IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page1
Inthistutorial,wewillusetheSolidWorksSimulationfiniteelementanalysis(FEA)programtoanalyze
[Link]
[Link],heat
transfer,fluidflow,[Link],and
thisintroductorytutorialwillbelimitedtothatuse.
[Link]
softwarehasbecomeeasiertouse,[Link]
quicklyobtainresults,buttheinterpretationoftheresults
[Link]
thistutorial,wewillpointoutwherechoicesandassumptions
aremadethatcouldaffecttheaccuracyoftheresults.
Theparttobeanalyzedisthebracketfromthetutorialof
Chapter3.
[Link]
menu,selectTools:AddInsandcheck
[Link]
OKtoclosethewelcomebox.
Ifyouchecktheboxtotherightofthe
addinname,thenthataddinwillbe
activatedwheneverSolidWorksis
[Link].
WhenSolidWorksSimulationisactivated,anewmenuitemiscreated,andaSimulationtabisaddedto
theCommandManager.
ManyofthetoolsintheSimulationGroupoftheCommandManagerhave
[Link],ifyouselecttheStudyAdvisorTool,
thenthesoftwareleadsyouthroughseveralquestionstohelpyouchoose
[Link]
analysisoptionsdirectlyfromthepulldownmenusbeloweachAdvisor
Tool.
[Link]
menuundertheStudyAdvisorTool,selectNewStudy.
[Link].
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page2
[Link]
type(static).
NoticethatthePropertyManagernowshowsasplitscreenwiththemodel
[Link]
[Link]
solidmodelandtheanalysis(anewtabwillbecreatedforeachnewstudy).
AnalysisType:Inastaticanalysis,[Link]
almostinstantaneously,[Link]
thattheresponseofthestructureislinearforexample,a20lbloadproducesstressesand
[Link],ifthedeflectionsarerelativelylarge,
[Link],alargedeflectionanalysis,in
whichtheloadisappliedincrementallyandthestiffnessrecalculatedateverystep,mayberequired.
InChapter3,weappliedABSasthematerialofthebracket(ABSstandsforAcrylonitrilebutadiene
styrene,acommonthermoplasticusedinavarietyofapplications).Wecanacceptthismaterialforour
analysis,selectanothermaterialfromalibraryofSolidWorksmaterials,orenterpropertiesmanually.
AnexcellentsourceforpropertydataistheonlinedatabaseMatWeb([Link]).Ifyouenter
ABSasasearchterminthisdatabase,[Link]
thepropertiesofthespecificmaterialthatistobeused,asthepropertiescanvarywidelyfordifferent
grades,additives,fillers,[Link]
Corporation,[Link]:
E(Elasticmodulus)=320,000psi
Yieldstrength=6100psi
Massdensity=0.0376lb/in
3
[Link],collapsethe
SolidWorksMaterialsandexpandtheCustom
[Link]
CustomMaterialsandchooseNewMaterial.
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page3
EnterBracketABS:[Link](IPS)[Link]
[Link]
oneachpropertyvalueandenterthevaluesaboveintheproperplaces.Alsoenteravalueof0.40for
thePoissonsratio(thisisatypicalvalueforaplastic).Onlythefourpropertiesshowninredare
requiredforthisanalysis;[Link],
andthenclickClose.
Material:[Link]
elasticmodulusdefinesthestiffness(resistancetodeflection)[Link]
[Link]
[Link],steelhasanEvalueofabout30,000,000psi(poundspersquareinch).Aluminum
hasanEvalueof10,000,000psi.TheABSplasticthatwehavechosenhasavalueforEof320,000
psi,soitisabout100timeslessstiffthansteel.
Anassumptionofourmodelisthatthematerialsbehaviorisperfectlylinear,sothatthedeflectionis
[Link],which
exhibitsomeamountofnonlinearbehavior.
Mostmaterialsreachapointbeforetheybreakatwhichadditionalloadingproducesmuchlarger
[Link],andourlinearmodelisnotvalid
beyondtheyieldpointofthematerial.
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page4
Wenowneedtoconsiderhowthebracketisconstrained(theboundaryconditions)andwhatforces
thatitwillbesubjectedto(theloadings).
FromthepulldownmenubelowtheFixturesAdvisor,selectFixed
[Link]
visible,[Link]
theconstraint.
BoundaryConditions:Whenacomponentisisolatedforanalysis,thewayinwhichthatcomponentis
[Link],wehavechosena
fixedrestraint,whichmeansthateverypointonthebackfaceofthebracketispreventedfrom
[Link],itmaynotbeentirely
[Link],thenthetopscrewsmaystretchenough
[Link],thewallitselfmaydeflectslightly.
Thechoiceofproperboundaryconditionstosimulateactualconstraintsisoftenoneofthemost
importantdecisionstobemadeforananalysis.
FromthepulldownmenubelowtheExternalLoadsAdvisor,[Link]
theinchholeasshownhere.Setthepressureas84.9psi(besuretosettheunitstopsi).
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page5
Thepressureiscalculatedfromthe50lbloadappliedtothesurface,whichisoneinchindiameterwith
ainchholeinthecenter:
p =
Su lb
|
4
,
(1
2
- u.S
2
)]in
2
= 84.9 psi
[Link]
thesecases,[Link]
[Link].
FromthepulldownmenubelowtheRunTool,[Link]
right(fine)andclickthecheckmark.
Whencomplete,themeshwillbedisplayed.
MeshSize:Afinermesh,withmoreelements,willgenerallyproducemoreaccurateresultsatthe
[Link],thelonger
[Link],forcomplexanalyses(suchasnonlinearandtime
dependentanalyses),[Link]
neededforaccuracy?Sometimesitisnecessarytoexperimentwithdifferentmeshesuntiltheresults
[Link],themeshcanberefinedtocreatemoreelementsinalocal
areawherestressesaregreatest.
ElementType:Therearemanyelementtypes,suchasplates,shells,trussmembers,beamelements,
[Link],or
[Link]
typicallychosenwhenasolidmodelisavailable,solidelementsarenotalwaysthebestchoicefor
[Link],afewbeamorshellelementswillprovidemoreaccurateresultsthan
hundredsofsolidelements.
FromthepulldownmenubelowtheRunTool,selectRun.
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page6
Whiletheanalysisisbeingperformed,astatusboxwillappearon
[Link]
[Link],about20,500elementswere
created(yournumbermaybemoreorless,dependingonhowfar
totherightyoumovedthemeshsizesliderbar).Thereareabout
35,000nodes,[Link]
threedegreesoffreedom,orpossibledisplacement,exceptfor
[Link]
[Link]
thesolverisrunning,theseequationsarebeingformulatedand
solved.
Thisanalysisshouldtakeonlyafewsecondsonareasonablyfastcomputer.(Aremarkablefeat,
consideringtherearealmost100,000simultaneousequationstobesolved!)Aftertheanalysisis
complete,[Link],thevonMisesstressesareshown.
IfthestressesareshowninSIunits,rightclickontheitemcalledStress1intheResultsgroupand
[Link],[Link]
checkmark.
[Link],
changethenumericdisplaytofloating,[Link].
[Link]
valueofthemaximumstress,about3,690
psi,whichoccursinthecenterrib.(Your
valuesmaydifferslightly,dependingon
themeshsizechosen.)
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page7
Stress:[Link],the
unitsofstressarepoundspersquareinchornewtonspersquaremeter(pascals).However,stressis
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
stresses.
[Link],forasimplestateofstress,
suchasawirebeingstretchedinonedirection,wecansimplycomparethestresstothestrengthto
[Link],wemustchooseafailuretheory
[Link],or
[Link],thesoftwarecomputedthevonMisesequivalent
stress,[Link]
case,themaximumvonMisesstressisabout3700psi.Ifthematerialsyieldstrengthis6100psi,
[Link],thefactorofsafetyof6100/3700=1.65is
[Link]
toaccountforallofthemanyuncertaintiesassociatedwiththeanalysis(loading,materialproperties,
environmentaldegradationofmaterial,etc.)Insomeindustries,factorsofsafetyof10ormoreare
[Link],whereweightiscritical,factorsofsafetyoflessthantwoare
[Link],extensivematerialtestingandanalysisareusedto
reduceuncertaintyasmuchasispractical.
[Link]
[Link],weusuallysaythataparthasfailedifthematerialhasyielded,sothatadditional
[Link],excessivedeflectionitselfmaybedefinedas
failure.
[Link]
[Link]
displaytofloating,withthreedecimalplaces.
IntroductiontoSolidModelingUsingSolidWorks2011 SolidWorksSimulationTutorial Page8
[Link]
[Link],youwillsee
thatthedownwarddeflectionaccountsforalmosttheentiremagnitudeoftheresultant.
[Link]
moststructuralpartsareusuallyverysmall,scalingtheirvaluestoproducethedeflectedshapeisa
[Link],
beyondthenumericalresults.
Hopefully,thisexercisehasshownthatfiniteelementanalysisisanincrediblyusefultooltosupplement
engineeringanalysis,[Link]
structuralanalysis,acourseinmechanicsofmaterials,usuallytakenatthesophomoreorjuniorlevel,is
[Link],youwilllearnaboutstress,strain,anddeflection,andtherelationships
[Link]
fatigue(repeatedloadings)[Link]
[Link]
whowillberesponsibleforconductinganalysis.
Also,[Link]
toolsthroughconstantreeducationandtraining.
