Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022

Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022

by Khameel B. Mustapha
Released February 2022
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781801819923

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Book description

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

  • Title: Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022
  • Author(s): Khameel B. Mustapha
  • Release date: February 2022
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781801819923