Strong, Light, Cheap – Let SOLIDWORKS Simulation Help You Decide

In recent months 3DVision Technologies has launched a new webinar series, “How to Solve”, where we discuss topics ranging from CAD to Analysis to Documentation.  Each of these webinars are designed to show you, the end user, how to incorporate SOLIDWORKS products into your daily design and Engineering activities and make you better, faster, and smarter!  This weeks’ webinar in the “How to Solve” series is “Strong, Light, Cheap – Let SOLIDWORKS Simulation Help You Decide”.

In this edition of “How to Solve”, I use SOLIDWORKS Simulation tools to analyze a conveyor lift linkage.  This small sub-assembly is connected to a number of other components within the entire conveyor system. The lift linkage has several design requirements that must be met for optimal performance. The linkage needs to be strong enough to withstand many different loading conditions.  It has to be light enough such that mechanical actuators do not have to be oversized to compensate for the linkage mass.  Finally, the linkage has to be as inexpensive to manufacture as possible, which can be accomplished by removing excess material from the design.  Actually, these same design constraints are quite common across a number of industries!

There are three sections to the webinar.  In the first section, I utilize SOLIDWORKS Motion to calculate the forces acting on the lift linkage during operation.  In the second section, I create a Finite Element Model of the lift linkage, applying the loads from the Motion study to calculate the structural performance of the initial design.  Finally, using SOLIDWORKS Simulation and goal-based Optimization, I solve multiple design iterations to come up with the best strength-to-weight design that meets the Engineering constraints and performance requirements for the lift linkage.

Watch the recording of my webinar (below) where I show you how to accomplish “Strong, Light, and Cheap” using SOLIDWORKS Motion and SOLIDWORKS Simulation tools.  Now go make your products better with SOLIDWORKS Simulation!