Book Image

Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022

By : Khameel B. Mustapha
Book Image

Practical Finite Element Simulations with SOLIDWORKS 2022

By: Khameel B. Mustapha

Overview of this book

SOLIDWORKS is a dominant computer-aided design (CAD) software for the 3D modeling, designing, and analysis of components. This book helps you get to grips with SOLIDWORKS Simulation, which is a remarkable and integral part of SOLIDWORKS predominantly deployed for advanced product performance assessment and virtual prototyping. With this book, you'll take a hands-on approach to learning SOLIDWORKS Simulation with the help of step-by-step guidelines on various aspects of the simulation workflow. You'll begin by learning about the requirements for effective simulation of parts and components, along with the idealization of physical components and their representation with finite element models. As you progress through the book, you'll find exercises at the end of each chapter, and you'll be able to download the geometry models used in all the chapters from GitHub. Finally, you’ll discover how to set up finite element simulations for the static analysis of components under various types of loads, and with different types of materials, from simple isotropic to composite, and different boundary conditions. By the end of this SOLIDWORKS 2022 book, you'll be able to conduct basic and advanced static analyses with SOLIDWORKS Simulation and have practical knowledge of how to best use the family of elements in the SOLIDWORKS Simulation library.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
1
Section 1: An Introduction to SOLIDWORKS Simulation
6
Section 2: SOLIDWORKS Simulation with Shell and Solid Elements
10
Section 3: Advanced SOLIDWORKS Simulation with Complex Material and Loading Behavior

Analysis of components under thermo-mechanical loads

This section initiates our entry into the exploration of the SOLIDWORKS Simulation for the analysis of components subjected to a combination of thermal and mechanical loads. The problem we will deploy for this purpose stems from the design of a diaphragm-based pressure sensor.

Problem statement

Suppose you are involved in the prototyping of a differential pressure sensor for the measurement of ultra-low pressure in the range of 0–5 bars (or 0–0.5 MPa). Let's say you have narrowed down the key functional components of the measurement to comprise an enclosed circular diaphragm and a Wheatstone bridge, as shown in Figure 9.1a. Principally, it is known that this specific pressure sensor works by converting the deflection of a circular diaphragm into an electrical signal [1], where the deflection of the diaphragm is caused by the difference between a reference pressure (Pref) in an enclosed chamber and an incoming...