Resin Product Development Support Using CAETopology Optimization Analysis for Resins
Technology that calculates how materials are arranged in the space you want to design to achieve an optimal structure.
Technology that calculates how materials are arranged in the space you want to design to achieve an optimal structure.
Within a design space, the optimal shape can be found for the assumed product usage environment and required performance. This is a very effective technology for replacing metal with resin or reducing weight.
Since unnecessary parts of the shape are removed by calculation, new ideas that cannot be thought of by the method of reinforcing the original metal shape can be reflected in the product design. This method is effective for obtaining design ideas in the early stages of development.
Here is a simple example of topology optimization.The green area on the left is the design space. In this space, an instruction is given for the shape to be “the lightest shape with a load point displacement of less than a” with the both ends fixed, and the loading is applied to three places.
The calculation process is shown on the right. The density of each part is changed in the design space to optimize the material arrangement.The red part is judged as necessary while the blue part is judged as unnecessary.In this case, a shape resembling an iron bridge was automatically calculated through 59 iterations.
Here is an example of applying topology optimal design to a metal brake pedal bracket to propose weight reduction using a resin.
The part surrounded by the leftmost circle is the original metal shape. First, the space is modeled as wide as can possibly be designed without interfering with other parts. Subsequently, the optimization calculation is performed by setting conditions to create several design proposals based on the results. Structural analysis is used to check whether these shapes meet the required performance, and the proposal is narrowed down.
Furthermore, optimization and structural analysis are repeated to derive the optimal shape from various viewpoints such as performance, ease of manufacturing, and weight.
Through such a development process, the conclusion was reached that the purpose can be achieved with the rightmost shape. In this case, it was proposed that an 83% weight reduction was possible when the metal was replaced with resin, i.e. our Leona 14G33 (polyamide 66 reinforced with 33% of glass fiber)
Super Lightweight Pedal Bracket of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyamide 66 won the 2018 Altair Enlighten Award (weight reduction realization technology category) for showing the possibility of significant weight reduction as described above and having devised an innovative part shape.
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