context Menu Import: The file can be imported via a cell’s context menu. To import a file using this method, you first create the appropriate system and cell, and then import the file into the cell via the context menu.
2. File > Import: The file can be imported via the File > Import menu. The proper systems and cells are created and populated with the data from the imported file. However, you must launch the associated application or editor to use the imported file. You can also drag-and-drop one or multiple files from Windows Explorer onto the Project Schematic. These files will be treated as if they were imported via File > Import.
3. Project Import: The file can be imported as part of an earlier release's project import. The file must be listed as part of the earlier release's project file’s contents. When the project file is selected via the File > Import menu, all necessary systems, cells, and links will be established and populated with data from the various files that made up the earlier release's project.

In each of these cases, you must launch the associated application to use the imported file, which is typically the same application that was used to edit the file in the earlier release. In other words, the imported files are not undergoing any transformation in this release of ANSYS Workbench. Rather, access to the files is being coordinated through the Project Schematic interface.

Not all products/databases use all of these methods.

DesignXplorer Release 11 (.dxdb) file import is not supported; however, basic parameter import is supported.

The following table shows which applications can use the three methods described above.

Table 1  Import Methods

Application	Context Menu Import (#1)	File>Import (#2)	Project Import (#3)
ANSYS Workbench, Release 11 or 10 (.wbdb)			X
Mechanical (.dsdb)		X	X
FE Modeler (.fedb)		X	X
Engineering Data (.eddb)			X (except convections and load histories)
Engineering Data (.xml, .engd)		X
AQWA (.aqdb)		X	X
AUTODYN (.ad)		X	X
Mechanical APDL (.inp, .dat, .cdb, .mac, .anf)	X
DesignModeler (.agdb)	X	X	X
Meshing[a] (.cmdb)		X	X
FLUENT (.msh, .cas, .dat)	X
CFX (.cfx, .def, .res)	X	X
BladeGen (.bdg)	X	X
[a] .cmdb files from Release 10 that contain CFX-Mesh data are not supported. To import these files, import them first into Release 11, save as a Release 11 file, and then import into Release 14.0.

Additional Mechanical Application Import Details

• Legacy .dsdb files that contain multiple models are split into multiple files.
• .dsdb files become .mechdb files internally.
• Separate systems are created to correspond to each of the Release 11 environments. Environments that use the same geometry and model are represented with a link between the Geometry and Model cells of the systems. Physics environments are typically represented as a link between a Solution cell of the originating system and the Setup cell of the receiving system. For example, a thermal condition is represented by a connection between the Solution cell of a thermal system and the Setup cell of a structural system.
• Information that is transferred from the Release 11 system to the current system includes:
• model name
• model state
• physics type
• internal IDs for model, mesh, environment, and answer set
• Engineering Data file path
• material property suppression path
• solver files directory path
• solver type
• geometry preferences
• parameters
• Legacy .dsdb files that do not contain an environment are imported as Mechanical Model systems.

Additional FE Modeler Import Details

• FE Modeler systems will be imported as standalone systems. You can manually create any necessary links between systems, but you will not have the data that FE Modeler may have created (such as geometry).
• If FE Modeler was associated with a Release 11.0 applet, and the .dsdb being imported does not contain any environments, a link is established between the Model cell of the Mechanical Model system and the Model cell of the FE Modeler system. Likewise, if FE Modeler was associated with a Release 11.0 Meshing applet, a link is also established.
• FE Modeler allows you to import a number of mesh files through the Model cell context menu.

Additional AQWA Import Details

• A legacy AQWA database is imported as a standalone Hydrodynamic Diffraction system
• If the legacy database contains multiple analyses, these will be converted into multiple Hydrodynamic Diffraction systems
• Geometry associated with the legacy database will be associated with the Geometry cell of the Hydrodynamic Diffraction system and will be editable

Additional AUTODYN Import Details

No links are created when AUTODYN files are imported from Release 11.0.

Additional CFX Import Details

If CFX files are present in the .wbdb project, they will appear in the Files view, but no system or links associated with these files are created. You can choose to Import to Schematic from the Files view, which will create a CFX system and import the selected file.

You can import CFX Solver .bak files or full .trn files into the Project Schematic so that you can post-process results for debugging when a run fails. You may find it useful to use full .trn files as a backup mechanism because all timesteps are retained, instead of just the most recent ones, and it is easier to post-process multiple timesteps.

Additional DesignModeler Import Details

• DesignModeler files (.agdb) can be imported through context menu import.
• .agdb and .modeldv files can be imported via File> Import.
• Links with other cells are automatically generated when .agdb files that are present in the Release 11.0 .wbdb project are imported into the appropriate system (Mechanical Model or other appropriate system).
• Parameters contained in the .agdb file will not be immediately published to the Project Schematic interface. They will be published when the DesignModeler application is opened.
• CAD files that were imported into the .agdb will not immediately be registered in the Files View of the Project Schematic. Registration of these files will occur when the DesignModeler application is opened.

Additional Meshing Import Details

• Links with other cells are automatically generated when .cmdb files that are present in the Release 11.0 .wbdb project are imported into the appropriate system (Mechanical Model or other appropriate system).
• CFX-Mesh files (.gtm, .cfx) can be imported via context menu import from the Mesh cell of a Mesh system.

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Release 14.0 - © 2011 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved.