Hello,
First time seriously using Simulation. I was testing a sheet metal part that I modeled (gauge 8 / 4.17mm thick, Stainless Steel) for a specific load scenario that I know well with a very moderate load of 500 N, when I noticed that the Simulation predicts stress that exceeds the yield strength of this material:
By trial and error, I measured that this part could withstand only ~335 N before yielding - that is, only 34 kg force. That can't be right. I know from on-field experience that Stainless Steel parts such as these, even with lower thickness, in this specific load scenario can withstand much greater forces - upwards of 200 kg - before any plastic deformation will occur. The material properties of Stainless Steel appear to be set correctly in the SOLIDWORKS material library. Therefore I am pretty sure I'm using Simulation incorrectly. Can someone please take a look at my file, and point out my mistake?
Sorry if my terminology isn't exact for SWX. I do my simulation in ANSYS Mechanica; however the theories are the same. Also I haven't downloaded your file (for security reasons) so forgive me if I'm asking things which I could find in there.
I would suggest making an "assembly" to perform the simulation. Applying a force/load directly to a surface or edge can cause problems. It tends to keep that face (or whatever) in the original plane and in reality it won't stay in that exact orientation. A better way would be to create a push plate. Apply your force/load to the push plate. Make sure to setup the proper contacts between the two parts.
Are you 100% certain the material properties you selected are the same as your actual parts? Annealing, plating, etc. could all cause different results that what you are seeing with Solidworks.
Mesh size could have an impact. It's difficult to know what size mesh to use, but the rule of thumb is to reduce the mesh size gradually until the results stop changing.
Are you running this as a large deflection? I don't know how far you are deflecting the part, but if it's too far you would probably want to enable this, otherwise you will get pretty inaccurate results. I think Solidworks would warn you that it should be enabled, but I don't know for sure. If you get the same results both ways then you don't need large deflection.
Lastly... FEA is not necessarily about getting 100% accurate results. It's about optimizing the design as much as possible before the parts are manufactured.