will solidworks simulation do a load analysis on a steel grate to where you can calculate how many pounds per square foot it will hold?
will solidworks simulation do a load analysis on a steel grate to where you can calculate how many pounds per square foot it will hold?
Yup
Structural simulation covers a wide range of FEA problems—from the performance of a part under a constant load to the stress analysis of a moving assembly under dynamic loading, all of which can be determined using SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional: Optimize designs based on structural, motion, or geometric criteria.
Thank you for the reply. i need to find how many lbs. per square foot a grate will withstand to get a class rating. right now i'm being told to multiply the PSI x the FOS and then multiply that by 144in. Can you tell me if that is correct. Also i'm using Simulation Standard.
Thank You,
David Combest
Thank you for the reply. i need to find how many lbs. per square foot a grate will withstand to get a class rating. right now i'm being told to multiply the PSI x the FOS and then multiply that by 144in. Can you tell me if that is correct. Also i'm using Simulation Standard.
Thank You,
David Combest
In a structure calculations without a deep understanding what you are doing and why you have a good chance to find yourself in trouble.
Do you have a model of this grate and the conditions (where to hold it and what load to apply) to put onto it?
PSI x 144 = PSF
It got nothing to do with what the grate can withstand.
PS
If you need someone to tell you how to convert PSI to PSF, let someone else do the simulation.
Oh SNAP!
Feel that burn!
David Combest wrote:
will solidworks simulation do a load analysis on a steel grate to where you can calculate how many pounds per square foot it will hold?
How is the grate shaped? How is it supported? Can you share a picture?
I'd suggest you start with a simple hand calculation and work up from there.
Nothing burning.
Just observing from information given
Something could be burning on the grate.
Hello Ryan,
Our company bought our software from GoEngineer. I do sheet metal drawings of stainless drains to send to the laser. No problem! Our company wanted software so we could calculate how many pounds a grate would withstand before failure so we could classify it as Class A,B,C etc. We were told that SolidWorks Simulation would do that for us so we bought one license and i got stuck with it. I've had very little training using the software. The information i did get said i could take the pressure load that was applied and multiply it by the FOS to get the psi. However, in using this formula with different grates i can plainly see that this doesn't look right. So now I'm having a hard time trying to get an answer that will tell me how to do what I'm trying to accomplish. I don't know if the software won't do what we want it to do or if I don't understand how to use the software. It's probably the latter. I would be ok with the problem being me if i knew there was a way to get the result i'm looking for.
I do appreciate your help and i do have lots of models with conditions, fixture settings, pressure, etc.
Thanks You,
David
David,
I'm confident the software can gave you an answer. Do you want to post one of your grates in this forum or would you like to email it in to me?
You'll need some training on how to use Simulation.
Your Solidworks reseller should be able to help.
Also it doesn't looks like you have much idea of loads, stress, tensile strength.
You'll need some engineering training for that.
There is a lot more involve then just buy a software and run simulation.
Simulation depends heavily on user input and setup. So its easy to get wrong results due to mistake or misunderstanding.
BTW who, beside you in the company did the load rating?
Hello Ryan,
This is the first time I've used this forum. Hopefully I've attached the file correctly. Let me know if this is what you need.
I really appreciate your help.
Thank You
David Combest
P. S. Thanks to everyone for your help as well!
Hello Frederick,
I posted the file and test i did on one of the grates to Ryan since i think he works for Go Engineer.
I understand where you're coming from. I'm probably in over my head but i do appreciate everyone's help.
Thank You,
David Combest
We can help you with one grate but you'll need to learn how to do the rest.
Also a PEng is required to certify rating of the grate.
You and the company can say whatever the grate can hold.
Its the PEng's opinion that counts.
Talk to the person/company that will certify the grate.
Your grate could take about 3psi with no FOS.
Frederick Law wrote:
We can help you with one grate but you'll need to learn how to do the rest.
Also a PEng is required to certify rating of the grate.
You and the company can say whatever the grate can hold.
Its the PEng's opinion that counts.
Talk to the person/company that will certify the grate.
If it is in the US you'll need a PE stamp not a PEng. Apples and Oranges.
And it depends on the application. If this is only within a machine and not near people then it is likely that no stamp is required. (IMHO)
Yes, I'm assuming the worse.
Since it has a class rating, I'll assume its for foot or vehicle traffic and need some kind of certification.
Yes it is for foot and vehicle traffic.
David,
It looks like you have already received an abundance of advice on this. A large amount of it seems to cover that you will need a better understanding of the boundaries you wish to use on your designs. I'd recommend the use of boundaries that make physical sense to you. The applied boundary of "23 PSI to the top of a cylinder that sits on your grate" may not be as intuitive as "36 lbs applied to the contact patch where a foot lands". I generally recommend staying close to whatever real life loading this is supposed to be especially if you are new to Simulation.
The fixtures also play a large factor in how the results come out. The "Fixed" fixture that you have applied now doesn't correspond well to any real life scenario and tends toward making the model seem overly stiff. Using some softer fixtures that allow more degrees of freedom of the model to move tend to give more "true to life" results. What you select for fixtures has a large impact on results. These two sets of results differ by 15% in maximum stress just be modifying the fixtures (keeping the same faces) to more flexible restraints. So, it becomes pretty important to make sure the fixtures being applied line up with the real life scenario.
Like Frederick Law mentions, without training on the tool and a background in engineering it will be tough to get reliable results that you can use to make load classifications. GoEngineer can help with one of those though so do mind if I get a field tech in touch with you about going over some of this stuff in more detail?
I have a guy from Go Engineer coming out Friday (Arvind Krishnan) from the Dallas Office. I have talked to him before but had a hard time trying to get a straight answer on how to find the result I'm looking for. No disrespect to Arvind, he seemed very knowledgeable but kept saying that they could not be liable. I understand that but still it doesn't help me a lot.
Right now I'm just trying to get as much information and understanding that I can so maybe i can ask him more intelligent questions. Wish me luck I'm sure I'll need it.
Thank You for all of your help!
Much Appreciated!
Thank you Frederick!
Your feedback has been helpful!
David
It sure will.