DesignandSensitivityStudies UnderstandingDesignVariablesLecture UnderstandingDesignVariables.

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Understanding Design Variables

Design Variables enable Mechanica to modify the model shape and properties in order to achieve a design that satisfies your structural/thermal requirements.
Design Variable Usage Design Variable Type

Dimensions (angular/linear) Pro/ENGINEER parameters Beam Sections Material properties Laminate lay-up

Assigning Design Variables

Rename dimensions Define Pro/ENGINEER parameters Create relations Feature suppression effects Animate shape change Troubleshoot shape change Modify/Delete

Bolt Model

Design Study Result LectureNotes Design Variable Usage

After you have completed the initial examination of your model under certain loads and constraints, you may want to alter your initial design in order to satisfy certain structural/thermal requirements. Design variables enable you to designate dimensions and parameters that you may wish to alter. For example, the graph on the lower-right side of this slide is a result from a design study of the bolt shown on the lower-left side of this slide. The Graph shows how the Modal Frequency of the model varied with changes in the length of the bolt. Design Variable Types Design variables enable Mechanica to modify the model shape and properties in order to achieve a design that satisfies certain structural/thermal requirements. The investigation is typically done by varying the design variables and monitoring their influence upon the quantities of interest (for example, maximum stress or displacement, mass, modal frequency, and so on). Once you have created these design variables, you can use Sensitivity, Feasibility, and Optimization studies to fully understand the effects of varying the design variables on your model. You can create design variables for:

Dimensions (angular or linear dimensions) Pro/ENGINEER parameters Beam idealizations (cross-section properties) Material properties Laminate lay-up properties for Shell idealizations

Assigning Design Variables The following is an overview of the steps you should follow in order to assign and verify design variables in Mechanica. These and the accompanying procedure summarize the necessary steps to successfully define design variables.

Optional: Rename dimensions, define Pro/ENGINEER parameters (Real Numbertype only), create relations, and examine the effect of dynamic feature suppression. Animate the shape change. Troubleshoot any shape change issues (incorrect geometry update, resolve modes, and so on). Modify or delete any design variables if necessary.

The above steps should be accomplished before you start defining the Sensitivity/Feasibility/Optimization studies. Best Practices When selecting a Pro/ENGINEER parameter with a negative value to use as a design variable, be sure that the value is valid. For instance, you would not specify a length as a negative number, but you could specify an angle as a negative number.

 UnderstandingDesignVariablesDemonstration UnderstandingDesignVariables_demo.mp4 UnderstandingDesignVariablesProcedure

Procedure: Understanding Design Variables

Scenario
In this procedure, you will define several types of design variables using: Pro/ENGINEER parameters, dimensions, and cross-section dimensions from Mechanica beam idealizations.

Beam idealizations have already been defined in the model. Note that two real number parameters exist: P and E. These parameters will be used to represent the load (P) and Youngs Modulus (E) in the model.

DesignVariables

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Task 1. Open the Mechanica application and create a Standard Design Study.
1. Click Applications > Mechanica. 2. Click Mechanica Analyses/Studies from the main toolbar. 3. Click File > New Standard Design Study.... 4. In the Name field, type ST_DESIGN_STUDY. Renaming the default analysis name is a common practice in case the model contains multiple analysis types.

5. In the Analyses section of the dialog box, select the BEAM_STATIC (Static) analysis.

Task 2. Create a design variable based on the width of the beam section.
1. Click Select Dimension in the Standard Study Definition dialog box.

2. Select Beam Section Dimension and select SKETCH_SOLID from the Beam Sections area as shown in the figure. Click OK to close the dialog box.

3. Double-click the .15 dimension from the Sketcher window to select it. Note the addition of the Beam Section dimension to the Variables area of the dialog box.

Task 3. Create a design variable based on a dimension.

1. Click Select Dimension in the Standard Study Definition dialog box.

2. Accept the default Model Dimensions and click OK.

3. Select the datum curve near the mouse cursor in the figure to display its dimension. Select the 6 dimension as shown in the figure. Note the addition of the dimension as a design variable in the Standard Study Definition dialog box.

4. Click OK > Close to close the open dialog boxes.

Task 4. Create a design variable based on a parameter.

1. Click Tools > Parameters from the main toolbar, and review the parameter values. 2. Click OK to close the parameters dialog box.

3. Click Mechanica Analyses/Studies

from the main toolbar.

4. Select the ST_DESIGN_STUDY study and click Edit > Analysis/Study.... 5. Click Select Parameter click Strain. 6. Click Select Parameter click Select. . Select E from the Select Parameter dialog box and . Select P from the Select Parameter dialog box and

7. Click OK > Close to close the open dialog boxes.

8. Select the load in the model as shown in the figure, right-click and select Edit Definition.

9. Type P in the Y-axis field and click OK.

10. Click Materials . Right-click AL2014 in the Materials in Model list and select Properties.... Type E in the Youngs Modulus field. 11. Click OK > OK to close the dialog boxes.

12. Return to the Standard Pro/ENGINEER mode by clicking Applications > Standard. 13. Click Save from the main toolbar and click OK to save the model. 14. Click File > Erase > Current > Yes to erase the model from memory. This completes the procedure.