7 Replies Latest reply on Dec 4, 2016 5:03 PM by Siavash Khajehhasani

Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.

Eric Bontrager Dec 1, 2016 2:34 PM

I believe I have contained everything properly. The mesh works and as soon as I start to run the study it fails... I am sure there is a wide range of things that could be wrong. I have read solutions to fix the problem with no luck. Working my way back from the fixed mount back to the loading I was able to narrow it down to a tab that appears to be causing the issue but I don't know why. I can include the file but would prefer if a personal message was sent as the file. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Solidworks FEA Question.png 291.5 KB

Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.

Manuel Morales Dec 1, 2016 5:13 PM (in response to Eric Bontrager)

HI ERIC

WHAT KIND OF PC DO YOU HAVE? MAYBE YOUR PROCESSOR CANT HANDLE THAT.
HOW MANY NODES AND DOF DO YOU HAVE FOR THIS STUDY?
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- Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.
  
  Eric Bontrager Dec 2, 2016 1:38 PM (in response to Manuel Morales)
  
  The PC I am using is has 10 GB of RAM and intel xeon cpu @ 3.1 ghz processor, hopefully this will help narrow down my problem. Thanks!
  
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  - Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.
    
    Manuel Morales Dec 2, 2016 4:39 PM (in response to Eric Bontrager)
    
    HI
    
    HAVE YOU SENT A RX TO YOUR VAR?
    
    IT COULD BE A BAD INSTALLATION, SEEMS LIKE A GOOD COMPUTER WITH A SIMPLE STUDY.
    
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Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.

Siavash Khajehhasani Dec 2, 2016 1:46 PM (in response to Eric Bontrager)

Eric, you can send your files to me and I would be happy to look into your model.
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- Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.
  
  Siavash Khajehhasani Dec 3, 2016 8:00 PM (in response to Siavash Khajehhasani)
  
  Hi Eric,
  Problem found...
  The first error in Static 1 simulation appears as the "Control Arm Bolt (FEA) 1" was not included in the components selected for bounded contact, as shown below:
  I am aware that you were referring to study "static 3". But I thought it worth to mention it. One more thing is using Global Contact is an easier approach in your simulation.
  Now Static 1 and Static 3 studies have same issue, wherein interference is detected in your assembly. Please note that interference is not allowed in SW FEA unless there is "shrink fit" contact which is not your case. Having said that you must get rid of the interference in your model in order to be able to proceed with your mesh.
  Hope it helps.
  PS. I hope you did not mind sharing screenshots in here, as you also did. The reason for sharing them here was to benefit public. However, if you find it inappropriate, please let me know ASAP to exclude them.
  Cheers,
  - Siavash
  
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  - Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.
    
    Eric Bontrager Dec 4, 2016 12:40 AM (in response to Siavash Khajehhasani)
    
    Thank you for getting back with me. Static 1 was an older iteration so that makes sense that that one didn't work. For the static 3 I made the changes to the interfering parts and I am still having the same issue. This is immediately after I press run, and the following image is less than 4 seconds after the simulation has been running.
    This is after I cut used a surface offset and thickened cut to remove the interfering parts, and I am still receiving the same error.
    
    Did you get the simulation to run?
    
    Thanks
    Eric
    
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    - Re: Hi all, I am working on FEA on a control arm and the simulation fails immediately after running. I have tried trouble shooting and have had no luck.
      
      Siavash Khajehhasani Dec 4, 2016 5:03 PM (in response to Eric Bontrager)
      
      Couple of steps has to be taken to get rid of errors and proceed with the proper simulation:
      1) Eliminate interference using insert>mold>cavity
      2) Use Curvature based mesh instead of standard mesh
      3) Use bonded contact sets: 1st apply global bonded contact as explained before; 2nd: global bonded contact (GBC) only applies to initially touching faces wherein in your simulation GBC does not keep those cylindrical faces attached to that flat face, hence, contact set has to be applied.
      Following the above option, would make your simulation run without any problem.
      To explain all, I will send you the finished simulation in a private message. Once you received and downloaded it, please let me know to remove it from the shared location.
      Please let me know if it helps and the issue is solved.
      Cheers,
      - Siavash
      
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