🚀 Agentic FEA: 3D Aerospace Bracket Modal Vibration Analysis via Ansys & Claude MCP

An end-to-end Agentic AI Simulation Pipeline that connects Anthropic's Claude directly to Ansys Mechanical Enterprise via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and PyMechanical.

Instead of testing with basic textbook cantilever beams, this repository showcases a full industrial-grade finite element workflow on a multi-component 3D Aerospace Structural Mounting Bracket, extracting the first 6 natural vibration modes completely via automated Python orchestration.

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📸 Simulation Results: Mode 1 Total Deformation

Figure 1: Fundamental Mode 1 Total Deformation contour ($f_1 = 2,246.8,\text{Hz}$) exported directly from Ansys Mechanical 2026 R1. Notice the vertical flange flexure and the structural load transfer to the 6 bolted mounting constraints.

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📌 Architecture & Workflow

flowchart LR
    A["👤 User Natural Language Prompt<br/>(Claude Code / Claude Desktop)"] --> B["🔌 Ansys MCP Server<br/>(mcp/ansys_mcp_server.py)"]
    B --> C["🐍 PyMechanical Engine<br/>(ansys.mechanical.core)"]
    C --> D["🧱 1. Import 3D CAD Assembly<br/>(MidSurfaceBracket)"]
    D --> E["🔗 2. Auto-Detect Bonded Contacts"]
    E --> F["🕸️ 3. Generate Higher-Order Mesh<br/>(6,191 Nodes | 2,930 Elements)"]
    F --> G["🔩 4. Constrain 6 Bolted Holes"]
    G --> H["⚡ 5. Block Lanczos Eigensolver"]
    H --> I["📊 6. Extract Natural Frequencies<br/>& Render Contour Image"]

Loading

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🧱 Finite Element Model Specifications

Parameter	Value
Component	3D Aerospace Mounting Bracket Assembly (MidSurfaceBracket.agdb)
Material	Structural Steel ($E = 200,\text{GPa}$, $\nu = 0.30$, $\rho = 7850,\text{kg/m}^3$)
Finite Element Type	3D Solid Elements (Higher-Order Quadratic Formulation)
Mesh Statistics	6,191 Nodes | 2,930 Elements
Interface Contacts	Auto-generated bonded contact pairs between assembly components
Boundary Conditions	Fully clamped fixed supports applied across all 6 mounting bolt hole surfaces
Solver	Ansys Block Lanczos Modal Eigensolver
Vibration Range	First 6 Natural Modes ($2.2,\text{kHz} - 11.3,\text{kHz}$)

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📊 Extracted Natural Frequencies Table

The Block Lanczos eigensolver extracted the following fundamental vibration modes:

Mode	Natural Frequency (Hz)	Period (ms)	Dynamic Mode Characteristic
1	2,246.79	0.4451	1st Fundamental Bending Mode (Vertical flange flexure & tip deflection)
2	3,556.12	0.2812	1st Torsional Mode (Out-of-phase rib twisting)
3	6,930.27	0.1443	2nd Transverse Bending Mode (Lateral web sway)
4	9,329.98	0.1072	Web Flange In-Plane Breathing Mode (Expansion/contraction)
5	9,940.81	0.1006	Coupled Torsion-Bending Harmonic
6	11,303.57	0.0885	High-Frequency Axial/Acoustic Resonance

💡 Key Engineering Takeaways:

• Resonance Margin: The lowest resonant frequency occurs at 2,246.8 Hz, placing the structure well above typical mechanical vibration spectra (ground vehicles: $5-100,\text{Hz}$, aero turbomachinery harmonics: $50-500,\text{Hz}$).
• Bolted Hole Load Sharing: Fixing the 6 cylindrical hole faces prevents rigid body rotation and realistically simulates preloaded fastener behavior.

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🗂️ Clean Repository Structure

Modal_Analysis/
├── assets/
│   └── bracket_mode1_contour.png          # High-resolution simulation contour
├── docs/
│   └── bracket_modal_analysis_report.md   # Comprehensive engineering report
├── mcp/
│   └── ansys_mcp_server.py                # Model Context Protocol server (Mechanical/Fluent/MAPDL)
├── models/
│   └── Aerospace_Bracket_Modal.mechdb     # Ready-to-open Ansys Mechanical database
├── examples/
│   └── cantilever_ml_surrogate/           # Benchmark: Random Forest ML surrogate on beam FEA
├── bracket_modal_analysis.py              # Main automated simulation script
├── requirements.txt                       # Clean Python dependencies
├── .gitignore                             # Ignore cache, logs, and Ansys scratch files
├── LICENSE                                # MIT License
└── README.md                              # Repository documentation

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⚡ Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Ansys 2026 R1 (or 2025/2024 with PyMechanical) installed.

2. Installation

git clone https://github.com/vamshidharre/Modal_Analysis.git
cd Modal_Analysis
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the Standalone Simulation

To execute the complete CAD import, meshing, contact generation, modal solve, and image export:

python bracket_modal_analysis.py

4. Open Directly in Ansys Mechanical

To inspect the 3D model, mesh, and animate the mode shapes in Ansys GUI, open the included database file:

& "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v261\aisol\bin\winx64\AnsysWBU.exe" -file "models/Aerospace_Bracket_Modal.mechdb"

(Or double-click models/Aerospace_Bracket_Modal.mechdb)

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🤖 Running via Claude Desktop & Claude Code (MCP)

To let Claude drive Ansys directly via natural language:

Configure Claude Desktop

Add the Ansys MCP server to %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansys": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["<PATH_TO_REPO>/mcp/ansys_mcp_server.py"],
      "env": {
        "ANSYS_ROOT": "C:\\Program Files\\ANSYS Inc\\v261"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure Claude Code CLI

claude mcp add ansys python mcp/ansys_mcp_server.py

Example Prompt to Claude:

"Launch an Ansys Mechanical session, load the bracket CAD, mesh with solid elements, clamp the 6 bolt holes, and solve the first 6 natural vibration frequencies."

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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👤 Author

Vamshidhar Reddy

• GitHub: @vamshidharre
• LinkedIn: Vamshidhar Reddy
• Portfolio: vamshidhar-portfolio.netlify.app