This paper on "Interactive Analysis for Early-Stage Mechanical Design" was presented at the NAFEMS World Congress on The Evolution of Product Simulation From Established Methods to Virtual Testing & Prototyping - 24-28 April 2001, The Grand Hotel, Lake Como, Italy.

Abstract

The role of stress analysis in design is limited by the batch processing of single design geometries when subjected to prescribed load cases. While this approach is reasonable for detailed design. it limits the engineer in early stage design, when the rapid availability of stress information for a wide range of candidate design geometries is perhaps more important than geometric precision. This paper presents structural re-analysis in a Boundary Element context. considering both 2D and more recent developments in 3D simulation. Computational performance improvements (over a full analysis) of 50 to 80% are found. depending on the degree of perturbation to a pre-existing BEM model. An illustration, in which multiple modifications are made to different parts of a design geometry, shows how stress reduction and weight reduction may be achieved as analysis results guide the design in the concept stage.