Sherlock User Guide
Ansys Workbench
Integration
Introduction
Ansys Workbench is a widely used FEA application that combines the ease of a point-and-click
interface with the power of the Ansys analysis engines. Starting with version 3.1.1, Sherlock can be
used to import circuit card data directly into a Workbench analysis stream and/or generate reliability
results as part of a Workbench solution, as depicted in the following diagram:
Ansys Workbench integration is implemented by the “Sherlock Plugin” API provided as part of the
Sherlock Client and the “Sherlock Extension” Python script that is installed as an Ansys Workbench
Extension. After the Sherlock Extension has been loaded into an Ansys Workbench project it can be
used to provide any or all of the following functionality in Workbench:
● Assign material properties to PCB, components and/or mount points,
● Define supports (e.g., boundary conditions),
● Define external loads (e.g., test points, shock profile, etc),
● Generate a result showing component reliability scores, and
● Export results for additional Sherlock analysis.
Users can also export a 3D geometric model of a circuit card from Sherlock as a STEP file and use the
standard “Import Geometry” feature in Ansys Workbench to use the model as a starting point for
analysis.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Sherlock Extension Installation
The Sherlock Extension script is deployed as a binary Ansys Workbench Extension (*.wbex) file
located in the “Ansys” sub-folder of the Sherlock Installation Folder (usually “c:\Program Files
(x86)\DfR Solutions\Sherlock”). The Sherlock Extension is installed and loaded into a Workbench
project using the following procedure:
Select the “Extensions >> Install Extension” option
from the Workbench main menu.
At that point, a file dialog will appear to find and
select the WBEX file to be installed. Navigate
to the “Ansys” sub-folder of the Sherlock
Installation Folder and select the
“SherlockPlugin.wbex” file.
Press the “Open” button to complete the
installation process.
After the installation has been installed, it can be loaded
or unloaded into a project by selecting the “Extensions
>> Manage Extensions” option from the Workbench
main menu. Simply enable the “Load” check box to load
the SherlockPlugin extension into the current project.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Using a Circuit Card Geometry Model
Sherlock can be used to automatically generate a 3D model of a circuit card based on data found in
design files and Sherlock Libraries. Such models can be exported from Sherlock as a standard STEP
file and imported into an Ansys Workbench project, providing users with a quick and easy way to
bootstrap an analysis task.
The model sharing process begins in Sherlock by right-clicking any
FEA-based analysis entry in the project tree and selecting the “Export
FEA Model” option from the pop-up menu. In the example shown
here, the “ICT Analysis” module has been selected, so the 3D model
will include all currently defined ICT Fixtures. All other FEA-based
analysis modules will include the currently defined Mount Points
instead of the Fixtures.
The Export ICT Model dialog allows you to specify the
location and name of the model file to be generated.
The STEP file format (*.stp) should be specified for
model files to be imported into Ansys Workbench.
The STEP file can be imported into a
Workbench analysis system by right-
clicking the “Geometry” entry and
selecting the “Import Geometry” option
from the pop-up menu. The “Browse”
sub-option can then be used to locate the
desired STEP file. A list of recently
imported geometry files is also provided
for convenience.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
After the geometry model has been imported into Workbench, some standard inputs are required before
the model can be used for analysis. Usually, the following tasks are required:
• Mesh all model parts,
• Assign materials to all model parts,
• Define support boundary conditions, and
• Define external loads.
Workbench will automatically perform the first task (meshing the model) as needed using default
properties prior to performing an analysis, eliminating the need for manual inputs. As will be discussed
in the next section, the Sherlock Extension can also be used to automatically perform any or all of the
last three items, thereby further reducing the need for manual inputs.
However, there is one step that must be performed manually before an analysis can be performed -
assigning a default material to all model parts.
The Sherlock Extension can be used to assign material properties to any or all
model parts, but Workbench checks for material assignments *before* the
extension is invoked to update material assignments, so a default material
needs to be manually assigned to all parts.
Assigning a Default Material
To prepare the model for analysis, double-click the “Model” item of
the analysis system in the Workbench Project Schematic. At that point,
the Mechanical dialog will appear, showing the project outline, the
circuit card model and other standard status panels.
In this example, the Geometry
Details panel clearly shows the
STEP file generated by Sherlock
as the source of the model.
Note also that a “Sherlock”
menu appears in the main menu
bar and a “Sherlock” toolbar
appears just above the outline.
The next section will discuss how
these can be used.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
To assign a default material to all model parts, expand the
“Model >> Geometry” item in the Project Outline and
select all of the listed parts. At that point, the “Multiple
Selection” details panel will be displayed. Right-click the
“Material >> Assignment” entry field and select one of the
materials from the pop-up menu.
If the Sherlock Extension is used to automatically assign
materials to all parts, then it doesn't matter which default
material is used, because the Sherlock Extension will
overwrite the assignment before the analysis is performed.
If, however, the Sherlock Extension will not be used to
assign materials to some of the parts, then the remaining
parts should be manually assigned proper materials.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Using Sherlock Input Data
Sherlock maintains a lot of information about circuit cards, parts, mount points and external forces that
can significantly reduce the amount of manual data entry required to perform circuit card analysis. The
Sherlock Extension provides a custom Workbench “Load” that can be used to automatically import
such data from Sherlock prior to performing an analysis task.
Add Input Data
The Sherlock Input Data custom load can be added by
either selecting the “Sherlock >> Add Input Data”
menu item from the main menu or by clicking the
Sherlock Input Data icon in the Sherlock toolbar. In
either case, the “Sherlock Input Data” item will be
added to the current analysis system.
Circuit Card Selection
The details panel for the Sherlock Input Data item is
used to specify the circuit card data to be retrieved from
Sherlock and used to automatically generate analysis
input commands. The most important entry is the
“CCA Folder” which specifies the Sherlock circuit card
to be used. The first time the Sherlock Extension is
used, the CCA Folder will be empty. Thereafter, the
last CCA Folder entered will be used as the default
value. In either case, the CCA Folder can be changed at
any time by left-clicking the entry field. At that point,
a file chooser dialog will appear, allowing the desired
Sherlock CCA folder to be selected.
Since each Sherlock project can contain
multiple circuit cards, you must select
the circuit card folder, not the project
folder.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Material Assignments
The “Materials” group in the details panel is used to indicate which model parts, if any, should be
assigned Sherlock material properties. For each of the enabled categories, the Sherlock Extension will
automatically determine which mesh elements are associated with the appropriate parts and will
generate input commands to overwrite the default material assignments for those elements. No
material assignment will be made for any mesh element that cannot be associated with one of the
selected categories. This allows Workbench users to freely modify the model as needed to add
additional parts, while still using the Sherlock Extension to assign materials to the parts that were
originally imported. In such cases, however, Workbench users are responsible for assigning
appropriate material properties to all remaining mesh elements.
Material assignments can be made by the Sherlock Extension even if the
original model was not exported from Sherlock. The Sherlock Extension
compares the centroid of each mesh element to the part boundary as defined
in the Sherlock model to map elements to parts.
Boundary Conditions
The “Conditions” group in the details panel is used to select support and/or load boundary conditions
to be automatically imported from Sherlock. Unlike material assignments, which overwrite any
previously existing assignments, any item selected in the Conditions group will be “added” to any
support and/or load conditions defined using standard Workbench capabilities. This allows users to
incorporate both Sherlock-defined and user-defined boundary conditions for the analysis.
The “Support” field is used to select the type of fixed support
conditions to be applied to the model, including “Mount
Points”, “Fixtures” or “None”. In the example shown here, the
boundary conditions defined by the set of ICT Fixtures in
Sherlock are being used as part of a Static Structural analysis.
For other types of analysis, Mount Point conditions are usually
selected, but Workbench users are free to choose for
themselves.
When enabled, the Sherlock Extension will automatically
generate input commands to define boundary conditions for the
appropriate nodes contained within the selected Mount Points or
Fixtures as defined in Sherlock.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
The “Load” field is used to select the type of external load to be
applied to the model. For Static Structural analysis, as shown in
this example, the selection list will include only “Test Points”
and “None”. For all other analysis types, the selection list will
include a list of all appropriate Sherlock Life Cycle events and
“None”. For example, when performing a “Transient
Structural” analysis, the selection list will include all “Shock”
events defined in Sherlock.
When enabled, the Sherlock Extension will automatically
generate input commands to define loads associated with the
selected item. For example, when the “Test Points” item is
selected, force or displacement loads will be defined for all test
points defined in Sherlock. For shock and harmonic loads, the Sherlock Extension will define
acceleration profiles based on the selected Life Cycle event as defined in Sherlock.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Generating Sherlock Reliability Results
After an FEA solution has been generated in Workbench, the Sherlock Extension can be used to
processing the FEA strain results and generate reliability scores for all PCB components. The
reliability scores are displayed graphically as a standard Workbench result, where the color of each
component denotes the reliability score from 0 to 10.
In the Sherlock application, a score of 0 represents the worst score and 10 the
best score. In workbench, the scores are reversed (0=best, 10=worst) so
that the worst scores are colored red as a visual indication of failed
components.
Add Reliability Result
The Sherlock Reliability Result can be added by either
selecting the “Sherlock >> Add Reliability Result”
menu item from the main menu or by clicking the
Sherlock Reliability Result icon in the Sherlock toolbar.
In either case, the “Sherlock Reliability Result” item
will be added to the current analysis system.
Circuit Card Selection
The “CCA Folder” entry in the Sherlock Reliability
Result item is used to specify the circuit card data
associated with the FEA results. The first time the
Sherlock Extension is used, the CCA Folder will be
empty. Thereafter, the last CCA Folder entered will be
used as the default value. In either case, the CCA
Folder can be changed at any time by left-clicking the
entry field. At that point, a file chooser dialog will
appear, allowing the desired Sherlock CCA folder to be
selected.
Since each Sherlock project can
contain multiple circuit cards, you
must select the circuit card folder, not
the project folder.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Display Properties
The “Color Scheme” field is used to indicate the
method used to color PCB components, including the
following choices:
● Score
● Density
● CTE
● Random
The “Score” color scheme uses the FEA strain results to
compute a reliability score for all PCB components, with
0 representing the best score and 10 the worst score.
The “Density” and “CTE” color schemes use the
material properties assigned in Sherlock to each PCB component to assign colors ranging from blue for
the lowest value to red for the highest value. Such color schemes are useful for verifying material
assignments and/or comparing material properties to the FEA and/or reliability results. The “Random”
color scheme generates a random value for each mesh element ranging from 1 to 10 and is provided
primarily for trouble-shooting Sherlock Extension installation and/or circuit card specifications.
Reliability Result
After an FEA solution has been completed and all results have been evaluated in Workbench, the
Sherlock Reliability Result can be viewed in the graphical result panel, as shown here:
Mesh elements that are not associated with any PCB component (as defined in Sherlock) will be
translucent when using the “Score” color scheme.
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Sherlock User Guide – Ansys Workbench Integration
Exporting FEA Results
The Sherlock Extension provides the “Export Results”
menu and toolbar option to allow Workbench users to
export the current FEA results to a file that can then be
imported into Sherlock for subsequent reliability
analysis. This allows users to generate a complete suite
of reliability results, including custom PDF reports.
When the “Export Results” option is
selected, a file dialog will appear to allow
the desired export file to be selected.
When the “Save” button is pressed, the
Sherlock Extension will automatically
export the current displacement and strain
results to the designated file.
The resulting “*.dfr-rd” file will be a
formatted text file that can be easily
imported into Sherlock as part of the
reliability analysis process.
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