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Goal of this tutorialTutorial:
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Step 1: Start MSC Apex Generative Design
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Create initial Bounding Box
Open the Design Space Tool in the Optimisation Tools.
Choose the second method Create Design Space enclosing parts and select the three parts you want to consolidate.
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You can choose the Boundary Offset and Alignment Type and an Offset Factor in the Advanced Properties. In this case an offset percentage a global alignment and a boundary offset of 5% was is chosen to give the optimiser more room to operate.
The input is confirmed and the Tool creates a new part with the initial Design Space.
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Create Access and Clearance Regions
Next some help geometries are created that will be subtracted from the initial Design Space. For these steps the Design Space is hidden.
At first we need to define regions where accessibility is needed
Therefore, the split tool with the offset function and a value of 3 mm is used.
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After this the Access Regions based on the cells can be created.
Therefore, the Access Region Tool in the Optimisation Tools is activated.
A sufficient extrude Distance is entered and the face of the created cells is chosen to create the according Access Region.
It’s recommended to choose a scaling factor for the Access Regions to have a little bit extra space for the assembly work later on (see 1.1).
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The inner surface of the Access Region is defeatured to create one filled volume.
To ensure enough free space on the other side, the Push/Pull Tool can be used. Drag the surface 20 mm in the positive y-direction.
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The Bracket is subtracted from the Access Region to ensure that the split cell isn’t Part of the Access Region solid.
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With the same technique all Access Regions can be created. The result looks like the picture below.
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Next the Clearance Region for the Sensor and the force input are defined.
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For the Sensor the Clearance Region Tool is used with an offset of 0.2 mm. All faces except the one that faces towards the attachment point are chosen.
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For the force input the Clearance Region Tool is used with an offset of 3 mm to ensure that there is enough free space around it. Only the faces around the middle are chosen, because the rest is already covered by the access regions. The force input is a Retained Volume in this optimisation. It should always be connected to the Design Space via Interfaces/Non-Design Spaces (including Machining Allowances).
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To create the Access Region for the Sensor, the Access Region Tool is used again - but this time the “cross section” method is being used.
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Click Create Configuration and a GD Configuration will be created.
Click Apply Configuration and the tool executes all necessary Boolean Operations.
The final Design Space is created.
For the next steps hide all the other Parts of the Assembly except for the Design Space.
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Create the material in the Materials editor and assign it to the Design Spaceand Retained Volume. It is possible to create a separate material for the Retained Volume. In this case the material behaviour is Isotropic.
The specific values needed are the Young's Modulus (72000 MPa), Poisson ratio (0.34) and Density (2.7e-6 kg/mm3).
The Tension Strength is the maximum allowable stress for the material and is set to 460 MPa.
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Go to the Loads & Boundary Condition Tool to enter the loads and fixations. Displacements, Forces, Moments, Gravity and Pressure Loads can be applied using different selection options.
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The next steps are defined in the Studies area.
All boundary conditions must be assigned to the specific load cases, which are defined as Events. The number of Eventscan be changed by adding/deleting Eventsto the GD Scenario. The assignment of the boundary conditions to the Eventscan be made in the Loads & Constrains Window. The already created loads and constraints that concern the Design Space are listed in this window and can be activated for each Eventindividually.
Active in Event1: Force-Moment 1, Force-Moment 3, Force-Moment 5, Constraint 1, Constraint 2 and Constraint 3
Active in Event2: Force-Moment 2, Force-Moment 4, Constraint 1, Constraint 2 and Constraint 3
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The optimisation parameters are selected in the Studies Area as well.
Manufacturing Method: Generic AM
Failure Criteria: Von Mises
Select the Strut Density: Medium
Select the Shape Quality: FineTune
Set the Complexity Setting: 25
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Don’t forget to save the project!
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If all data is correct, the optimisation can be started and tracked in the Post Processing. The Analysis Readiness function checks if all information is provided and the optimisation can start.
All result iterations are displayed as soon as they are available. Furthermore, you are able to stop the optimisation in this selection area. However, a Restart is not directly possible.
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You can check the status of the optimisation in the GD Status and get more information on Warning and Error messages. This can be done directly in the Post-Processing as well as in the Studies tab for an optimisation that has already run.
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The whole MSC Apex Generative Design project with all results can be downloaded here:
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Step 7: Visualization of Stresses & Displacements
Inside the Post Processing the von Mises stress and the displacements are visible for all iterations and for every Event. The Scale can be influenced individually
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