ISTANBUL AYDIN UNIVERSITY

MEN425 COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING

DESIGN

PROJECT II

STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

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MEN425 COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING DESIGN STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

1. OBJECTIVES
 Getting familiar with the SolidWorks Simulation interface
 Performing linear static analysis
 Checking for discretization errors
 Obtaining the reaction forces
 Presenting some results of the finite element analysis

2. MATERIALS
 A PC with SolidWorks Simulation installed.

3. PROBLEM

As shown in Figure 1, a steel plate is supported from one end, and force
is applied on the opposite end. It is assumed that the support is rigid
(also known as a fixed support) and that the tensile force of 100 000 N is
uniformly distributed over the surface opposite to the supported surface.

a.

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MEN425 COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING DESIGN STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

b.

Figure 1. a) Dimensions and b) boundary conditions of the plate

A displacement and stress analysis will be performed using grids with

different element sizes. While repeated analyses with different meshes do
not represent standard practice in FEA, repeated analyses with different
grids are useful for learning more about how FEA works.

4. PROCEDURE

1- Create a three-dimensional model of the plate.

2- Open a new Static analysis study in the SolidWorks Simulation

module.

3- Assign alloy steel as the material.

4- Define a fixed geometry boundary condition on the surface shown in

the figure below.

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MEN425 COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING DESIGN STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

5- Apply the external force of 100 000 N to the surface at the other end
opposite to the fixed end so that the direction is from the part outward
(tensile state).

6- Create a mesh for coarse, medium, and fine element sizes and repeat
the solution for each element size.

7- Once the numerical solution is completed, examine the displacement,

stress, and strain contours, and present the maximum values in a
tabular form. Compare the maximum tensile stress with the yield
stress of the material.

8- Also create a contour for the safety factor. Take the safety factor 2.
Select von Mises stress as the safety criterion.

9- In the next step, update the element dimensions to be 0.8 times the
size in the fine settings and compare the maximum displacement and
stress values with the values obtained in the fine solution.

10- In the following steps, repeat the 6th, 7th and 8th stages given above,
changing the way the external force is applied (F=10 000 N) as follows:

a- The external force on the upper edge, direction downward (bending)

b- The external force is in the form of a pair of forces on the upper and
lower surfaces, the direction of the forces is perpendicular to the
front surface of the part and in opposite directions (torsion).

11- Compare the displacement and stress values for each of the above
situations and present them in a tabular form. Specify the states in
which the largest values occur.

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MEN425 COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING DESIGN STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PLATE

Maximum Maximum
Element Number of Number of
Case displacement von Mises
size [mm] nodes elements
[mm] stress [MPa]

Coarse

Medium

Fine_01

Fine_02

Maximum
Maximum
Element Number of Number of von Mises Minimum
Case displaceme
size [mm] nodes elements stress FOS
nt [mm]
[MPa]
Tension

Bending

Torsion