Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
What is Finite Element Analysis (FEA)?
Finite element analysis is a mathematical process that can simulate physical, real-world conditions inside of a digital environment. FEA is a very useful tool in design, as it allows engineers to asses the validity of their model without having to conduct a large number of real-world tests or experiments. Take the design of an armchair for example. If an engineer would like to know the feasibility of their current design, without using any digital simulations, they would have to conduct lengthy physical testing of the chair to determine the eventual modes of failure. This information would be used to improve the design, and the lengthy testing process would begin again. This would continue until the engineer was satisfied with the testing results of their model. However when using FEA, the physical testing conditions can be defined in the software, and the program will simulate 1,000,000 cycles of loading. The results of this time-efficient simulation (modes of failure, cycles before failure, etc.) can then be used to improve the design. Once the design has been changed, the updated parameters can simply be input into the software, and the simulation can be run again. This results in a significantly accelerated design cycle.
FEA Workflow
For the Armchair Life Cycle Testing project, FEA simulations were carried out using the ANSYS Discovery AIM 2020 R2 software. This software can be used to run many different types of simulations, such as: structural, fluid flow, thermal, and electromagnetic. The necessary steps that must be completed in order to set up and run a structural simulation, as well as properly interpret the simulation results, are described in detail below. The pictures shown throughout correspond to an example structural simulation run on an armchair geometry. There are three main sections to the simulation workflow: "Geometry", "Physics", and "Results".
|
|---|
| Typical View of Simulation Workflow in the Discovery Aim 2020 R2 Client |
Geometry
The first step in creating a simulation in Discovery Aim is to import the geometry of the part or assembly that is being studied. This can be done using the following steps:
- Launch the Discovery Aim 2020 software
- Hover over the "Structural" simulation block and press "Start"
- Select the "Import New Geometry" option and press "Next"
- From the pop-up file window, select the desired geometry file (Important: SolidWorks files must be imported as STEP files in order to be compatible with the software)
- Once the geometry is visible in the workspace, press "Finish"
Once properly imported, the geometry task will display a green "Up-to-date" notification. This signals to the user that no more changes need to be made to this section before the simulation can be run. If needed, there are options under this tab to edit or replace the geometry.
Note: Under the current student version of the software, any geometry imported is subject to a limit of 50 bodies and 300 faces.
|
|---|
| Imported Armchair Geometry |
Contributors:
| Contributors Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|