An Efficient Workflow for Composite Design & Analysis Using LAP, CoDA & Laminate Tools with HyperMesh

Heavy mobile machines consist mostly of production equipment working almost twenty hours a day, year on year, in diverse harsh environments, undergoing extreme loads and overloads. Especially diggers and loaders such as hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoes, cater to multiple applications with use cases such as digging, trenching, loading, lifting, breaking, and ripping. Many times, these machines undergo non-standard uses where the machine is subjected to unplanned forces and moments as in the case of self-loading on a trailer, or a bucket hitting a dump truck body. This paper highlights the workflow process and simulation-driven methods to integrate multi-physics with Altair’s industry-leading solutions. The latest generation of Altair simulation tools can capture a wider range of vehicle systems and environmental interactions.

Medical stents are a lifeline for patients with cardiovascular illness and disease. Altair's solutions can speed up development time by satisfying the testing of variables virtually, allowing engineers to truly optimize the design and performance of medical stents.

A company specializing in 3D printing relies on simulation to make tools for injection molding that are less expensive, lighter and better than those created with traditional methods.

In recent times there is a high demand for lightweight automotive components which will reduce oil consumption and emissions. The components that are under non-linear load conditions would need optimization techniques that would yield a design which satisfies all performance targets and at the same time maintains the process efficiency with respect to time and cost. The use of CAE tools such as Altair’s OptiStruct and HyperWorks allows engineers to explore various design solutions starting from concept level to matured design that meets multiple requirements simultaneously with due consideration of manufacturing methods that allows engineers to arrive at an optimal design and process.

To design and build an aerial ladder for a firetruck, the engineer needs to accurately determine the working loads the ladder will encounter. Some of these can be easy to interpret such as the weight of the firefighter in the basket at the end of the ladder, or the weight of the water being supplied to the nozzle. Other loads can be a little harder to quantify, such as how wind affects the ladder. There are several different ways to determine this effect, and two of those will be explored in this paper: the standard equation (ASCE 7-10), and CFD.

Snap-fits are ubiquitous engineering features used to quickly and inexpensively assemble plastic parts. The geometric, material, and contact nonlinearities associated with snap-fit problems can present modeling challenges. Quasi-static solutions with explicit solvers are commonly used to analyze snapfits; however, OptiStruct’s nonlinear solver now possess the ability to solve these highly nonlinear problems implicitly. The first part of this study discusses an effective approach to using OptiStruct for the implicit finite element analysis of snap-fits. Once an accurate simulation model has been created, engineers typically make design changes in order to achieve desired insertion and retention forces. The second part of this study details how HyperMesh morphing and HyperStudy can be used to optimize the snap-fit design, resulting in desired insertion and retention forces while minimizing mass and ensuring structural integrity. The approach documented in this report can reduce the design time, material use, and failure rate of snap-fits used in industry.

This white paper demonstrates how to find the optimal locations to place strain gauges on a casted bracket in order to accurately measure loads.

Additive manufacturing coupled with topology optimization allows the design-and-analysis and manufacturing iterations to be reduced significantly, or even eliminated. To ensure that the part will perform as simulated, a mid-stage validation is conducted on a standardized part before creating the final products.