Speaker 1: In this analysis, we
will isolate components to view
just a subsection of the wheel
assembly, hiding both the tire
and rim. We see the brake
assembly and wishbones connected
to the knuckle upright body.
This body is a simplified blank
volume, which we will analyze in
greater detail and it represents
the design envelope and mounting
points to base the optimization
study on. A more representative
model, includes the brake and
steering arm brackets as well as
pocket cuts for those roles,
joint wishbone connections, and
an access slot to secure the nut
and bolt through the joint. This
takes into consideration
manufacturing and assembly
constraints. The rear face also
has a flush finish for simpler
machining and also a small
fillet for clearance. The
objective is to set up a
topology optimization study and
create a robust, lightweight
design that can resist wheel
loads. When the vehicle is
traveling around a circuit,
choosing the typology option
from the simulation study pane
we can create a new study, but
we will review an existing
setup. We can right click on the
part in the simulation tree and
apply a material to restrain the
model. We right click on
fixtures and we will create a
bearing fixture applied at the
central hole with stabilized
rotation to keep the upright in
position, a number of vehicle
systems, exhort loads directly
on the upright and indirect
loading is also experienced from
body forces. Remote loads are a
great way to represent
these without modeling or
meshing the geometry. We will
add a remote force with a
coordinate position referring to
the center of the tire contact
patch and ground, and apply
three components of force
simulating dynamic loading.
Additional loads, such as the
brake torque in the caliper
steering arm, cornering force
and suspension wishbone mounting
points are also included to
apply a number of different
forces on the upright component
goals and constraints, help
define what we are trying to
optimize the design for in this
case, reducing the mass by 50%
while maintaining a factor of
safety of at least 1.25 to
achieve the best stiffness to
weight is the desired end goal.
Manufacturing controls help
preserve areas of the geometry
from being optimized or removed
meaning crucial hard points such
as mounting locations, machine
hauls and reference faces remain
in the final optimized shape. A
five millimeter ring around the
four bolt holes will be for
structural integrity other holes
are preserved too. And a
thickness control for the
minimum allowable thickness is
set to 15 millimeters. One final
preserved region needs to be
added to the bearing mounting
faces with a five millimeter
exclusions zone that can be
previewed viewed directly on the
geometry shown in yellow. Now
that we have our design envelope
applied loads, required goals
and manufacturing constraints,
we can mesh the part using high
quality curvature based elements
with appropriate sizing. Before
running the analysis, we can
review the study properties to
modify preserved regions and run
additional baseline studies to
compare with before optimizing
we'll choose the automatic
solver for this analysis and
accept the changes. It's time to
run the analysis, which will
take a while. As it iterates
through the various designs,
we'll switch to the completed
results to review the final
optimized shape. The material
must plot highlights areas of
the model. We must keep an areas
that have been or can be
removed. We can see the rounding
of corners around the bracket
halls and removal of material on
the left. This tessellated mesh
body can be exported as a smooth
body in a configuration in the
file or exported to a separate
new part. We'll choose the new
configuration option and give
this a name and then choose to
output a solid body file that we
can work with. There are also
options for grouping mesh faces
together. We are then presented
with a final smooth
configuration, which we can 3d
print or design around to create
a parametric body. We will first
extract mass properties by
isolating the optimized body and
evaluating its mass. This body
is around 370 grams compared to
the original body volume, which
can be overlaid on top and wears
over 640 grams. A body color can
be applied to clearly highlight
the differences in optimized
topology. A general X shape is
formed around the bearing mount
and a tapered loft profile can
also be seen when viewed from
the side
with some clear areas that can
be machined out completely.
These insights can be used to
redesign the component into a
more easily manufactured
traditional shape or manipulated
further for 3d printing using
advanced SOLIDWORKS tools.