Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022: An illustrated guide to performing static analysis with SOLIDWORKS Simulation

✍ Scribed by Khameel B. Mustapha

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 481
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Harness the power of SOLIDWORKS Simulation for design, assembly, and performance analysis of components

Key Features

• Understand the finite element simulation concepts with the help of case studies and detailed explanations
• Discover the features of various SOLIDWORKS element types
• Perform structural analysis with isotropic and composite material properties under a variety of loading conditions

Book Description

SOLIDWORKS is a dominant computer-aided design (CAD) software for the 3D modeling, designing, and analysis of components. This book helps you get to grips with SOLIDWORKS Simulation, which is a remarkable and integral part of SOLIDWORKS predominantly deployed for advanced product performance assessment and virtual prototyping.

With this book, you'll take a hands-on approach to learning SOLIDWORKS Simulation with the help of step-by-step guidelines on various aspects of the simulation workflow. You'll begin by learning about the requirements for effective simulation of parts and components, along with the idealization of physical components and their representation with finite element models. As you progress through the book, you'll find exercises at the end of each chapter, and you'll be able to download the geometry models used in all the chapters from GitHub. Finally, you'll discover how to set up finite element simulations for the static analysis of components under various types of loads, and with different types of materials, from simple isotropic to composite, and different boundary conditions.

By the end of this SOLIDWORKS 2022 book, you'll be able to conduct basic and advanced static analyses with SOLIDWORKS Simulation and have practical knowledge of how to best use the family of elements in the SOLIDWORKS Simulation library.

What you will learn

• Run static simulations with truss, beam, shell, and solid element types
• Demonstrate static simulations with mixed elements
• Analyze components with point loads, torsional loads, transverse distributed loads, surface pressure loads, and centrifugal speed
• Explore the analysis of components with isotropic and composite materials
• Analyze members under thermo-mechanical and cyclic loads
• Discover how to minimize simulation errors and perform convergence analysis
• Acquire practical knowledge of plane elements to reduce computational overhead

Who this book is for

This book is for engineers and analysts working in the field of aerospace, mechanical, civil, and mechatronics engineering who are looking to explore the simulation capabilities of SOLIDWORKS. Basic knowledge of modeling in SOLIDWORKS or any CAD software is assumed.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started with Finite Element Simulation
2. Analyses of Bars and Trusses
3. Analyses of Beams and Frames
4. Analyses of Torsionally Loaded Components
5. Analyses of Axisymmetric Bodies
6. Analyses of Components with Solid Elements
7. Analyses of Components with Mixed Elements
8. Simulation of Components with Composite Materials
9. Simulation of Components under Thermo-Mechanical and Cyclic Loads
10. A Guide to Meshing in SOLIDWORKS

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Section 1: An Introduction to SOLIDWORKS Simulation
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Finite Element Simulation
Technical requirements
An overview of finite element simulation
Background
Applications of FEA
Implementations of FEA
Overview of SOLIDWORKS simulation
What is SOLIDWORKS Simulation?
Basic steps in SOLIDWORKS Simulation
Elements within SOLIDWORKS Simulation
Types of SOLIDWORKS Simulation license
Computing requirements
What are the limitations of SOLIDWORKS Simulation?
Understanding the SOLIDWORKS interfaces
Getting started with the SOLIDWORKS modeling environment
Activating the SOLIDWORKS Simulation environment
What is new in SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2021-2022?
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 2: Analyses of Bars and Trusses
Technical requirement
Overview of static analysis of trusses
Strategies for the analysis of trusses
Structural details
Modeling strategy
Characteristics of the truss element in the SOLIDWORKS Simulation library
Getting started with truss analysis via SOLIDWORKS Simulation
Problem statement
Part A – Creating the sketch of the geometric model
Part B – Converting the skeletal model into a structural profile
Part C – Creating the Simulation study
Part D – Scrutinizing the results
Other things to know about the truss element
Summary
Questions
Further reading
Chapter 3: Analyses of Beams and Frames
Technical requirements
An overview of beams and frames
Strategies for the analysis of beams and frames
Structural details
Modeling strategy
Characteristics of the beam element in the SOLIDWORKS Simulation library
Getting started with analyzing beams and frames in SOLIDWORKS Simulation
Problem statement
Part A – Create a sketch of lines describing the centroidal axis of the beam
Part B – Convert the skeletal model into a structural profile
Part C – Create the simulation study
Part D – Examining the results
Analysis of plane and space frames
Summary
Exercises
Further reading
Chapter 4: Analyses of Torsionally Loaded Components
Technical requirements
Overview of torsionally loaded members
Strategies for the analysis of uniform shafts
Structural details
Modeling strategies
Characteristics of the beam element in a SOLIDWORKS simulation library
Getting started with analyses of torsionally loaded members
Problem statement
Part A – Creating a 3D model of the shaft using the extrusion of cross-sections
Part B – Creating the simulation study
Part C – Creating custom material and specifying material properties
Part D – Applying torque and fixtures
Part E – Post-processing of results
Analysis of components under combined loads
Summary
Exercise
References
Section 2: SOLIDWORKS Simulation with Shell and Solid Elements
Chapter 5: Analyses of Axisymmetric Bodies
Technical requirements
Overview of axisymmetric body problems
Strategies for analyzing axisymmetric bodies
Structural details
Modeling strategies
Characteristics of shell and axisymmetric plane elements
Getting started with analyzing thin-walled pressure vessels in a SOLIDWORKS simulation
Problem statement – case study 1
Part A – Creating a model of the cylinder
Part B – Creating the simulation study
Part C – Meshing
Plane analysis of axisymmetric bodies
Problem statement – case study 2
Summary
Exercises
Further reading
Chapter 6: Analysis of Components with Solid Elements
Technical requirements
Overview of components that deserve to be analyzed with solid elements
Structural details
Model simplification strategies
Characteristics of solid elements
Analysis of helical springs
Problem statement – case study 1
Part A: Creating the model of the spring
Part B: Creating the simulation study
Part C: Meshing and post-processing of results
Analysis of spur gears
Problem statement – case study 2
Launching SOLIDWORKS and opening the gear assembly file
Creating the simulation study for the gear and simplifying the assembly
Assigning materials to the gears
Setting up the interaction condition for the gears
Applying the fixture to the gears
The meshing of the gears
Running and obtaining the results
Summary
Exercises
Further reading
Chapter 7: Analyses of Components with Mixed Elements
Technical requirements
Analysis of three-dimensional components with mixed beam and shell elements
Problem statement – case study 1
Part A: Reviewing the structural models
Part B: Creating the simulation study
Part C: Meshing and running
Part D: Post-processing of results
Analysis of three-dimensional components with mixed shell and solid elements
Problem statement – case study 2
Reviewing the model and activating the simulation study
Defining surface thickness and assigning material properties
Updating the default contact/interaction setting
Applying fixtures and loads
Meshing
Running the analysis and post-process
Obtaining the vertical deflection of the building
Extracting the stresses in the components
Summary
Exercises
Further reading
Section 3: Advanced SOLIDWORKS Simulation with Complex Material and Loading Behavior
Chapter 8: Simulation of Components with Composite Materials
Technical requirements
An overview of the analysis of composite structures
An analysis of composite beams
Problem statement
Part A – reviewing the structural model
Part B – defining the laminated composite shell properties
Part C – meshing and modifying the system's options
Part D – the running and post-processing of results
Analysis of advanced composite structures
Summary
Exercise
Further reading
Chapter 9: Simulation of Components under Thermo-Mechanical and Cyclic Loads
Technical requirements
Analysis of components under thermo-mechanical loads
Problem statement
Reviewing the file of the circular diaphragm
Dealing with the thermal study
Dealing with the combined thermal static study
Analysis of components under cyclic loads
Problem statement
The solution to fatigue analysis
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 10: A Guide to Meshing in SOLIDWORKS
Technical requirements
Discretization with beam and truss elements
Mesh control with plane elements
Mesh control with three-dimensional elements
Discretization with h- and p-type solution methods
Summary
Further reading
Index
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