MSC Apex Generative Design allows the user to create different result structures depending on the defined parameters such as Strut Density, Shape Quality and Complexity. Furthermore, the design can be changed by taking advantage of the capability to reduce unnecessary Nondesign spaces and fixation points. This gives the optimization more freedom and will create completely new designs. In some cases it even makes sense to consider part consolidation as another goal of the optimization.
The software automatically figures out how many nondesign spaces - mainly for fixation points - can be reduced and how many need to stay. Naturally, Nondesign spaces without any loads or fixations applied are reduced first by the stress-based optimization algorithm. No stresses occur in these and surrounding area and therefore no material is needed. Of course there is a chance that these areas are being retained if they are exactly in the stress flow of the rest of the strutcure.
For this reduction to be possible and take place, the definition of constraints needs to be applied as follows:
As you can see in the image, all Nondesign spaces which are fixations need to be collected in one constraint. You can also include several in more than one constraint - then one fixation will always be retained by the algorithm. The function Keep Nondesign spaces needs to deactivated for the nondesign spaces as well as the constraints to allow such a reduction. For nondesign spaces without any boundary conditions this selection is enough. Per default the function Keep Nondesign Spaces is always activated.
To make sure all the Nondesign spaces and fixation points are included in the result, the function Keep Nondesign Spaces can be activated.
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