I have a bar which 4mm thick plain carbon steel and 24mm wide with 2 dowel pin holes 200mm apart on the end of one dowel pin is a vertical mass of 50kg.
When I simulate the bar with one hole fixed and the other loaded the dowel pin holes distort.
My experience tells me the the stress should be toward the centre of the bar rather than around the hole as the dowel pins will act as a solid part.
taking the holes out I get this
The stress is not symmetrical as one end is fixed and on end is loaded
I guess because the problem is symmetrical I should cut the bar in half
Is this the best way to approach the simulation in SimulationXpress?
A colleague has the premium license with the full blown Simulation suite how would I approach the simulation in regards to fixtures.
just fix it in on direction?
Thanks
Sammy
the half model is better for the reason you mentioned about fixing one end and loading on the other
as for the holes distorting, it comes down to what faces you applied the force on. but that is expected. even if you had the dowel in there, it would only pull on one side and distort the size of the hole but it would restrain it. another option would be to model the dowel as a solid in your model for simulation xpress and apply it to the shaft of the dowel. but now it will be like a solid dowel welded to your tab.
in sim prem you have a lot of options, bearing load, you could model the pin and apply contact. but in the end, a simple force should be plenty to get you what you want. but the rest are great exercises for you to understand the assumptions of just applying a force to the hole or half the hole.