Desktop Engineering Blog

The modelling stage

This is the fifth article of a series concerning how to implement and use modelling methodology in CATIA V5.

In this article, we will discuss the modelling stage in detail.

This is the second stage of the creation process; we already have all the elements defined in the Skeleton group, so now is the time to start modelling the solid geometry.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform from Dassault Systemes has played an important role in winning 2 awards in the Construction industry.

The Institution of Structural Engineers has awarded the 2017 prize for Construction Innovation to the team that designed and built The TallWood House at Brock Commons - an 18-storey mass timber hybrid building at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada.

At 53m high, this student residence building has been recognized as the tallest mass timber hybrid building in the world. It is comprised of 17 storeys of five-ply cross laminated timber (CLT) floor panels, glue laminated timber columns.

Key to proving the construction process was the use of 3DEXPERIENCE to simulate the construction methods, from delivery of prefabricated parts to the work processes involved in assembling the building. CADMakers* used the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to simulate in real time all these interactions and hence improve on methods in a digital world before committing to the real world.

See this video to compare the virtual with the real.

Zaha Hadid Architects used CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE as the platform for the design of the world’s longest asymmetrical single stay bridge in Taiwan – The Danjiang Bridge. The design teams based in 3 locations across 2 continents used CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE On Cloud as the design and collaboration platform. 

This greatly improved communication of ideas, management of information and enhanced the collaboration across the teams. The design team at Zaha’s were awarded the 2017 innovation in Collaboration Award from the Computing Construction Awards.

Read the full case study here >>

Both these awards show the gains that the construction industry can get from adopting the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as not only a 3D BIM tool but as a collaboration platform on which to store, control and manage all project data – meeting the requirements of BIM Level 3.

*VIRTUAL DESIGN MODELLING: CadMakers Inc

A recent emergency landing by an Air France A380 aircraft inspired me to this blog article.  Birdstrike is a standard consideration for any air vehicle but not an easy thing to model accurately with regular FEA software.  The events are typically short duration, involve the failure of materials and a loading complicated by secondary impacts as the bird fragments.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever sat down and asked yourself ‘what can we do to improve our product quality?’ but struggled to find the most cost-effective way to do this. 

As the complexity of product designs increases, so too does the need to find the right materials and techniques to bring these designs to life. This is where composite materials come into their own. 

Here’s how your organisation can benefit from the use of composite materials and how the aerospace and automotive industries are making strides in the use of composites.

As consumers around the world are demanding greater access to air travel, this has led to orders for 38,000 new aircraft. Although this represents the potential for significant revenue, OEMs and suppliers face significant risks that they must overcome in order to develop these aircraft cost effectively and ensure a quick time to market. 

A major trigger of these risks is how OEMs are now tasking suppliers with designing aerospace parts in addition to manufacturing.

One of the parameters driving the age old question of “is my mesh refined enough?” is the impact it has on the model size and the knock-on effect to runtime and computer spec.  This comes into starkest relief if you have a dimensionally very large structure but where you need a fine local mesh around some detailed areas in order to refine stress intensity for e.g. fatigue life prediction. 

Defining sketches

This is the fourth article of a series concerning how to implement and use modelling methodology in CATIA V5.

In this article, we will discuss methodology and rules for sketch definition.

We will continue using the same Angle bracket example part, introduced in previous articles.

In previous articles, we have discussed the skeleton and its internal structure and organization. The subsets are numbered so that the order of the subsets coincides with the order of element insertion, thus we can work sequentially inside the skeleton.

By this point, to start our article, we will consider that we have imported all necessary external data into our part and created all the necessary reference geometry.

All these elements are to be inserted in geometrical sets:

1. Input data and 2. Reference geometry.

As visible in figure-1, sketches are to be inserted inside geometrical sets:

3. Main sketches and 4. Auxiliary sketches, both inside the Skeleton.

Thickness Attribution in MSC Apex

Attempts by the European Commission to reduce air pollution poses new challenges for engine manufacturers in the form of Stage V emissions standards. Many manufacturers can use their knowledge and experience with on-road developments to ensure off-road engine developments work efficiently.

Following on from our previously published Stage V emissions article and discussions around tougher standards for more engine types;  After-treatment systems for smaller engines; and DPF in the after-treatment system, John Deere has become one of the first to release their developments.

On Cloud software is the general trend of many applications – starting with email, it has progressed through to accounting software, customer relationship software and even finite element analysis.